This is the second book in author C.J. Box’s series about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. First published in 2002, this was at a time when not everyone had cell phones, and even if you did have one, there was no guarantee of service, especially in rural areas. We take for granted now having a world of information at our fingertips, but just a short time ago that wasn’t the case.

An explosion rocks the forest deep in Twelve Sleep County, Wyoming. Joe Pickett is called to the scene along with the local sheriff where they determine that environmentalist and eco-activist Stewie Woods was killed in a stunt that went awry, along with his new wife. However, everything is not as it seems. Joe’s wife, Mary Beth, is getting phone calls at home and it turns out she knew Stewie quite well before she met Joe. As news of the deaths of other environmental activists makes its way to Joe, he begins to suspect there is more to the open-and-shut-case than they initially believed.

Savage Run is a good book that illustrates that neither side is perfect when it comes to the environment. Stewie Woods is something of a hero in the movement, but many of the environmentalists don’t understand the impact of their activism on the people who live in a particular area. This is the case when, while on the run from the bad guys, Joe, and others, encounter wolves who are being reintroduced to the land. They see the brutality of the wolves taking down a weakened elk and her calf and are shocked by it. Joe makes the point that this is what happens. He’s not saying it’s wrong, but this is the reality of reintroducing wolves as predators.

On the other side are the ranchers. Most of the ones in Savage Run are not multi-generational ranchers, but wealthy eastern city-dwellers who get a kick out of saying they have a cattle ranch in Wyoming. They don’t like having what they do under the microscope of the environmentalists, so the answer is to hire someone to take them out. What was initially written off as an environmental statement gone wrong suddenly has a more sinister tone.

It would be easy to side with one ideology or another, but the author makes the case that they both have good points and bad. Joe doesn’t disagree with the environmentalists, but he also knows the effects of what they are lobbying for. He doesn’t blame the ranchers for not wanting wolves to prey on their cattle, but does that give them the right to wipe them all out? There’s a balance in nature that removing predators disrupts.

What angers Joe the most, though, is waste. This is where he makes a point when he spots an elk head on the wall of one of the rancher’s homes. It’s a unique elk that either that rancher or one of his hands killed just for the mount on the wall, leaving the remainder of the elk to rot when it wasn’t even hunting season. The meat could feed quite a number of people. Even here, where I live, there are lists of people who get deer or moose that are hit by cars so the meat doesn’t go to waste. Poachers who have their meat seized will find it donated to soup kitchens once their cases have been concluded.

It’s nice to see a bit more background about Joe’s wife, Mary Beth. I knew from the previous book that they met and married in college, but here we see her as a more rounded character. She had a past and things she believed in before she met Joe. Even though for the most part she’s a wife and mother now, she’s not a wilting violet who’s going to stand by quietly. She is a force to be reckoned with and Joe respects her and gives her space to work through things on her own. At the same time, when she can be of help he struggles briefly with the idea of her being in danger, but she makes the decision ultimately. When she offers her opinion about Stewie, Joe listens to her rather than dismissing her as just defending a past love.

I listened to the audio of Savage Run on the drive back from Washington DC. David Chandler is a good narrator who conveys the tone of the book quite well. The characters each have their own tones without becoming laughable. He conveys tension and suspense without adding something to the story that’s not there.

I’m enjoying this series so far. I think Savage Run is a great book that shows the good and evil on both sides of environmental issues, and that it’s not a fight that has any easy answers. The characters continue to work well and are fun to follow. If you haven’t started this series, I think you’ll enjoy it. The books are just the right size to be enjoyed while driving or on vacation.

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