My affection for the book series by author Paul Doiron about Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch led to the recommendation of this series. I was fortunate that all of the audiobook recordings were available on my Audible account. It’s become another favorite series about another Game Warden, Joe Pickett, who works in the mountains of Wyoming.

In Out of Range, Joe finds himself temporarily assigned to Jackson, Wyoming, after the suicide of the district’s Game Warden. Jackson is quite different from the remote Big Horn Mountains of Twelve Sleep County, where Joe normally patrols. Almost immediately, he is confronted by a developer who wants Joe to give his okay to a new housing development. The suicide of his friend is still on his mind as well. Will Jensen seemed to be much like Joe, although nearly everyone says that he changed in the last few months before his suicide. Joe is not convinced that his friend committed suicide, but with the body cremated and no autopsy, there’s little to go on except his suspicions.

The separation is not good for Joe’s marriage. Mary Beth is holding down the fort back in Saddlestring, but there are issues. Their daughter, Sheridan, is becoming a teenager with all of the complications that go along with that. In addition, there are mysterious phone calls being made to the Pickett home. In the days before caller ID, it is a bit disturbing to answer the phone to nothing except dead air. Neither Mary Beth nor Joe is convinced it’s just a prank. With Joe off in Jackson, Mary Beth turns to Nate Romanowski for help. Sheridan doesn’t like the way her mother acts when Nate is around, either.

In 2005, there were many places where cell phones didn’t work. In some places, that’s still the case. Get out into rural or mountainous areas, and you can find a signal and lose it at any moment. This is the case with Joe. He tries to keep in touch with Mary Beth, but the cell phone service of 20 years ago conspires against him and puts a strain on their marriage. Joe isn’t sure if he wants to take over Will’s district, nor if Mary Beth would prefer to live in Jackson. He can’t even discuss what is happening, as they seem to continually miss each other.

Out of Range was a great listen. The story has many facets, but the main point is that Joe is in a different environment from what he’s used to. He’s dealing with the usual selection of environmentalists, outfitters, developers, and law enforcement, just all on a much more impactful scale. Jackson is a part of Wyoming that courts the rich and famous, and the stakes are much higher than Joe is used to. Adding to that is the separation from his family, which is also weighing on him. There have been hints all along about cracks in the marriage, and I enjoyed how the situation played out. It is a typical marriage where there are misunderstandings and miscommunication, but it also helps the two of them come to realizations about their partner.

The narration by David Chandler is good, as usual. He puts some emotion in the reading and changes voices a bit for the different characters, but it’s not so overdone that it becomes silly. For instance, for the female characters, he does not talk in a high-pitched voice that sounds ridiculous. He manages to convey the story in a great way while using his voice to just touch on emotions that they would be going through.

I’ve enjoyed the series so far, and Out of Range is another strong entry in the series. It felt like the experience of being apart was necessary for both Joe and Mary Beth to appreciate their partner better. The story seems to be more about their relationship, although there are plenty of things going on both in Jackson and at home in Saddlestring that draw Joe’s attention away from his family. If you’re already invested in the series, I think you’ll be happy with Out of Range. It’s not the place to start the series, though.

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