Blood Trail is the eighth book in author C.J. Box’s series about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. Although there are many ties in this book to earlier events, I think it also stands on its own pretty well. You could pick up the series here, but the earlier books in the series are so good, why would you want to?

As the Special Investigator to the Governor, Joe Pickett is called to investigate when a local hunter is brutally murdered, along with local law enforcement. The hunter was hunting with his son and some of his son’s friends, who were soldiers just back from the Middle East. They found his father murdered, strung up, and field-dressed. It looks like it might be the work of a known anti-hunting activist. This isn’t the first killing like this, but the Governor was hoping that they were isolated incidents. Instead, he’s now facing the fact that there’s a serial killer out there targeting hunters. This threatens to close down the hunting season and cut off all of the funding from it.

The Governor sends not just Joe and the new local Game Warden to work on this, but also Randy Pope, who is the head of the Department of Fish & Game. He’s a typical bureaucrat who has had it in for Joe over the years. For some reason, he does a complete about-face and seems willing to work alongside Joe to solve the murders. When the Governor says he’s hired a well-known tracker to help them track down the murderer, Joe is skeptical. He pleads for the Governor to arrange the release of his friend, Nate Romanowski, who is currently in federal custody. At first, the governor refuses, but when there’s an incident that gets the famous tracker killed, he’s more willing. Now Joe has to wonder if Nate will be true to his word and help him find the killer, especially when it seems he’s friends with the prime suspect.

Nothing was as it seemed in Blood Trail, and I liked that. From Randy Pope to Nate Romanowski, no one is showing their entire hand. I kept wondering exactly what was going on. It wasn’t until the very end that it all made sense. Unlike other books in the series, we get to hear the perspective of the murderer. There aren’t many clues at first as to why this person is targeting hunters to be killed, until the threads that tie the victims together start to be revealed. It all does make sense in the end and is a tragedy in the long run. Lives could have been saved if some people were honest about what they knew about the situation. People don’t always think straight, though, and when there’s a potential scandal out there, they will make foolish choices as they try to stop the truth from coming out.

It was hard seeing Joe have doubts about Nate. Since the character was introduced, Nate has always had Joe’s back. Joe has misgivings about the man once he’s negotiated his release. I don’t think Joe ever really wanted to entertain the idea that Nate was manipulating the situation, but Joe has seen betrayal from people he’s trusted before, and he’s realistic about what people are like.

C.J. Box also addresses the debate surrounding hunting in a rather clever way. An overeager teacher allows the anti-hunting activist to talk to her class. Joe’s oldest daughter, Sheridan, is a student in that class. Sheridan listens to him, then answers him based on her own knowledge from being exposed to wildlife and what happens to them. It’s not as simple as people think. Yes, we are encroaching more and more into the territory that used to belong to wildlife, but without hunting controlling the populations of certain species, there would be more problems once the herds were overpopulated. I’ve never had an issue with hunting for meat and find myself agreeing with Sheridan for the most part. She can be a whiny teenager at times, but this interaction shows how much her father has influenced her.

Once again, the audiobook is narrated by David Chandler. He’s a great narrator as he manages to create voices for each character that feel authentic. There are times I feel like he tries too hard, such as giving Sheridan more of an attitude in her voice. A couple of times, I could only imagine how my parents would have reacted had I answered him with the tone he gave her. I think she has a typical teenager attitude, but she also respects both her mother and father.

Blood Trail was a good mystery. How it unraveled was quite good. I enjoyed listening to it and will continue with the series. C.J. Box did a great job creating a mystery that I did not figure out until close to the end. The characters are all good, and having Joe question if Nate is as loyal to him as he thinks also felt right. Let’s face it, Joe got Nate caught in the previous book. Although Joe promised he would get him out, there’s no reason for Nate not to believe the Feds will keep him imprisoned for as long as they can. This part of it wraps up about how I expected it would. Going forward, it will be interesting to see where this friendship goes.

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