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Title details for Back of Beyond by C.J. Box - Available

Back of Beyond

#1 in series

by C.J. Box
Holter Graham
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

The Edgar® Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box delivers a thriller in Back of Beyond about a troubled cop trying to save his son from a killer in Yellowstone.
Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor Hank Winters is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who's fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. Sober for fourteen years, Hank took pride in his hard-won sobriety and never hesitated to drop whatever he was doing to talk Cody off a ledge. When Cody takes a closer look at the scene of his friend's death, it becomes apparent that foul play is at hand. After years of bad behavior with his department, he's in no position to be investigating a homicide, but this man was a friend and Cody's determined to find his killer.
When clues found at the scene link the murderer to an outfitter leading tourists on a multi-day wilderness horseback trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park—a pack trip that includes his son Justin—Cody is desperate to get on their trail and stop the killer before the group heads into the wild. Among the tourists is fourteen-year-old Gracie Sullivan, an awkward but intelligent loner who begins to suspect that someone in their party is dangerous.
In a fatal cat and mouse game, where it becomes apparent the murderer is somehow aware of Cody's every move, Cody treks into the wilderness to stop a killer hell bent on ruining the only thing in his life he cares about.
C. J. Box's Back of Beyond is a Kirkus Reviews Best of the Year Mysteries title.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Cassie Dewell

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 2, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781427211354
      • File size: 318576 KB
      • Duration: 11:03:41

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 13, 2011
      In this sprawling, ambitious stand-alone from Edgar-winner Box (Three Weeks to Say Goodbye), Cody Hoyt, an investigator in the sheriff's department of Montana's Lewis and Clark County, and a (barely) recovering alcoholic, goes in search of the man who burned his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor to death. What at first appears to be a random crime broadens in scope to include multiple murders, the unresolved disappearance of a private plane in Yellowstone National Park, and a Mexican drug lord. The action culminates with a chase into the "back of beyond," a remote wilderness area of Yellowstone, where Hoyt's son, Justin, who's in his late teens, is on an expedition with his new stepfather. Box makes the rugged expanses of the American West even more palpably compelling than his largely appealing characters; he provides backstories for even the most minor ones. This padding and some improbable plot twists tend to undercut the suspense, but Box's many fans won't mind a bit. 125,000 first printing; 10-city author tour.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 26, 2011
      When dedicated Montana police detective Cody Hoyt looks into the suspicious death of his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, his investigation leads to a trek through the most remote reaches of Yellowstone National Park, and a quest to save his own son from a mysterious serial killer. Narrator Holter Graham’s renditions of the book’s characters are effective and distinct—and his portrayal of Bull Mitchell, the gruff but lovable retired trail guide, is particularly memorable. Graham also deftly handles the adolescent banter of Gracie and Danielle Sullivan, teenage sisters and tourists who find themselves caught up in a web of suspicion, danger, and murder. While the book’s twists and turns may seem over the top at times, Graham’s crisp and steady narration makes for a fun ride. The audiobook contains a bonus interview with the author. A Minotaur Books hardcover.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Cody Hoyt is the only member of the sheriff's department who is convinced that Hank Winters's fiery death in a remote Montana cabin was not suicide. But as a struggling alcoholic whose career is in a death spiral, Hoyt has little credibility. Holter Graham depicts Hoyt's sharp deductions in the midst of sporadic alcoholic fogs. Graham adds layers to Hoyt's fierce determination when he learns that his estranged teenage son may be in the killer's path. As the author describes the gorgeous scenery of Yellowstone, Graham tempts one to momentarily linger--and then wrenches one's attention back to the hunt for the killer. Hoyt's investigative partner and other key characters are voiced with color, yet Graham conceals the murderer's identity until the climax. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from October 1, 2011

      Box, author of the Joe Pickett novels (Cold Wind), features in this ripsnorter two wildly dissimilar narrators--one an alcoholic lawman, the other a nerdy teenage girl. Though a determined and skilled investigator, Cody Hoyt's disease makes him, at best, unpredictable. When Cody finds out that the person who murdered his AA sponsor might also be after his son, he frantically gives chase. Unfortunately, the unknown killer is hidden in plain sight among a group that includes perceptive, young Gracie Sullivan on a wilderness camping trip in Yellowstone National Park--the titular back of beyond. Cody's reckless pursuit, Gracie's redlining danger-meter, and Box's keen descriptions of nature result in a balanced and immensely enjoyable listen. Holter Graham's crisp, clean narration reliably differentiates Cody's cigarette-stained gruffness from the raised Canadian accents of the upper Midwest locals and admirably captures the regionalisms of other characters. An excellent choice for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, 2/21/11; the Minotaur hc, published in August, was a New York Times best seller.--Ed.]--Douglas C. Lord, Connecticut State Lib., Middletown

      Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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