Joe Pickett’s latest adventure has him trekking across Wyoming in search of missing elk hunters. Soon, author C.J. Box will go on his own adventure to promote his latest Pickett novel and get firsthand feedback from his fans.
“Battle Mountain,” the 25th book in the Joe Pickett series, will go on sale on Feb. 25. It continues the story of the Wyoming game warden and follows up on the events of the previous novel, “Three-Inch Teeth.”
“It’s a contemporary thriller, with national and statewide implications, set in modern-day Wyoming,” Box told Cowboy State Daily.
To promote the book, Box will be doing an old-fashioned book tour starting in Sun City West, Arizona, on Feb. 24. He’ll visit libraries, museums, and book festivals in Texas, Indiana, Missouri, Colorado, and Iowa, along with a few stops in Wyoming.
For Box, going on tour is an excellent chance to see how the Wyoming setting of the Joe Pickett novels resonates with readers of his increasingly successful series. Sometimes, the old ways are still best, just like life in the Cowboy State.
“I get the big benefit of getting immediate feedback on the books, and it attracts new readers,” he said. “If book tours didn’t work, the publishers wouldn’t have me do them.”
Converging Stories
According to its official description, “Battle Mountain” is a novel with “a mixture of suspense, the outdoors, and family relationships at its core. " Box said his book follows Pickett and one of the series’ other major characters, Nate Romanowski.
“It's more of a Nate Romanowski book than a Joe Pickett book,” he said. “It’s a continuation of the last story. Nate Romanowski is going for revenge against a guy who attacked his family, so he's going across the state to find clues about where this guy is.”
Meanwhile, Joe Pickett receives an assignment from the governor of Wyoming to find a couple of missing elk hunters. One of the hunters is the governor’s son-in-law, so Pickett’s discretion is key to completing the mission.
Pickett and Romanowski’s journeys converge at Battle Mountain, where they encounter a gathering of “The Centurians,” a fictional cabal of major players in the military-industrial complex. That’s their target, although neither of them is aware of it.
Once again, Box didn’t need to look far from home to find inspiration for the story of “Battle Mountain.” He based the fictional story on actual events that occur in the vicinity of the actual Battle Mountain.
“There’s a gathering that happens every year, where hundreds of CEOs, generals, and astronauts go to a certain dude ranch near Saratoga,” he said. “I always try to incorporate things people are talking about - what I overhear in the grocery store or the post office. I can pick up the direction of things nationally at these Wyoming places.”
Tour De Force
The 12-stop book tour for “Battle Mountain” will be a rarity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Box is excited to travel and meet Joe Pickett fans in person.
“There were no tours for two years,” he said. “I did all my interviews on Zoom and wondered if that had the same impact as being in person. I get a big benefit because I get immediate feedback on the books from different parts of the country.”
Box has had several novels debut at the top of the New York Times bestsellers lists for hardcover and eBooks. Book tours help boost first-week sales, although the quality of the writing plays a significant factor, too.
In an age where serialized novels are experiencing stagnant or declining sales, each installment of the Joe Pickett series has increased sales and readership. Box said he discussed the “unusual” trend in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
“One of the things they wanted to talk about was the fact that I do a lot of podcasts with nonbook audiences, like rodeo, fly fishing, and hunting,” he said. “I did The MeatEater Podcast last year, and that got a lot of new readers. That’s part of growing the readership for each book.”
These appearances make Box all the more enthusiastic for the upcoming book tour. He can see how his Wyoming stories are connecting with a national audience.
“I don't write agenda books by any means,” he said. “I just try to reflect the reality of the state, the culture, and the social things that go on in Wyoming. That resonates with a lot of readers in the state and makes Wyoming seem even more exotic and unique outside the state.”
Wy-Know-Ing
The “Battle Mountain” book tour will take Box to several state capitals, but he never overlooks his core audience in the Cowboy State. He’ll also make stops in Casper, Cheyenne and Rawlins during the first week of March.
Box knows the Joe Pickett series has a “special resonance” with Wyoming readers, which he tries to indulge for his local audience.
“Events in the book occur in real communities that Wyoming readers know,” he said. “I also use a lot of local names, so anytime someone in Wyoming picks up one of these books, they won’t recognize the characters or the real people, but they’ll know the names.”
The Next Step
“Battle Mountain” hasn’t hit bookshelves yet, but it’s already old news for Box. He admitted that he’s already halfway finished with the next Joe Pickett novel.
“Battle Mountain was written last summer, and I submitted it to my publisher in August,” he said. “Publishing is a very slow process, so I start on the next book as soon as I turn in the current one.”
Box hinted that he wants to explore the unique dynamic of Wyoming stakeholders and federal land ownership in future novels. Fans have consistently expressed their fascination with how many Wyomingites interact with federal employees on a daily basis.
“That is absolutely unheard of in states where there is no public land, and public agencies aren’t running 50% of the state,” he said. “Those questions come up a lot on the road because most people in the East don't realize that the federal government owns half of the West. The tension and interaction with federal agencies is fascinating to them.”
The success of the Joe Pickett series is a testament to how Wyoming’s small-town scuffles and statewide scandals have a national appeal. That’s why Box never worries about finding inspiration for his work.
“So many issues, controversies, and themes bubble up in Wyoming before they do in other places,” he said. “There's just so much going on that I’ll never run out of ideas. All I have to do is look up.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
