In THE CROSSROADS, the 26th installment in C. J. Box’s Joe Pickett series, our favorite game warden is out of commission and fighting for his life as his wife and daughters are determined to find justice for him while praying for his recovery.

On November 15th, Marybeth Pickett receives the phone call that she has dreaded for over 20 years. Her husband, Joe, was found in his pickup truck at Antler Creek Junction parked just before a crossroads connecting to one of three ranches where he may have been heading. His vehicle was shot multiple times, and he took bullets to the head and body. An anonymous phone call tipped off the authorities, and at first it looked like he was a goner.

"THE CROSSROADS is yet another example of the stellar work that C.J. Box has done with this series. These books continue to be must-reads that are not to be missed."

Fortunately, Joe is being taken to the best hospital in Billings, Montana, with a chance to save his life. Marybeth contacts their three daughters --- Sheridan, April and Lucy --- who are supposed to hold down the fort at their home base while she flies to Billings. However, they are filled with the same spunk and stubbornness as their father and refuse to sit by idly. They meet with the new sheriff, who agrees to use their assistance as long as they don’t cross the line. Lucy has worked with a private investigator and is well-skilled in various cases, while Sheridan and April are no shrinking violets.

Box does a masterful job of keeping all of these storylines in the air, as well as stepping back in time to see what cases Joe was working on that may have put him in danger. We also hear from the two hired thugs who were supposed to finish him off but failed to do so. Since his vehicle was stopped at a point where it’s impossible to know which turn he was planning to make at the upcoming crossroads, his daughters decide to split up visits to the three nearby ranches, each of which is owned by wealthy and unfriendly landowners who have their own problems with the law, specifically Joe. But which of them hated him enough to hire someone to kill him?

One ranch is owned by billionaire Michael Thompson and his wife, Brandy, who are planning some type of top-secret development that they are keeping very close to the vest. Next is the property owned by John and Shelby Bucholz, who have a cattle company that appears to be a front for something far more sinister. Finally, there is the ranch owned by sisters Lisa and Lainie McElwee, who are rumored to be running an illegal drug trade.

We see Joe and later one of his daughters visit these locations, and it is a true toss-up as to which landowner put the hit on him. It creates a brilliant murder mystery whereby the victim is somehow still alive but is unable to assist due to the emergency surgery and possible self-induced coma he may be facing to save his life.

No one can be trusted in this story, and once the hitmen learn that Joe is still alive, they plan to head to the hospital to finish the job. THE CROSSROADS is yet another example of the stellar work that C. J. Box has done with this series. These books continue to be must-reads that are not to be missed.