In today’s post, mystery aficionado and Hard Word Book Club host Scott Montgomery reviews C.J. Box’s newest novel, Nowhere to Run. Box will be at BookPeople on Thursday, April 8th at 7PM.
Structure isn’t discussed much when it comes to praising an author. It isn’t as romantic as lyricism, dialog, or mood; it’s considered to be more craft than art. Another reason is that, quite simply, many authors aren’t known for it. CJ Box’s latest Joe Picket book, Nowhere To Run, proves he’s an artist at structure.
He breaks the book down into three fluid sections, beginning with one of the most terrifying reads- when our game warden is stalked by two mountain men in unfamiliar country. He boils the situation down to it’s base elements, building tension and dread. It’s very rare to fear for the the life of a series character, but it’s pulled off here. In the second section, Box starts unpeeling the layers. He balances the questions and answers to who his adversaries are, tying it in with the disappearance of an Olympic runner and introduces some characters that could possibly be more villainous. Then he drops a bomb of information right before the showdown in the conclusion. Here Box creates that confrontation as a mix of western, thriller, and noir concerning dilemmas of life and choice that lead to one final emotional punch.
Because of his strong sense of structure, Box can allow the messiness of Pickett’s everyday life to seep into the story. The beats dealing with family and the father are well placed, and only work because of his fine sense of plot. They actually add to the tension as Joe struggles to balance it all. As an author who knows his character, he realizes it’s moments like these that make Pickett a protagonist to root for.
Oddly enough, in Nowhere to Run, CJ Box creates one of his most unique books by paring down the expected genre to its basest elements. The suspense is honed to a point bordering on horror. He unravels the plot like a political thriller, and gives us a show down that can run with any classic western. Box’s newest has strong, clean action, believable characterization that never stalls the story, and great structure.
–Scott Montgomery
BookPeople 