The Crossroads
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Feb 24, 2026
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
“Raining here, but I’ve got a cup of hot tea and a Joe Pickett novel, so who has it better than me?” —Stephen King
Game warden Joe Pickett fights for his life as his daughters try to uncover who shot him and left him for dead in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C. J. Box.
Marybeth Pickett gets the call she has always dreaded: her husband Joe is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.
Joe was found in his pickup at Antler Creek Junction, a crossroads connecting three ranches. Each road leading to a dangerous family. Each family with a different bone to pick with the local game warden. Marybeth and the new sheriff assume that Joe was ambushed by one of the families, but they have no idea which one since Joe didn’t say where he was going or why.
With Joe unconscious and fighting for his life with Marybeth at his side, Sheridan, April, and Lucy split up and investigate each of families to uncover the truth of what happened to their father, before it’s too late.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Box's predictable latest thriller featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett (after Battle Mountain) puts Joe's daughters center stage. At the outset, Joe's wife Marybeth gets a call from a hunter informing her that a bullet-riddled Game and Fish vehicle, possibly Joe's, was spotted on an isolated road with somebody inside. Joe is soon identified as the victim, and his wounds, including a traumatic brain injury, have left him in a coma. While Joe recovers, his adult daughters Sheridan, April, and Lucy set out to find his assailants. Box identifies the culprits early on as a pair of dim-witted guns-for-hire named Dorn Peddy and James Dale O'Bryan but keeps the identity of the person who hired them a mystery. Unfortunately, Peddy and O'Bryan prove to be uninspiring antagonists, and Joe's daughters aren't particularly competent sleuths, taking far too long to identify the mastermind behind the assassination plot. This will leave series fans longing for Pickett's glory days.
