location for the annual meeting of the Centurions, a small group of the nation’s most powerful political and business leaders. They get together for a week of partying, networking, and rituals resembling what you’d find at a college fraternity. Unfortunately for them, Soledad intends to fatally crash their party. He has recruited a collection of disgruntled young activists and highly trained ex-military veterans with grudges against the “establishment.” Soledad has used his charisma to radicalize these disparate types into a deadly fighting unit.

While Soledad plots, and Nate and Geronimo pursue, Joe Pickett is also on Soledad’s trail, although he is entirely unaware of what Soledad is doing. Instead, the governor of Wyoming asked Joe to find Mark Eisele, his missing son-in-law. Eisele is a novice elk-hunting guide who has been taken captive by Soledad’s followers when he and his boss get too close to Soledad’s lair. Soledad is holed up in an abandoned mining town on Battle Mountain, as Joe, Nate, and Geronimo close in on his location. (Bad guys in Joe Pickett novels always seem to find remote ghost towns to hide out in.)  

The author shifts his point of view from chapter to chapter among Joe, Soledad, Nate, and Geronimo, building suspense en route to an explosive finale. The villains here are deranged but plausible. Soledad is able to play on the veterans’ legitimate grievances over their combat experiences and subsequent treatment and twist that into a blanket condemnation of the “establishment,” as exemplified by the gathering of the Centurions. A little of that sort of rhetoric goes a long way, and the author overdoes it a bit. Still, he humanizes some of the vets who fall under Soledad’s sway. That makes the final showdown more suspenseful and morally complex.

Battle Mountain also shows readers the more routine side of Joe Pickett’s duties. Joe is as adept at preventing trouble as he is at stopping it, and his regular duties are entertaining to observe for those unfamiliar with his job. In one of the book’s more entertaining sequences, Joe encounters the hunters that Eisele and his boss were supposed to meet. They think they’ve been stood up and are furious, but Joe talks them down. The author makes the book’s mundane scenes almost as interesting as the action sequences. Similarly, as often happens in the Pickett novels, the author provides some insight into falconry. Nate and Geronimo turn their birds loose on some chukars, a tasty game bird known as the “devil bird” for its ability to avoid pursuers. Despite the chukars’ reputation, Nate, Geronimo, and their falcons soon bag dinner for the evening, while readers learn more about the region’s fascinating wildlife.  

Long-time readers of the Pickett novels know that Joe’s family often plays a key role in the action. His wife Marybeth and daughter Sheridan show up and provide some background research, but their role is somewhat limited. They get involved in one confrontation with one of Soledad’s armed followers, but the situation gets resolved a bit too easily. The novel’s structure, which has much of the action taking place in and around Battle Mountain, limits their involvement in the storyline, but the author could have let their scenes play out a bit more.

Battle Mountain is an entertaining action novel that should please C. J. Box’s fans. It has all the requisite elements: a dangerous villain, good detective work by Joe, Nate, and Geronimo, some unexpected plot twists, and a great, explosive final showdown. There’s a little too much political grandstanding by Soledad, and not enough of Marybeth and Sheridan, but overall, the excitement and suspense levels remain high throughout the story. This book could easily be adapted into a terrific action film. Joe Pickett and friends are still as entertaining as ever.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.