Three-Inch Teeth by C.J. Box

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on February 27, 2024

When C.J. Box isn’t pandering to readers who are outraged about windmills and their deep state fantasies, he’s capable of writing entertaining stories. Three-Inch Teeth stays away from politics, apart from adding local color with phrases like “libtard” and “Hollywood elites.” It wouldn’t be authentic to depict Wyoming without portraying the extremism that infects a large share of the state’s residents. The only real-world political issue in the story’s background is an ongoing gripe by private landowners that people who cross from public land to public land by stepping from one adjacent corner to another are “trespassing” on their private land when their elbows invade private airspace. A momentary incursion by elbows is harmful why? I guess you need to live in Wyoming to understand.

A political issue that only exists in the context of the novel involves a race for sheriff between two candidates who, like most sheriffs, have not impressed series protagonist Joe Pickett. One of the candidates will play a surprising role in the story.

Joe is a game warden who spends most of his time dealing with violent criminals rather than unlicensed hunters. Dallas Cates will be familiar to readers who have followed the series. Cates is a rodeo cowboy who is famed in Wyoming for winning a bunch of rodeo trophies. He’s also famed for committing crimes and being caught by Joe and his buddy Nate Romanowski, as was chronicled in a couple of earlier novels in this series. He has a grudge against Joe and Nate, as well as the prosecutor and judge who sent him to prison. His release makes it possible to seek vengeance.

Cates is joined by another villain from novels past. Three-Inch Teeth is a bad guy’s reunion.

The book starts with a grizzly bear attack on a young man who plans to propose to Joe’s daughter. Series readers will be familiar with the young man and Pickett’s daughter Sheridan, who is too good for the young man, at least from Joe’s perspective (and probably from Sheridan’s).

The plot follows Cates as he engages in a far-fetched murder spree using simulated bear attacks to kill his victims. The means he uses to commit the crime seem too complex to be workable but hey, by modern thriller standards, the murders are almost credible.

Box’s stories are often infused with violence but this one is bloodier than most. A supporting cast of characters that has developed over the years is significantly reduced by the end of the book. A surviving bad guy sets up more mayhem in the future.

Box keeps the story moving, creates a reasonable amount of tension, and is true to his characters. Joe continues to plod along until he gets the job done, displaying no discernable personality as he does so, while Nate is a psychopath who does the dirty work while Joe looks the other way. The story is entertaining and, while I would be tempted to recommend it just to applaud Box for avoiding silly references to culture war issues, the novel earned a recommendation on its merits.

RECOMMENDED