C. J. Box Books in Order
C. J. Box is an American crime and thriller author best known for the Joe Pickett series following a Wyoming game warden who keeps finding himself in the middle of investigations that go beyond the scope of his job. C. J. Box is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose debut, Open Season, won four Best First Novel awards including the Anthony and Barry Awards, and whose standalone Blue Heaven won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. His books have been translated into more than 27 languages and have sold over twenty million copies worldwide.
This page lists all C. J. Box books in order, including the Joe Pickett series, the Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell series, standalone novels, and short stories.
Latest C. J. Box Books
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Joe Pickett Series (Books in Order)
The Joe Pickett series follows Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, who goes regularly on patrol on the public lands of Twelve Sleep County and keeps stumbling into cases that go well beyond poaching and wildlife violations. Corrupt officials, environmental cover-ups, violent outsiders are just some of the things he comes across in addition to threats to his own family.
Joe is an average man rather than a typical thriller hero. He is married with daughters, and he also admits he is a lousy shot. The series is set in the Mountain West, and the Wyoming terrain is the main background of the books. Nate Romanowski, a former Special Forces operative turned falconer with a complicated past, is a recurring character who becomes more important as the series goes on.
Reading Order
- Open Season, 2001
- Savage Run, 2002
- Winterkill, 2003
- Trophy Hunt, 2004
- Dull Knife, 2011
- Out of Range, 2005
- In Plain Sight, 2006
- Free Fire, 2007
- Blood Trail, 2008
- Below Zero, 2009
- Nowhere to Run, 2010
- Cold Wind, 2011
- The Master Falconer, 2011
- Force of Nature, 2012
- Breaking Point, 2013
- Stone Cold, 2014
- Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country, 2014
- Endangered, 2015
- Off the Grid, 2016
- Vicious Circle, 2017
- Disappeared, 2018
- Wolf Pack, 2019
- Long Range, 2020
- Dark Sky, 2021
- Shadows Reel, 2022
- Storm Watch, 2023
- Three-Inch Teeth, 2024
- Battle Mountain, 2025
- The Crossroads, 2026
Other Joe Pickett Books
Cody Hoyt / Cassie Dewell Series (Books in Order)
The Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell series begins with troubled investigator Cody Hoyt and his rookie partner Cassie Dewell tracking violent crimes across the Montana and Wyoming backcountry. The series features a more isolated version of the Mountain West than the Joe Pickett books, and its focus is more on serial crime and the vulnerabilities of people living in such remote places.
The Highway was adapted into ABC’s Big Sky television series. Back of Beyond introduces Cody Hoyt, and Cassie eventually takes over as the main character, working as a private investigator starting from Badlands, while already becoming an important character in The Highway.
Reading Order
- Back of Beyond, 2011
- The Highway, 2013
- Badlands, 2015
- Paradise Valley, 2017
- The Bitterroots, 2019
- Treasure State, 2022
Standalone Novels
- Blue Heaven, 2008
- Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, 2009
- Inherit the Dead, 2013 (with Lee Child, Mary Higgins Clark, John Connolly, Jonathan Santlofer, and Lisa Unger)
Novellas and Short Stories
- Honor & …, 2018 (with Sandra Brown)
- Pronghorns of the Third Reich, 2012 (Bibliomysteries)
Short Story Collections and Anthologies
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2006, 2006
- Once Upon a Crime, 2009
- Hook, Line & Sinister, 2010
- Live Noir or Die Trying (Damn Near Dead #2), 2010
- Mysterious Writers: The Many Facets of Mystery Writing, 2010
- Inherit the Dead, 2013
- Death Sentences, 2014
- The Highway Kind, 2016
- Best American Mystery Stories 2017, 2017
- MatchUp, 2017 (edited by Lee Child)
- Murder, They Wrote, 2018
- Gather at the River, 2019
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2020, 2020
- Birds of Prey, 2022
- Killin’ Time in San Diego 2023, 2023
- Hard Country, 2026
Non-Fiction Books
- Travel Smart: Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, 1998 (with Paul Otteson)
C.J. Box Biography
C. J. Box is an American crime and thriller author whose work includes the Joe Pickett series, the Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell series, several standalone novels, and short stories. He has published more than 30 books since his debut, Open Season, in 2001.
Official website: cjbox.net
Born in 1958 in Casper, Wyoming, Charles James Box, Jr. grew up in the state and has lived there most of his life. He graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in Mass Communications, then spent several years as a reporter and editor at a small newspaper in Saratoga, Wyoming. Before writing full-time, he also worked as a ranch hand, fishing guide, and surveyor, and co-owned an international tourism marketing firm with his wife Laurie.
That background in rural Wyoming inspired his books, as the Joe Pickett series is known for the real-life portrayal of the job of game wardens. As a result, C.J. Box has received a certificate of appreciation from the Wyoming Game Warden Association for his accurate portrayal of this profession.
Open Season started the Joe Pickett series, and it immediately became a bestseller, winning four Best First Novel awards. Blue Heaven, his first standalone novel, won the Edgar Award for Best Novel the year after its publication. In addition, he has also won two Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America for Off the Grid and Dark Sky, as well as the Western Heritage Award for Literature from the National Cowboy Museum. He has been executive producer on two television adaptations of his work: Big Sky, which was based on the Cassie Dewell series, and Joe Pickett.
In addition, C. J. Box is a frequent public speaker on outdoor and wildlife issues, and over the years, he has served on the board of directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and the Wyoming Humanities Council. He currently lives with his family in Wyoming.
C.J. Box Book Adaptations
- Cody Hoyt / Cassie Dewell series – adapted into the television series Big Sky (2020–2023)
- Joe Pickett series – adapted into the television series Joe Pickett (2021–2023)
C.J. Box Awards and Honors
Awards
- Open Season – Anthony Award for Best First Novel (2002)
- Open Season – Barry Award for Best First Novel (2002)
- Open Season – Macavity Award for Best First Novel (2002)
- Open Season – Gumshoe Award for Best First Novel (2002)
- Blue Heaven – Edgar Award for Best Novel (2009)
- Blue Heaven – Prix Calibre .38, France (2009)
- Badlands – Barry Award for Best Novel (2016)
- National Cowboy Museum Western Heritage Award for Literature (2016)
- Off the Grid – Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel, Western Writers of America (2017)
- Breaking Point— Falcon Award, Japan (2021)
- Dark Sky – Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel, Western Writers of America (2022)
Nominations and Shortlists
- Open Season – Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller (2002)
- Open Season – Edgar Award for Best First Novel (2002)
- Free Fire – Lefty Award (Rocky Mountain Region) (2008)
- Nowhere to Run – Barry Award for Best Novel (2011)
Just Read the book .. stop Whining about spelling …Great books …. Audio books don’t have
Spelling ,punctuation problems.. only thing is you loose your place when you fall asleep
And you wake up to find out were you were at. Humm chapter 4 or 6 LOL
People whine about everything . Spelling .who’s doing What .President s , writer’s
And how the person is driving the car next to you .
Bless all you perfect people .why not try the other people’s job next time.
Sure glad most of my posts, remarks gets lost in space to the Internet LOL
Just finished the newest Joe Picket book “Disappeared”. Another great story with
the usual twists, turns and surprises. Left a lot of unanswered questions and
story lines. Can’t wait for the new book in the series. Any idea when it will be
coming out?
Le Sauvage Noble is available within “Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country” (a collection which is widely available through public libraries).
That’s good to know, I couldn’t find it anywhere.
I’ve read them all, have them all, and will read them again in a few years!
I love the Joe Pickett series! I have read them all and looking forward to the next one. Would like to know when that will be?
Please keep them coming. Like Nate very much too.
Would like to see April a little more congenial. She would be much happier. Lol.
Thank you for these wonderful books that all family members can enjoy.
So how come April dies in Winterkill but is going out with Dallas Cates in Endangered?
Need to read the books in between…………
April dies but no body was ever found? Hmm…
My husband and I have read All the Joe Picket books thus far and have preordered the newest one…we love these books. Besides enjoying CJ Box’s style of writing and his characters, we especially enjoy the terrain and locations he writes about. We lived in several cities in Wyoming over 12 years and can’t get over how many places he mentions that we experienced…we laugh and say “we didn’t realize there were so many murders in our little towns.”
We will be sad after we have finished all the different series. These books have made for many interesting conversations!
A few typos in the titles here. Winterkill. In Plain Sight. I really love this site, I am sad to see title typos here and there.
Jennifer you can’t say there’s a typo in a name, as the author has created the story title meaning that they know what it’s called an if it’s right. That’s is the right way to spell WinterKill, unless you mean that he was suppose to put a space, which he wasn’t as he created the book title. In Plain Sight is correct as Plane is a thing that flies in the sky. Sight and In is spelt correct. So you’re in the wrong as for typos, not the author
spelt….? I thought spelt was a grain. Perhaps spelled is the correct word to use?
Both forms are correct. It depends on where you live. Americans prefer the spelled form, while Europeans (especially Brits) rather use the spelt form.
Will we see the end of the Lizard King?
Have read Badlands. Loved it. My first C. J.Box book. It needs a sequel. Hope to find out what happens with the Lizard King.
Where does Pronghorns of the Third Reich fit?