Blue Heaven

BLUE HEAVEN; C. J. Box; New York: St. Martin's, 2007; 344pgs.; Fiction.

C. J. Box, whom we already love for his Joe Pickett mysteries, has outdone himself in this stand-alone thriller about a twelve-year-old girl and her brother on the run in the Idaho
woods after they witness a murder. Even when they think they have been rescued, Annie
and William discover treachery in a neighbor and escape again to hide in Jess Rawlins' barn.
Jess, a rancher clinging to his father and grandfather's land with the last of his dwindling
resources, takes the children in but then doesn't know how to protect them because the police investigation has been taken over by the murderers. Blue Heaven starts with a bang and
pushes forward with unremitting suspense until it reaches a bloody climax and a totally tender and astonishing ending. Bonuses include Box's evocation of the landscape of the Rockies,
and the creation of villains the Mountain West loves to hate: Californians and realtors (complete with purple polo shirts and tasseled loafers).

LW