Why read Open Season?

Book cover of Open Season

Book description

Winner of 2009's highly coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel
Winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel
Winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best First Novel
Winner of the Barry Award for Best First Novel
Winner of the Macavity Award for Best First Novel

There's nothing unusual about…

Explore

Topics

Wyoming

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

3 authors picked Open Season as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Berrick Ford

Author

The protagonist, Joe Picket, is a game warden in Wyoming. I learned so much about his job stopping poachers, and about life in rural Wyoming, but the story is also so well written with a warmth and humanity that some crime novels lack.

I loved that he was a father with two young children, not earning very much in the career he loves, with all the stresses of modern life and a difficult and often dangerous job.

There are 26 books in the series, the most recent came out in March 2026.

From Berrick's list on criminally good crime writers that you may not have heard of.

Randy Overbeck

Author

I have never been to the untamed lands of Wyoming and Montana but after reading this and other books by C J Box, this region certainly moved to the top of my travel list. This author is so adept at transporting readers into his scenes, I felt the biting cold of the wind off the Bighorn Mountains, experienced the chafing of riding my horse up and down the valleys and mountains, heard bullets sing through the air and tasted the bile in my own throat at seeing an animal mutilated.

This is the first entry in this bestselling mystery/adventure series,…

From Randy's list on transport readers to a place and time.

Ted Galdi

Author

While many action heroes are soldiers or cops, Joe Pickett is in charge of animals. He’s a game warden in Wyoming. A cool twist on the genre.

He lacks the combat skillset of many other action heroes, also unique. But he has a rugged determination that makes him a great lead. And he cares a lot about protecting his family, which makes you root for him.

In Open Season, a dead body ends up in Joe’s backyard. He unravels a web involving a large gas company and an endangered species. It eventually jeopardizes his family. Joe doesn’t hesitate to…

From Ted's list on action thrillers with rule-breaking heroes.