Thriller 'Blue' is slice of heavenly writing

Rob Thomas — 1/10/2008 9:14 am

Blue Heaven by C.J. Box, St. Martin's Minotaur, 352 pages, $24.95. C.J. Box will read from and sign copies of "Blue Heaven" at 3 p.m. Saturday at Booked for Murder, 2750 University Ave.

I wouldn't say mystery writer C.J. Box had put himself in a box with his entertaining series of six novels featuring Wyoming game warden and sleuth Joe Pickett. But a series, even a successful and well-written one, can seem confining after a while to both reader and writer and Box was clearly trying to shake up his formula a little with the last Pickett novel, "Free Fire."

Box has abandoned the formula altogether with "Blue Heaven," a Pickett-free stand-alone novel that's more suspense thriller than mystery. It's a smart move, as "Blue Heaven" showcases more of what Box can do as a writer while still giving us the memorable characters and well-choreographed action that his fans have come to expect.

This time, the action takes place in a section of Idaho nicknamed "Blue Heaven" because it's become a popular retirement spot for retired police officers from big cities like Los Angeles. The locals are of two minds about the infusion of wealthy new residents, who bring a lot of development money with them but also seek to remake the region in a more suburban image. But, as one character states, at least they're not Hollywood stars, and what could be safer than having so many ex-cops as neighbors?

A few of those ex-cops aren't quite so upstanding, though. In the opening scene of "Blue Heaven," a trio of dirty L.A. cops execute one of their own in the middle of the Idaho woods. The killing is witnessed by 10-year-old William and 12-year-old Annie, siblings off on a fishing trip. The young witnesses flee, but not before being spotted by one of the cops, and the hunt is on.

Few thrillers get off to as fast a start as "Blue Heaven," as we're barely 10 pages in before Annie and William are fleeing for their lives, unsure which adults in town they can trust and which are in league with the ex-cops. The ex-cops, meanwhile, are extremely canny, "volunteering" their services to the local police department so they can in fact oversee the search for the missing kids.

They even manage to station one of their own with William and Annie's mother, ostensibly to protect her from the media. Box gets a lot of mileage out of the kids' plight and the dread they feel in realizing that the authority figures they've been taught to turn to in times of trouble are now their worst enemies.

While following this taut chase narrative, the book also draws in the plot threads of two other characters who will figure prominently later in the novel. Raymond Villatoro is another retired police officer from a small California town still trying to find out who robbed the local race track years earlier, and who thinks he's found a lead in Idaho. And Jess Rawlins is a grizzled rancher who visibly represents the decent old ways of the region and is suspicious about some of the new blood in town. In the movie version, Sam Elliott and Tommy Lee Jones will have to duke it out to play Jess.

Box uses a suspenseful ticking-clock format to follow all the developments and give the sense that events are playing out in real time. His characterizations are stronger than ever, making every hero and every villain complex and interesting. And, naturally, he's a master at this kind of rustic setting, whether he's writing about the pristine beauty of the woods or the old coffee shop in town.

A couple of the plot points in "Blue Heaven" turn on coincidences; the meeting between future allies Villatoro and Rawlins, for example, feels utterly random. But "Blue Heaven" is definitely a step forward for Box, who has staked out his literary turf the way Tony Hillerman has the Southwest to himself.

Rob Thomas — 1/10/2008 9:14 am