BLUE HEAVEN

TITLE: BLUE HEAVEN
AUTHOR: C.J. BOX
Pages: 344
Date: 26/03/2009
Grade: 3.5
Details: Stand-alone
Library

I'm really disappointed now that I've finished this book. I had heard great things about C.J. Box's "Joe Pickett" series and had high expectations of this work. But, either this stand-alone doesn't live up to the strenght of the series, or Box just isn't the writer for me.
I want my thrillers to grip me, hold me in suspense and ideally have a surprising twist in the tail. This story doesn't deliver on any of those points. From the very start it was clear who were the bad guys and why, and who were the innocents and/or heroes of the story. And there was no twist to change any of that. It would take a lot of convincing to make me pick up a book by this author again.
The story, in short, is as follows.
A twelve year old girl and her younger brother witness four men shoot somebody. The men spot the kids before they can get away and set out to find and silence them forcing the kids to flee. The four are retired cops and when the children's mother reports them missing, the men volunteer to be part of the search. And with the local sheriff being inexperienced, they are soon in charge of the investigation.
Only one old and reclusive rancher stands between the kids and certain dead.
Even now, the summary sounds better than the book actually is.