“C.J. Box doesn’t just raise the bar with The Crossroads—he vaults over it” — Ryan Steck, The Real Book Spy and Author of Gone Dark
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It starts with the call Marybeth Pickett has always feared.
“It’s Joe’s pickup . . . He’s inside,” a deputy tells her.
“There’s a lot of blood.”
And from there, Box’s 26th Joe Pickett novel is off and running, charging fearlessly ahead as Marybeth and her daughters—Sheridan, April, and Lucy—race to find who led Joe into an ambush, and why.
After several riveting opening chapters, Box does go back in time a few weeks to show the lead-up to the moment we see in the opening, with a gravely injured and unconscious Joe Pickett, shot in his head and shoulder, barely clinging to life inside his bullet-riddled Wyoming Game and Fish department pickup truck. However, make no mistake, this book is primarily told from the perspective of Joe’s family.
Long-time fans of Box’s beloved series, who’ve been following along since Open Season was released in 2001, back when the Pickett girls were in early grade school, will relish the opportunity to see everyone back together again. It’s hard to believe that Joe and Marybeth’s girls are all grown up now, but whereas Box has found different ways to incorporate them here and there in recent books, The Crossroads marks the first time in a long while (maybe ever) that we see them all working together to carry the central part of the story.
Sheridan, the oldest, is now running Yarak Inc., the company founded by master Falconer (and Joe’s best friend) Nate Romanowski. April, who’s sporting a new haircut and piercing that her mother is less than impressed with, has been working for Private Investigator Cassie Dewell in Montana, which sets up a pretty awesome crossover moment for fans of Box’s other series (that Easter Egg was one of my favorites yet). And then there’s Lucy, who just recently returned to Laramie for her final year at Wyoming University after spending a semester abroad in Europe.
With their dad fighting for his life, and Marybeth—Joe’s rock—by his side, the Pickett girls decide to team up to find out who wanted their dad dead, and soon, they go hunting for answers.
C.J. Box doesn’t just raise the bar with The Crossroads—he vaults over it. This is one of the most emotionally charged, gut-punching entries in the entire Joe Pickett series. From the shocking opening shot to the final, heart-stopping reveal, Box keeps readers white-knuckled and breathless. But what truly sets this one apart is the emotional gravity of the Pickett girls stepping into the fire, proving that courage and grit run deep in their family’s blood. Nobody writes the modern American West—or the moral battles waged within it—like C.J. Box, whose latest offering isn’t just a great thriller, it’s a masterclass in character, tension, and storytelling.
Fans won’t just read this book—they’ll feel it.
And for my money, nothing feels quite like one of Box’s books.
Few writers can balance heart and suspense like C.J. Box. The Crossroads is both a pulse-pounding mystery and a moving portrait of a family pushed to its limits. With Joe fighting for his life and his daughters hunting the truth, Box proves once again why he’s the reigning king of the modern Western thriller. Absolutely unputdownable.
Book Details
Author: C.J. Box
Series: Joe Pickett #26
Pages: 352 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0593851099
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Release Date: February 24, 2026
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, GONE DARK, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. For even more content and book news, subscribe to The Real Book Spy Substack!