✍ Scribed by C. J. Box
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
“A nonstop thrill ride.” —Harlan Coben
A twelve-year-old girl and her younger brother are on the run in the Idaho woods, pursued by four men they have just watched commit murder—four men who know exactly who William and Annie are. And where their mother lives.
“Grade ‘A’ . . . don’t miss it.” __ — Rocky Mountain News
Retired policemen from Los Angeles, the killers easily persuade the local sheriff to let them lead the search for the missing children. Now there’s nowhere left for William and Annie to hide . . . and no one they can trust. Until they meet Jess Rawlins.
“A thriller with a heart.” — The Boston Globe
Rawlins, an old-school rancher, knows trouble when he sees it. But he is only one against four men who will stop at nothing to silence their witnesses. What these ex-cops do not know is just how far Rawlins will go to protect William and Annie . . . and see that justice is done.
At the start of this overly complicated thriller from bestseller Box, his first stand-alone, siblings Annie and William Taylor, ages 12 and 10, witness a gruesome murder in the woods outside the small Idaho town of Kootenai Bay, nicknamed Blue Heaven for its abundance of retired LAPD officers. Annie and William make a run for it after they're spotted by the killers, a group of crooked LAPD cops who retired to Idaho eight years earlier after pulling a complicated heist in California that left a man dead. Rancher Jess Rawlins becomes the children's only hope of survival after they take refuge in his barn. Jess must stay one step ahead of the killers, who have volunteered to help the local authorities investigate the children's disappearance. Annie and William's mother is frantic, as the scheming officers try to persuade her the children are gone for good. A subplot involving a retired California detective pursuing the original robbery case adds too many extra characters and undercuts the suspense. Readers expecting the same brisk story lines as the author's Joe Pickett crime novels (Free Fire , etc.) will be disappointed. *100,000 first printing; author tour. (Jan.) *
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“John Bedford Lloyd’s rich, distinctive voice brings a strong sense of power to his reading of Box’s first stand-alone thriller…Lloyd’s crisp, laconic delivery easily handles a multitude of characters, accents and shifting points of view, creating just the right tone for the material and drawing the listener deep into the action of the story. He portrays his villains (a band of dirty ex-cops) with just the right amount of ruthless menace without going overboard, and he perfectly captures the essence of the aging rancher, imbuing him with the quiet strength and dignity of an iconic western hero.” – Publishers Weekly , Starred Review
“Blue Heaven is a non-stop thrill ride—a provocative suspense novel that has you rooting for the characters every step of the way.”—Harlan Coben, author of The Woods
“Blue Heaven is a relentless thriller. C.J. Box sucked me in with good cops, bad cops, and missing money, then blind-sided me with unexpected twists and surprises in this novel of clashing cultures and dark secrets. Box delivers the goods!”—Robert Crais, author of The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel
“Blue Heaven is one of the best thrillers of the year, and it kept me up most of the night, the way few books have ever done. C.J. Box owes me a night’s sleep!”—Tess Gerritsen, author of The Mephisto Club
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