Outlaw falconer Nate Romanowski is off the grid and out for revenge in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box. The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, but none more than Nate, who lost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to rediscover his true self. And prepare for vengeance. When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany. As Nate and Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly-cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge…at Battle Mountain. A #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestseller “[Box] keeps readers guessing about who will live and who will die as the suspenseful, fast-paced tale heads to a violent conclusion.” — Associated Press “Box’s descriptions are lyrical . . . This was my first Joe Pickett mystery: I’m hooked.” — Criminal Element “I had thought that Three-Inch Teeth was the most explosive and brutal entry in this stellar series, but Battle Mountain definitely gives it a run for the money.” — Bookreporter “Both C.J. Box and his hero Joe Pickett are as fresh and fun as ever in the 25th book in this seminal series.” — BookTrib “Box is a master of using the amazing landscapes of Wyoming to set his characters . . . Battle Mountain is yet another well crafted page-turner from C.J. Box.” — Durango Herald "Joe [Pickett] occasionally may be reckless, frequently is stubborn and regularly goes out on a limb, but his moral compass is always true north.” — Minnesota Star Tribune “With 25 books and counting, Joe Pickett has proven his salt a time or two as a seasoned game warden in the Mountain West. But as most fans could tell you, he is just getting started.” — Cowboys & Indians “There are still ample surprises in store.” — BookPage “ Battle Mountain is an explosive, highly atmospheric masterpiece of tautly woven plot lines, insane pacing, and relentless suspense. . . Fans of the series will devour Battle Mountain as I did. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy action-packed, intense suspense thrillers.” — Mystery & Suspense “In a story full of nonstop action and sure to raise your emotions, Joe Pickett manages to stay true to his mission.” — Roundup Magazine "When C.J. Box is at his best, there’s no writer alive today who can top him—and he’s brought his A-game with Battle Mountain .” — The Real Book Spy “The 25th installment of C.J. Box’s bestselling series is gritty, tense and sharp as a falcon’s talons. A story of murder and vengeance, this is a cat-and-mouse chase across a deadly mountain range.” —Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads “After 25 novels in the series, you might give an author leeway to take their foot off the gas a little. Not CJ Box, who goes at it hell-for-leather, taking no prisoners in a book that goes from zero to 60 in two paragraphs or less . . . Sleep deprivation could be on the cards though, because this author’s writing style will keep you reading, reading and reading until the final full stop.” — Crime Fiction Lover "Box is the master of landscape writing, with the reader feeling the chill of the outdoors and smelling the pine trees. He has delivered a gut-punching thriller that is both compelling and brutal in this cataclysmic war between good and evil." — FirstCLUE "[E]ngrossing and impossible to put down." — Daily Kos C. J. Box is the author of twenty-five Joe Pickett novels, eight stand-alone novels, and a story collection. He has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and two Barry awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, the Western Heritage Award for Literature, and two Spur Awards. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He has been executive producer on television series based on his books, including ABC TV’s Big Sky and Joe Pickett on Paramount+. Chapter One Seven Months Before Nate Romanowski was thigh-high in the icy water of North Piney Creek under the craggy profile of the snow-covered Wyoming Range. He was there to kill a man named Axel Soledad, whom he'd pursued in a state of unhinged fury for months. Soledad had left a trail of death and destruction behind him in his hunger for revenge against Nate and Joe Pickett. The cost had been catastrophic. Liv. The blood, the body. Nate blamed himself for his wife's death. He blamed Axel Soledad more. It was mid-April and the ice was finally breaking up. Large three-inch-thick platters of it bobbed along the surface, carried by the current. As he crossed the creek, he kept one eye upriver so he could spot the largest chun