Paradise Valley: A Highway Novel (Highway Quartet) by C.J. Box (Epub)

Description

For three years, Investigator Cassie Dewell has been on a hunt for a serial killer known as the Lizard King whose hunting grounds are the highways and truck stops where runaways and prostitutes are most likely to vanish. Cassie almost caught him…once.

Working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff’s department, Cassie has set what she believes is the perfect trap and she has lured him and his truck to a depot. But the plan goes horribly wrong, and the blame falls on Cassie. Disgraced, she loses her job and investigation into her role is put into motion.

At the same time, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled kid whom Cassie has taken under her wing, has disappeared after telling people that he’s going off on a long-planned adventure. Kyle’s grandmother begs Cassie to find him and, with nothing else to do, Cassie agrees―all the while hunting the truck driver.

Now Cassie is a lone wolf. And in the same way that two streams converge into a river, Kyle’s disappearance may have a more sinister meaning than anyone realizes. With no allies, no support, and only her own wits to rely on, Cassie must take down a killer who is as ruthless as he is cunning. But can she do it alone, without losing her own humanity or her own life?

User’s Reviews

Review Praise for Paradise Valley:”Thrilling plot, evocative setting, deep characterization; this book has them all.” ―Reviewing the Evidence”[Box has] crafted fascinating characters and put them in riveting, challenging circumstances that test their mettle and threaten their worlds.” ―The Durango HeraldPraise for Badlands:“Suspenseful―you can’t put it down.” ―Library Journal (starred)“Brilliant…the most effective of his thriller since his Edgar-winning Blue Heaven.” –Booklist (starred)”A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural…The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read.” –Kirkus Reviews “Fascinating…Box is a master.” –The Denver Post”Absorbing…strong and compelling.” –Minneapolis Star Tribune”Intriguing…An enthralling thriller.” –Associated Press”Box’s latest thriller burnishes his reputation as the dean of contemporary Western suspense.” –BookPage”Cassie Dewell is a complex and multi-faceted protagonist who is one of the more interesting characters to emerge from the thriller genre over the past couple of years.” –Book Reporter

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ “You and me, we know what it’s like to look out at the world from a dark place. And when people see us coming they see something damaged.”C.J. Box is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read every book he’s written, I do believe, and he’s one of the few authors I keep in my permanent library.Just to refresh my memory, I went back and re-read the first three books of this HIGHWAY QUARTET series – BACK OF BEYOND, THE HIGHWAY and BADLANDS. I am so glad I did because I enjoyed them just as much this time around as I did when they first came out.I’ve always said that Box’s Joe Pickett series was my favorite of his but after re-reading the first three books and then PARADISE VALLEY, I just am not as sure any more because this series is seriously bal*s to the wall. Action packed, full of unforgettable characters, set in countryside that I love – well, the balance is teetering toward the HIGHWAY QUARTET side of the greatness scale.Cassie Dewell has been working for the Bakken County Sheriff’s Department as their Chief Investigator for three years in Grimstad, North Dakota and is being pushed by her boss, the Sheriff, to consider running for his position when he retires shortly. The oil boom is now in a slump in their area so things have calmed down a bit since Cassie, her son and mother first moved there. So Cassie has been finding plenty of time to try and track down the Lizard King, the long-haul trucker serial killer that slipped through her fingers three years previously.I love the character of Cassie. She’s not perfect but she’s a bulldog when she’s on the trail of bad guys. I also love the character of Kyle, the boy with fetal alcohol syndrome, who was also in BADLANDS and plays a major part in this book.I know that this is called the HIGHWAY QUARTET series but I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of Cassie. I hope C.J. Box continues her story like he has that of Joe Pickett.I received this book from St. Martin’s Press through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

⭐ I’ve been looking forward to reading PARADISE VALLEY by C.J Box.I’m not going to rehash how great Cassie is as an investigator, how evil and deviant the Lizard King is, or even the plot—you can read that in the great reviews others have written. I will tell you I started reading the book Saturday evening, thinking I would get in a few chapters before bed time. The next thing I know it’s 2am in the morning and I’m still turning pages—anxiously. I wasn’t going to be able to go to bed until I knew how this story would end. At 4am as I read the last sentence in the book, I thought to myself “Damn that man can write!”If you’re a reader of mysteries/suspense, love strong female protagonists who are relatable, want to see the world through evil-deviant eyes, a fan of C.J Box, hell if you’re fan of awesome writing read PARADISE VALLEY. I would recommend starting with The Highway and then Badlands to fully immerse yourself in Cassie’s journey.

⭐ There are two stories at the start of this book. In the first, Chief Investigator Cassandra “Cassie” Dewell is working closely with the North Dakota Bakken County’s sheriff department to apprehend a long haul trucker named Ron Pergram. If you’ve read any of Mr. Box’s earlier novels about Cassie you’ll probably recognize Pergram as a nasty fellow who calls himself the Lizard King. He claims this honorific because of his skill in capturing young women referred to a lizards who hang around truck parking lots and “service” the truck drivers when they are not on the road. Cassie has been tracking Pergram and has some excellent leads on where and when he’ll be coming through this particular North Dakota county. The plan falls through and Cassie is blamed for the debacle which follows his attempted capture. She loses her job but this doesn’t slow her down. Instead, she assumes the roll of independent private investigator and resumes her pursuit of Pergram. The other story is about Kyle Westergaard, a boy whom Cassie has taken under her wing. Kyle, and a buddy named Raheem Johnson, are bored with their lives and want to take an adventurous trip down the Missouri River. So they “borrow” a flat bottom boat and, with some meager supplies, head south in the mode of Huckleberry Finn, dreaming of excitement in such places as New Orleans. It was about this point in the book that I figured where the plot was heading: Cassie, the Lizard King, and the river-born boys would converge. And they do for an exciting and tension-filled story. Cassie has such a huge geographic area to search but in a stroke of good detective work she enlists the help of a retired sheriff named Bull Mitchell. Bull knows the Pergram family and helps Cassie quickly zero in on Pergram’s likely hideout when he’s not hauling cargo on the highways. Meanwhile, we learn of Pergram’s base camp located in the ironically named Paradise Valley where he has four different persons imprisoned: Kyle, Raheem, and two women named Tiffany and Amanda. It’s sometimes difficult to read about Pergram’s sadistic treatment of these people, using tight collars with implanted electronic devices that he connects with a remote controller. The ending is exciting and tension-filled with justice meted out to the Lizard King in a most appropriate manner.

⭐ Cassie Dewell, a deputy sheriff in Bakken County North Dakota, is obsessed with capturing the Lizard King, a man who abducts women in truck stops and sexually abuses and kills them. She came close one time but he escaped so she has set up an elaborate scheme to bring him down for good. When the plan fails she becomes a scapegoat and is dismissed from her position in the department. She continues the investigation on her own while at the same time two young boys, friends of her own son disappear and she vows to solve their disappearance as well.This book is well written as are all of the authors books and it kept my interest until it started to wane about two thirds of the way through the book. The characters are well fleshed out and the plot tightly written but I found the last part of the story lacking and the conclusion a disappointment. The Lizard King is truly a horrific human being but the impact of his cruelty and sadistic behavior just did not seem to shock or terrify the reader as it seems it should. Toward the conclusion of the story he almost becomes a pathetic lost soul searching for the real family he never had. This is one of four books comprising the “highway series” and i do plan on reading them.

⭐ Most definitely five stars worthy as Cassie, with bulldog determination, once again pursued the Lizard King throughout several western states that brought one of her mentors best friends out of induced retirement to assist her. The storylines are unsurpassed in their outstanding descriptiveness of each and every exciting episode. Too, the Author’s successful selection of characters definitely portrays their uncanny assignments from beginning to end. Having retired from law enforcement, I was definitely impressed with the ongoing exciting missions, and how they continuously reflected the normal law enforcement investigative techniques! I have read several of the Cody Hoyt/Cassie Sewell series, but this is definitely the very best. To bad Cody met his demise before Cassie was able to fulfill their dreams and bring the Lizard King to justice. Outstanding camaraderie among the good guys, and some very bad good guys add trouble to Cassie’s outstanding investigative techniques.Normally a fast moving western is my forte, but this is one of, if not, the best books I have had the opportunity to follow. Without hesitation, I definitely recommend outstanding descriptive, and intriguing, presentation by one of the greatest storytellers of all times. Believe me when I say you will be the loser if you don’t follow Cassie, and crew, when they continuously keep the readers on the edge of their seat from beginning to end!!!

⭐ This was a culmination of a three book series detailing the quest of a single law enforcement officer to eliminate a single villain. Normally, I would find find three books to do this excessive, but Box fills in enough otherwise and adventures, and job changes, that the failure to get the bad guy at the end only makes it so the next book starts with suspense.Because each book builds on the previous, and this book is a culmination of a storyline, the characters start out well fleshed. Even the new ones. Their reasons for being are obvious, and what they do makes sense, sometimes in a bit of a twisted way.The trope is in some ways old – this is a murder mystery, set in today’s world of drugs and automobiles. It has some dramatic contrasts – old style cowboys riding to the rescue, women as law enforcement, computers, and cell phones as essential tools. And through it all, relationships that turn the tables, harden the protagonists, and eventually, lead to an explosive ending.

⭐ Love C.J. Box stories. This one was a continuance of The Lizard King from, his books Back of Beyond and Highway about a creepy truck driver who kidnaps women from Truck stops or wherever else he can find one that will go with him or that he can nab. He is a cross country murderer that they have never been able to catch. They caught him once but he got off on a technicality so he was set free and Cassie Newell was determined to get him permanently this time. I started this 29 chapter book on a Sunday afternoon and read a couple chapters but had to go somewhere and then read the rest Mobday…HAD to keep reading!! Great read….I also LOVE Box’s Joe Pickett stories. I have read all his books and loved each and every one of them! Great Wyoming man! :)Love the descriptions CJ gives on the areas. Being from ND am very familiar with Montana & Wyoming. Lived in Sheridan for 5 years & had 2 children there!! Love C.J.Box & am anxious for his next one with Joe Picket & Nate!!

⭐ This is the third book in the Highway Quartet series by the author. At the beginning of the book, we find Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Cassie Dewell preparing a trap to finally capture the Lizard King. when the law enforcement sting turns deadly and kills several deputies, including Cassie’s fiance, Cassie finds herself blamed for the fiasco and as a result, resigns from the force.In the meantime, Ronald Pergram, the Lizard King, has picked up a total of four victims, a prostitute, a housewife, and two teenagers and is traveling to Paradise Valley in Montana.The Lizard King feels safe since he thinks law enforcement feels he perished in the explosion he rigged. Cassie is looking for the teenagers and comes across clues that the Lizard King is still alive.As the story unfolds, the Lizard King is about to find out Cassie is relentless.

⭐ This is the 4th book in the Cody Hoyt/Cassie Duwell series, and my favorite so far. One thing I like about CJ Box novels is that they engage you very quickly. Box reintroduced a few characters from previous novels, and does a great job incorporating the Montana scenery into the story. My only complaint about this and other Box novels is that the endings seem abrupt, he needs to add another short chapter for “closure”. Otherwise, I’m enjoying this series. You don’t have to read them in order, but it makes more sense if you do. I haven’t read the last book in the series, The Bitterroots, but will do so soon. In order of preference I’d rate these: Paradise Valley, The Highway (the 2nd book & one that Blue Sky is based on), Back from Beyond and Badlands.

⭐ CJ Box brought back another dark and thrilling novel involving the “Lizard King.” Cassie Dewell is a deputy sheriff in Bakken County North Dakota and she is obsessed with capturing this vicious serial killer. Cassie Dewell has a history with this this mad man and has seen him on a prior investigation.A Tin Lazard is a prostitute that works the trucker’s rest spots. The Lazard King is obsessed with kidnapping these women. He tortures them and subsequently kills them. This series is dark, gritty, and not for the faint of heart.C.J. Box is an excellent writer. This book had many great twists and things the reader will not see coming. The characters and plot are superior. Ronald Pergram (The Lizard King) is not only evil, but also a psychopath.C.J. Box skillfully documented about life and personalities in the rocky mountain states. He also documented police procedures, the criminal investigation, and personality disorders.I recommend reading the Cassie Dewell series in the respective order.I highly recommend this page turner, along with all of C.J.Box’s novels.

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