Cathy C. (cathyskye) - , reviewed on 1/23/2021 + 2260 more book reviews

Taking place during Montana's "Summer of Fire," C.J. Box's The Bitterroots is a story that has the sudden, ferocious power of a sledgehammer. When Cassie Dewell tells someone where she's going, she's told "You have no idea what kind of... snake pit you're going to fall into," and that's the honest truth. The smoke of countless forest fires may obscure the Kleinsassers' sinister grip on the county in which they reside, but the acrid stench of the smoke gives them away. Even the name of their property-- the Iron Cross Ranch-- has an ominous ring to it.

Cassie Dewell faces one challenge of escalating intensity after another, but, folks, she's put down her Denise Mina novel, and she's determined to get to the bottom of things simply because the other side is overplaying their hand. These challenges are humiliating, shocking, infuriating... and I would have done exactly what she did. (Some folks don't react well to intimidation.) The only qualm I had was that, for the single mother of a teenage boy, Cassie went much farther out on a limb than she should have.

The Kleinsassers are a family of vipers, and I wanted to see Cassie bring them down. One person remarks, "We seem to be witnessing the Olympics of family dysfunction right here in Montana." Some of the Kleinsasser revelations didn't surprise me one bit, and I cheered Cassie on to the very last page.

As always, the setting has an important role in Box's novels. Readers will experience the Summer of Fire in the steep mountains and deep valleys of northwestern Montana close to the Idaho border, but they will also learn a bit of history. This is the land of the Big Hole Battlefield, where Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce fought for their freedom, and Box's story does justice to the landscape and history of the area.

Now begins the wait for Cassie Dewell's next investigation.

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