Back of Beyond, by C.J. Box

Back of Beyond (2011), written by C.J. Box is a standalone novel set in Montana, 400 pages told in third person narrative. Sorry to say but I was disappointed. This novel had a terrific start with an interesting lead before it fell apart and lost my interest. Cody Hoyt is a troubled cop. He lost his badge in Denver and moved back to Helena, Montana to be near his family. He now works for the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Department.

I’m a sucker for flawed characters and he’s been saddled with some heavy baggage/serious issues: alcoholic (check), rogue cop (check) from a white trash family (his words). He’s divorced with one son, Justin, who is the only good thing in his life he managed to produce even though his ex-wife gets the credit for raising him. Cody admits to hardly ever spending any time with him and the gifts he sends often come from the evidence room. His son noted the tags on some of the items. Nice.

The momentum and writing in the first part of the story was excellent. Cody wrestling with his need for alcohol after being on the wagon for two months grabbed my attention immediately. Then when his partner, Larry, meets up with him at the cabin where a body’s been reported, it got even more interesting when we learn that the victim happened to be someone Cody knows, who helped him stay sober and he has plans to go after the bastard full guns blazing. But then you have some in house fighting between the coroner and the sheriff, both elected officials and it’s in their best interest that the case is classified as an “accident” but of course it’s up to the coroner. Cody sees this as a homicide and manages to convince Larry of the same but Larry is reluctant to see it that way without more digging.

It gets better. Cody goes on a drinking binge and does something unbelievable that finds him on suspension with pay pending an investigation. I thought to myself: so much for that fresh start of his. The writing up to this point was great. Too bad the author couldn’t keep it going. Cody decides to investigate further on his own as a citizen. He’s told to stay away from the case but there’s more at stake here for Cody. Larry and Cody sift through the evidence and somehow make a giant leap as to the killer’s whereabouts based on the info they find on the victim’s computer. That kind of pushed up against my limits of disbelief but I went along.

Seems the killer might have taken off to Yellowstone Park – to the back of beyond, the most remote area of the park where there’s no cell signal. Cody’s son is on this pack trip at Yellowstone with his soon-to-be step-father who Cody dubs as “His Richness.” So, there’s more invested in Cody being there to find the killer and save his son. After the first part of the story closes though, that’s when things went downhill really fast.

Why oh why did we need to get up close and personal with the people on this trip to Yellowstone park. WHY. With one giggly teen who is a total b*tch to her sister. WHY. None of them were interesting. None of them. Between the inane narrative of the Yellowstone park people on the trip which bored me to tears and Cody and Larry still trying to figure out a pattern and motive for the killer (which I wanted to follow) – all of that made up the second half of the book. All I could do is shake my head. I just couldn’t believe this book fell apart like this.

Needless to say I got over my disappointment and tried to skim/read a few pages more. Came across a scene where Cody has someone stalking him at a hotel while he’s en route to Yellowstone Park. Of course using the same m.o. that was used to kill the guy in the cabin – gasoline and a match. Right. I closed the book for good at that point. Admittedly, I can be harsh when I read books that disappoint me and this book was a major disappointment. Never mind this is my first time reading this author.

I can’t grade this book since I refuse to finish it. I can say that the beginning was excellent and showed promise and I did like Cody Hoyt, flaws and all. I tend to like damaged people so don’t judge me. The story had potential, I just wish it was structured differently. Also the novel did have some predictable patterns and I would love to speculate on what I missed but I won’t. However, I’m getting tired of books that start off great and then fall apart in the middle like this. To me this book fell apart after starting off so well. Maybe the story ended well, maybe not, I don’t know. I don’t care to find out either after reading over half the book already. Back of Beyond is agency priced and I bought it. I wouldn’t mind giving this author another shot (with his other series) but it won’t be anytime soon.