Box made his name with his superlative series about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. In January, he published his first stand-alone thriller, Blue Heaven, which reworked some of his familiar western motifs for a wider audience. With Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, another stand-alone, Box leaves the countryside behind for a Denver, Colorado, cul-de-sac. The premise is a corker: an infertile couple adopts a baby and gives it a loving home, only to be informed that, due to a technicality, the 18-year-old biological father will be taking the 9-month-old baby back. Making matters even worse, there's something creepy about the young man, whose father is a powerful judge. It's a premise that will enthrall any parent and promises another terrific read. But whether it's his two-book-a-year pace or the change of scenery, Box seems unsure of his footing. The body count seems out of scale even despite what's at stake, and the ultimate revelation is both somewhat predictable and slightly preposterous. Despite strong suspense and some gripping scenes, this lacks the authentic voice that has informed his previous works it's almost as if Box is trying to be another Harlan Coben. We can't blame him for trying something different, but while he's an OK Coben, he's a terrific C. J. Box. This may win him some new fans, but it may leave some loyalists cold.--Graff, Keir Copyright 2008 Booklist

Bestseller Box (Blue Heaven) explores an adoptive parent's worst nightmare in this compelling stand-alone thriller. Jack McGuane, an employee of Denver's convention and visitors bureau, and his wife suddenly discover that demonic Garrett Morland, the birth father of their dearly loved nine-month-old daughter, Angelina, didn't sign away his parental rights. Garrett and his powerful father, a sitting federal judge, give the McGuanes three weeks to return Angelina. In this bleak scenario, Box eschews facile sentimentality and meticulously builds pitch-perfect characterizations, notably that of McGuane, who grew up with uneducated but hard-working parents on a series of Montana ranches. Box's equally convincing villains-gangsters, murderers, child pornographers-each provide a different face of evil, and each individual has to decide how best to get at the truth. As usual, Box blessedly reasserts that whatever the cost, such truth exists, and ordinary folk have the strength to find it. Author tour. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Jack and Melissa's dreams are shattered when the birth father of their newly adopted Angelina comes calling with seemingly sinister intentions. Box is the multiaward-winning author of Blue Heaven and the Joe Pickett series. National tour. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.