Back of Beyond Quotes

“Jim Harrison’s novels, John McPhee’s nonfiction, Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, and the crime novels of John Sandford, Ken Bruen, and T. Jefferson Parker. His books”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“I’ll tell anyone who will listen,” he said softly. “What I can’t figure out is why everybody doesn’t do it. Look for the best, I mean. It’s easy, and it makes life go easier.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“forehead on the top of the steering wheel. Then the pain stopped and, as if he were welcoming an old friend, he could feel the familiar warmth radiate through him starting with his chest and spreading out to his arms and legs and head. It was as if he was filling his tank”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Once he finally built those bookshelves, he could showcase an impressive collection. But he never got around to it.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Jim Harrison’s novels, John McPhee’s nonfiction, Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, and the crime novels of John Sandford, Ken Bruen, and T. Jefferson Parker.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Dakota shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but something is. You look ahead of us at all those people on horses in this setting, and you think, what a perfect thing. But what you don’t know is what’s going on in everyone’s head, and what they might be thinking about everyone else. “That,” she said, “is the reason I prefer horses.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“This just seems wrong,” Cody said, lifting green branches out of the way of the idling F-250. “It is wrong,” Bull Mitchell said, revving the motor on his chain saw to keep it running. He was haloed by oily blue smoke. “Breaking into a national park seems like breaking into a church,” Cody said. Mitchell snorted and said, “That’s a result of too much indoctrination in public school and too many Disney shows. It’s great country—you’ll see—but it isn’t all sweetness and light. Charlie the Lonesome Cougar would happily take a chunk out of Bambi’s tender throat. This place will eat you up and spit you out if you’re ever off your guard. Especially where we’re going.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Her dad said, “Why didn’t you wake me up and tell me?” Gracie looked over, her eyes dead. “I wasn’t sure whose tent you were in.” “Meow,” Danielle whispered. Her dad turned red and looked quickly away. Gracie felt both good and ashamed at the same time. She expected a glare from Rachel, but the woman eyed her stoically. As if assessing her for later.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“When Cody looked out over the vista of green carpeted saddle slopes with tree-choked river valleys, massive red-veined geological upthrusts that bordered the eastern horizon until they gave up and became mountains, and the vast sprawling tableau of Yellowstone Lake miles ahead and below them, he said, “What big country.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Outside the tent, it was cold, still, clear, and breathtakingly beautiful. Bright white sun danced on the ripples of Yellowstone Lake and electrified the dew in the grass. A bald eagle cruised along the surface of the water, talons dropped, fishing. Far across the water was the smudge of an island in the lake. Boils of steam rose from vents and dissipated in the clear morning air. She smelled woodsmoke from the fire and heard subdued voices from the kitchen camp.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Her eyes blazed in the semidarkness. “You’re breaking every damn rule you’ve ever told me about,” she said. “You’ve got something going on here or else you’ve just lost your damn mind.” He started to speak but she cut him off. “Never leave the guests to tend the fire at night,” she said. She lowered her voice and added a low drawl to mimic his cadence as much as possible. “Gently encourage the guests to take their socializing to the tents and wait them out if necessary so you can secure the camp and make sure there’s no food or anything around to draw animals in, then put the fire out with water. Then do a walk-around to double-check the night checklist. Last, make sure the animals are fine.” He hated when she mocked him.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Framed by the pulsing wig-wag lights that painted the stone walls and arched windows of the front of the Gallatin Gateway Inn in vivid reds and blues, Cody Hoyt tossed the duffel he’d saved into the back of his Ford. He had trouble breathing due to the smoke inhalation and he coughed violently and spattered the back windows with globules of black sputum.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“And I’ll want to ride ahead from time to time to make sure we don’t get into a situation where we get rim-rocked.” “Rim-rocked?” she asked. “It means riding or climbing up into rocks and boulders but not being able to get back down,” he said.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“He melded into the crowd, sidling around them so they wouldn’t look at his singed butt, and the more he thought about it the more he realized he was glad he hadn’t had access to his badge. He retrieved his clothing and the saddlebag and melded into the night.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“He looked up to make sure everyone was paying attention. They were, although only Tristan Glode and K. W. Wilson seemed rapt. The rest looked pliable.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“After a few minutes, Rachel Mina stood up and announced she was going to her tent for the night. She said it in a way that made it obvious she expected Ted Sullivan to go with her. Obvious, that is, for everyone except Ted Sullivan, who took a bottle from Knox and took another swig. “Before you go,” Jed said, “I wanted to float a proposition. I’ll go with whatever you all decide. This is a simple majority rule deal, and I’ll go with the majority because it’s your trip.” She still eyed him with doubt and put her hands on her hips, waiting. He decided right then he’d need to either win her over or isolate her if she didn’t fall in line. It would be her choice either way it went.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Jed knew that trying to stand between a hormone-fueled teenager and his love interest was akin to walking between a grizzly sow and her cubs, and Walt didn’t look dumb enough to do either. Walt’s distraction would help Jed, though, and that’s all that mattered.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Jed focused on Tristan, and thought he had the man figured out. He seemed uncomfortable, but not because of Donna. Jed got the impression Tristan was a man used to being catered to and he fancied himself an outdoorsman but he didn’t necessarily enjoy being with other clients not in his social stratum. The joshing and passing of the bottles didn’t amuse him but he knew enough about human nature to know if he got up and left he’d be talked about and made the butt of jokes. So he stayed and endured and simply hoped the night would break up early. Tristan had made it clear to Jed he’d studied their route in advance and was as familiar with it as anyone could be.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“She grunted her assent. He said, sotto voce, “And don’t forget you’ve got a mission tonight.” “Which tent is his?” she asked softly. That meant she was still with him, even though she was angry. But she still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “The blue and green Mountain Hardwear.” “The one with the stain on the side of it?” “That’s the one.” She nodded that she understood.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Sullivan sat with his head down and his arms hanging between his legs, as if he’d received a slip of paper in a game of charades that said Dejected.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Jed McCarthy liked the way the situation was shaping up. He considered himself a kind of master of managing group dynamics, and he had once again proved himself right. He tried not to act too smug or vainglorious about it, although it wasn’t easy.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“He knew he wouldn’t sleep. Couldn’t. The things Larry had told him swirled around the dark ceiling, darting in and out of his consciousness. He hoped strands of what he knew would somehow miraculously connect and he’d sit bolt upright with an epiphany and suddenly know the connections as well as the answers. Didn’t happen.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Larry didn’t agree, but he didn’t argue.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Cody nodded, then said, “Hmmm,” so Larry would know he was listening.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Cody nodded as if Larry could see him. He could hear Larry shuffling papers.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“She lay brooding in the dark for hours. Occasionally, she could hear a whoop or laugh from the direction of the campfire. Danielle’s breathing got deeper and she slept the sleep of the dead and Gracie wished she’d gotten that snake from Dakota. She’d never hated her father before.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Danielle narrowed her eyes at her sister and said, “This time I’m not going up to that stupid toilet. I’ll be back in a second. Don’t try to steal Justin away, as if you could.” After she was gone, Gracie and Justin sat together uncomfortably. Or at least Gracie did. Justin said, “Your sister seems nice.” “She isn’t.” Justin chuckled. “I guess what I mean is she could be nice, if she tried.” “Don’t count on it,” Gracie said, warming to him. “I know her.” “There’s good in everybody, Gracie.” She looked over to see if he was serious. He was. He said, “I always expect the best out of people. I think when you do that, you get the best most of the time. I just kind of bump along, expecting the best, and good things just happen. That’s my secret.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Gracie sat quietly while Justin and Danielle talked. She eavesdropped halfheartedly, absorbed with re-creating the incident up at the latrine that Danielle seemed to have already forgotten. Something had happened up there that bothered her, because it suggested someone on the trip had an agenda besides the adventure itself. It reminded her that people could be evil, something she believed more and more the older she got. Danielle, however, was at her charming best. Subjects ranged from their schools to Facebook pages to sports, television shows, and bands. Gracie found herself rolling her eyes each time Danielle and Justin discovered more and more common bonds. When Danielle mentioned their parents were divorced, Justin said, “Shit, mine too.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Gracie wished she’d unpacked her heavier jacket because when the sun doused behind the mountains the temperature dropped a quick twenty degrees or more within minutes, as if the thin mountain air was incapable of retaining the afternoon heat. She thought about going back to her tent to dig out her hoodie, but the instant darkness didn’t encourage a trip and the warmth and light of the campfire held her in place as if it had strong gravitational pull.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond

“Rachel Mina was single. She didn’t indicate whether she was divorced, widowed, or never married. A hospital administrator on leave from Chicago. She was thirty-seven and weighed 115 pounds. In Cody’s experience, that meant he should add a few years and at least ten pounds, so he scratched in “40” and “125” on the page. Mina indicated she was a vegetarian (fish was okay) and intermediate rider. She wrote: “Discovery tour.” He wondered what “on leave” meant. His first thought was she seemed to be the only one of the clients thus far who might have had the free time—and means—to visit homes in four states and leave bodies and ashes behind. But a woman, and a single one at that? Discovery tour, Cody mouthed, squinting through smoke at the page. It sounded phony and new-agey, he thought. Or facetious. And an interaction between a hospital administrator and Hank Winters seemed possible. He placed her application aside from the others into what he thought of as the hot stack.”
― C.J. Box, Back Of Beyond