Vicious Circle by C. J. Box

Joe Picket is is looking for a missing man.  He doesn't know why he left his camp site leaving all the food, beer and guns behind.  But he knows it must be serious.  Someone must be after him.  When he goes up in a plane with a heat sensor and other officials, they find the man a long ways from camp.  Unfortunately they lead his killers directly to his location...

Penguin Group let me read this book for review (thank you).  It is being published March 21st.

There's a family in town that Joe has had trouble with before.  The youngest one has just gotten out of jail and he's pretty sure the dead man overheard something in the bar they were in that got him killed.  If he didn't know for sure, the death of the bartender tends to confirm the fact that he and his friends were up to something.  That something is to get revenge on Joe.

This is like a family of rattlesnakes.  They feel unjustly accused, take everything as a slight and believe that Joe killed in cold blood even if it was self-defense.  Nothing will stop them from the vicious circle they travel in.

With a crooked cop, someone running the show from far away, a meth head killer and more, there's plenty of action.  It amazed me that more people didn't get killed before this story was over.  They attempted to kill Joe's daughters and wife, burned his house down, and were after Joe himself.

There's tension all through the story.  You aren't sure how it's going to turn out or who will be still be standing but you keep reading.  I hope the next book in this series is a bit calmer.  I hate holding my breath while reading.