Cody Hoyt is a character who appears in C.J. Box’s bestselling thrillers Three Weeks to Say Goodbye and Back of Beyond.
1. He is basically a super hero. Part maverick cop, part vigilante, part alcoholic and all bad-ass. Beware evildoers! Personally I look forward to a Jeff Daniels type playing him in a movie. Cody Hoyt would make an awesome action hero.
2. He makes an amazing, if somewhat terrifying, friend. Do not voice your suspicions about other people to him over beers unless you’re quite sure; there is a very real chance they may end up deceased. Can you live with that? Doesn’t matter. Cody can.
3. He has interesting relations. Lots of people have odd uncles; not many can offer you their uncle’s services as an assassin. Oh, uncle Jeter!
4. He loves his son, and tries his best to be a good father. Which includes bringing him presents from the evidence locker, often with inventory tags still attached.
5. Despite all the brawn, he also has brains and is a gifted and tenacious detective. Of course, his tendency to go ‘off the books’ coupled with his alcohol problem means he is often paranoid to the point of seeming madness, as his police colleagues tend to find out to their disadvantage.
6. He can ride a horse. I have to admit to a particular partiality to this quality as a horse rider myself, but think about what a useful skill it will be have when the zombie apocalypse or peak oil rolls round!
7. Even in his roaring drunk episodes, Cody has a good heart. Like the time he hit an elk on the road, and having put it out of it’s misery, took it’s bloodied carcass to a local women’s refuge. Apparently they were really happy to have it, which is nice.
8. When Cody talks in his sleep, it’s always laden with expletives. Even in slumber’s embrace, he is hardcore.
9. Three Weeks to Say Goodbye – Cody’s first, memorable appearance as a friend of the beleagured McGuane family.
10. Back of Beyond – in which Cody falls off the wagon, uncovers a series of murders, goes trekking in Yellowstone National Park and saves his son’s life.
Who are your literary action heroes?
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