(Originally published 2010, Paperback edition 324 pages)
The 24-year-old Mike Bowditch is into his first year as a Maine Game Warden in
Knox County which borders our coast. This story, however, isn't about our
picture-postcard ocean scenery. Estranged from his less-than-ideal, divorced
dad, the rookie warden has some major unresolved issues revolving around their
relationship. When a company lawyer and a deputy are ambushed and murdered in
the more rural wilds of the county, Mike's dad becomes the prime suspect and a
manhunt ensues. Mr. Doiron does a very good job, through flashbacks, of fleshing
out the rocky father-and-son relationship. The author also accurately describes
the life of a Game Warden and the beauty as well as uglier aspects of the rural,
rustic parts of our State. Along with positive characteristics such as New
England sensibilities, a low violent crime rate, and a less hectic pace than
metropolitan areas, poaching and harsh poverty are also very much a part of
Maine's character that most tourists never see.
Bowditch is not portrayed as some coastal Sherlock Holmes or having the killing instincts of James Bond. He come across as an all-too-human, young man who just wants to do what's right. Bowditch doesn't wind up figuring out obscure clues that the State officers missed and he also has help from a retired Game Warden pilot in an effort to find and exonerate his dad. It made for a much more believable story. Unlike an Agatha Christie novel which is more disciplined in laying out clues throughout the mystery, Mr. Doiron has successfully written a more complex story and not simply a straight-forward whodunit. There were plenty of unlikable suspects in this mystery whom I hoped were going to be the culprits. Heck, there were a few characters that I wouldn't have minded being killed in a brutal way.
Mr. Doiron's book was so entertaining, I finished it within a few days. I most certainly will be reading his second work "Trespasser" which also revolves around Mike Bowditch. The book is excellent and not a story that only Mainers will enjoy.
Bowditch is not portrayed as some coastal Sherlock Holmes or having the killing instincts of James Bond. He come across as an all-too-human, young man who just wants to do what's right. Bowditch doesn't wind up figuring out obscure clues that the State officers missed and he also has help from a retired Game Warden pilot in an effort to find and exonerate his dad. It made for a much more believable story. Unlike an Agatha Christie novel which is more disciplined in laying out clues throughout the mystery, Mr. Doiron has successfully written a more complex story and not simply a straight-forward whodunit. There were plenty of unlikable suspects in this mystery whom I hoped were going to be the culprits. Heck, there were a few characters that I wouldn't have minded being killed in a brutal way.
Mr. Doiron's book was so entertaining, I finished it within a few days. I most certainly will be reading his second work "Trespasser" which also revolves around Mike Bowditch. The book is excellent and not a story that only Mainers will enjoy.
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