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Mike Bowditch #12
Dead by Dawn
Maine game warden Mike Bowditch finds himself in a life-or-death chase in this new thriller in the bestselling mystery series by Edgar Award nominee Paul Doiron.
Maine game warden Mike Bowditch is fighting for his life. Ambushed on a darkened winter road, he plunges his Jeep into a frozen river and must escape drowning beneath the ice. Surviving the crash is only the first challenge he faces in a nightlong battle to stay alive and one step ahead of his unknown, heavily armed pursuers. To outwit them and return to his friends and family, none of whom knows where he is, Bowditch must dissect the hours leading up to the ambush and solve two riddles: who are these people who desperately want him dead and what has he done to incur their wrath?
Maine game warden Mike Bowditch is fighting for his life. Ambushed on a darkened winter road, he plunges his Jeep into a frozen river and must escape drowning beneath the ice. Surviving the crash is only the first challenge he faces in a nightlong battle to stay alive and one step ahead of his unknown, heavily armed pursuers. To outwit them and return to his friends and family, none of whom knows where he is, Bowditch must dissect the hours leading up to the ambush and solve two riddles: who are these people who desperately want him dead and what has he done to incur their wrath?
304 pages, Hardcover
First published June 29, 2021
901 people are currently reading
11130 people want to read
About the author
Paul Doiron
38 books2,279 followersPaul Doiron is the best-selling author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels set in the Maine woods.
His first book, The Poacher’s Son, won the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award and was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel. His second, Trespasser, won the 2012 Maine Literary Award. His novelette “Rabid” was a finalist for the 2019 Edgar in the Best Short Story category. Paul’s twelfth book, Dead by Dawn won the New England Society’s 2022 Book Award for Fiction, as well as his second Maine Literary Award. It was also a finalist for the Barry Award. His books have been translated into 11 languages.
Paul is the former chair of the Maine Humanities Council, Editor Emeritus of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, and a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing.
His first book, The Poacher’s Son, won the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award and was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel. His second, Trespasser, won the 2012 Maine Literary Award. His novelette “Rabid” was a finalist for the 2019 Edgar in the Best Short Story category. Paul’s twelfth book, Dead by Dawn won the New England Society’s 2022 Book Award for Fiction, as well as his second Maine Literary Award. It was also a finalist for the Barry Award. His books have been translated into 11 languages.
Paul is the former chair of the Maine Humanities Council, Editor Emeritus of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, and a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 706 reviews
May 25, 2021
The latest in the series, and works fine as a stand-alone!
The story takes off like a runaway snowmobile! The setting is in Maine with icy curved roads, and dense wooded areas. As Mike Bowditch, an investigator with the game warden navigates the road in his jeep, some darn spiked objects in the road send him off- road and plunging beneath the frozen Androscoggin River. Someone wants him dead, but first he has to survive the hyperthermia thats already setting in.
Fast-paced action with a mix of mystery, interesting and colorful villains, cold case investigations, and high octane danger.
Recommend to those who enjoy lots of action and a likeable protaganist. Orphan X (by Gregg Hurwitz) and Jane Hawk series (by Dean Koontz) fans would enjoy this one too.
Thanks to NG and Minotaur for my review copy. OUT on June 29, 2021.
The story takes off like a runaway snowmobile! The setting is in Maine with icy curved roads, and dense wooded areas. As Mike Bowditch, an investigator with the game warden navigates the road in his jeep, some darn spiked objects in the road send him off- road and plunging beneath the frozen Androscoggin River. Someone wants him dead, but first he has to survive the hyperthermia thats already setting in.
Fast-paced action with a mix of mystery, interesting and colorful villains, cold case investigations, and high octane danger.
Recommend to those who enjoy lots of action and a likeable protaganist. Orphan X (by Gregg Hurwitz) and Jane Hawk series (by Dean Koontz) fans would enjoy this one too.
Thanks to NG and Minotaur for my review copy. OUT on June 29, 2021.
April 12, 2021
I hope you enjoy DEAD BY DAWN. No book has made me as excited to get back to my writing desk each day than this one.
July 9, 2021
This is my second time visiting the wilderness of Maine with Mike Bowditch and what a ride!
Mike, a game warden investigator, is called in to reopen a cold case of drowning. He heads out on the winding roads of Maine to see some likely suspects and unexpectedly runs over a chain of spikes in the road. What an ambush…his Jeep ends up in the river and he is in for the fight of his life. No sooner does he get out of the water, with the help of his wolf, than armed persons snowmobiling start shootings.
A fast-paced book with plenty of action that puts you on the edge of your seat. Very intense. A fight for survival. Loved the part the wolf played in the story.
Don’t miss this one if you enjoy the wilderness with plenty of atmosphere!
5 out of 5 stars
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for the ARC of DEAD by DAWN in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date - June 29, 2021
June 12, 2021
Survival begins from within......and only you can flip the switch fast enough.
Paul Doiron sets his main character of Mike Bowditch, Warden Investigator in Maine, on an electrically turbo-charged adventure this time. Nothing that we've seen in the past has ever dropped Mike down so deeply into the claws of no return. A one-way ticket with a lights out atmosphere.
A call comes in from Mariette Chamberlain, a Rhodesian originally from South Africa, who has been residing with her daughter, Bibi, in the woods of Maine. She wishes to re-open the case involving the death of her father-in-law, Professor Eben Chamberlain. It appears that the professor drowned from a boating accident some time back. Mariette believes otherwise. Mike listens carefully to the woman, but he's not too sure if revisiting the case will bring about other results. He promises to interview some of the individuals related to the case and kick up some dust. Dust, no. A hornets' nest.....oh, quite possibly.
Add to this buzzin' set of circumstances is what Mike has caged in the back of his Jeep. Shadow, Mike's wolf/dog, has been sedated by the nearby vet for his check-up. A few stops along the way shouldn't take too long. Or so Mike thinks. Or so the circumstances appear on the surface. For now anyway. Until.....
Dead by Dawn is the 12th edition in this series. Not to worry. It reads with sharp overtones of a standalone any day of the week. You can always pick up a few priors here and there. But this one is like spotting a flare on the highway. Gets your attention from the get-go. (My favorite is One Last Lie #11) Doiron has created Mike Bowditch as a man that constantly tests the waters. He has a persistent nose that sniffs out anyone on the wrong foot in life. His doggedness has tried the patience of many a boss. Doesn't look like Bowditch will be turning over a new leaf any time soon.
But the chess board may be set up against Mike this time. The players are playing for keeps in Dead by Dawn. Doiron has honed some pretty hardcore characters in this one who will seriously take offense when Mike starts turning over rocks. And some of these rocks are hard-edged boulders that could easily take you out. These circumstances will push Mike to the brink where we've never seen him before. Stay tuned. Just stay tuned.....
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Paul Doiron for the opportunity.
Paul Doiron sets his main character of Mike Bowditch, Warden Investigator in Maine, on an electrically turbo-charged adventure this time. Nothing that we've seen in the past has ever dropped Mike down so deeply into the claws of no return. A one-way ticket with a lights out atmosphere.
A call comes in from Mariette Chamberlain, a Rhodesian originally from South Africa, who has been residing with her daughter, Bibi, in the woods of Maine. She wishes to re-open the case involving the death of her father-in-law, Professor Eben Chamberlain. It appears that the professor drowned from a boating accident some time back. Mariette believes otherwise. Mike listens carefully to the woman, but he's not too sure if revisiting the case will bring about other results. He promises to interview some of the individuals related to the case and kick up some dust. Dust, no. A hornets' nest.....oh, quite possibly.
Add to this buzzin' set of circumstances is what Mike has caged in the back of his Jeep. Shadow, Mike's wolf/dog, has been sedated by the nearby vet for his check-up. A few stops along the way shouldn't take too long. Or so Mike thinks. Or so the circumstances appear on the surface. For now anyway. Until.....
Dead by Dawn is the 12th edition in this series. Not to worry. It reads with sharp overtones of a standalone any day of the week. You can always pick up a few priors here and there. But this one is like spotting a flare on the highway. Gets your attention from the get-go. (My favorite is One Last Lie #11) Doiron has created Mike Bowditch as a man that constantly tests the waters. He has a persistent nose that sniffs out anyone on the wrong foot in life. His doggedness has tried the patience of many a boss. Doesn't look like Bowditch will be turning over a new leaf any time soon.
But the chess board may be set up against Mike this time. The players are playing for keeps in Dead by Dawn. Doiron has honed some pretty hardcore characters in this one who will seriously take offense when Mike starts turning over rocks. And some of these rocks are hard-edged boulders that could easily take you out. These circumstances will push Mike to the brink where we've never seen him before. Stay tuned. Just stay tuned.....
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Paul Doiron for the opportunity.
April 16, 2021
This series keeps getting better!
This is book 12 in the Mike Bowditch series and can be read as a stand-alone. That is how I stumbled, thankfully, upon this series. I started with book #9 initially not realizing it was part of a series and have read from there.
Mike Bowditch is a Maine game warden who is asked to investigate the drowning of a man. It seems clear cut. The man was duck hunting and fell into the water which was cold and rapidly moving. But his daughter-in-law is convinced that is not the case. Her father-in-law never went in a book without a personal flotation device/vest, when he is found without one on, she is convinced foul play is involved and she even gives Bowditch the "killer's name". But is she right?
As Mike begins to talk to witnesses, thing start happening FAST! He is ambushed on a dark winter road, plunges into the frozen river and he (and Shadow) must fight for survival. Not only is surviving the crash a priority, so is not becoming hypothermic while evading his heavily armed pursuers. On top of it all, no one knows where he is! But this is Mike tough-as-nails Bowditch! He may not who is after him, but he is determined to survive the night and get some answers!
I love how this story was told, with alternating chapters of Mike attempting to survive with the events that led to him being ambushed. Often with this type of storytelling, things can get confusion, but not here. It is easy to keep track of everything and in my opinion made the book even better.
This was a real page tuner for me! I could not read this book fast enough! The beginning of this book was intense! This was no slow burn! It is fast and furious! Full of tension, action, and suspense. I just had to know what was going to happen. With each gun shot, I feared for Shadow and worried was the wolf-dog going to survive? Sorry Mike, I thought of Shadow first. But of course, I also worried if Mike would survive. I had my theories as to who was hunting him. I was soo wrong! But that made the book even better. The not knowing. The guessing. The intense chapters followed by ones that cooled down the action a little to provide previous events and then you are back in the fray. As with the other books that I have read in this series, this was well written and expertly plotted. The story was riveting and exciting. I enjoyed seeing the supporting characters!
Intense, riveting and a real nail biter! Is it too soon to wish for book #13??
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own!
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
This is book 12 in the Mike Bowditch series and can be read as a stand-alone. That is how I stumbled, thankfully, upon this series. I started with book #9 initially not realizing it was part of a series and have read from there.
Mike Bowditch is a Maine game warden who is asked to investigate the drowning of a man. It seems clear cut. The man was duck hunting and fell into the water which was cold and rapidly moving. But his daughter-in-law is convinced that is not the case. Her father-in-law never went in a book without a personal flotation device/vest, when he is found without one on, she is convinced foul play is involved and she even gives Bowditch the "killer's name". But is she right?
As Mike begins to talk to witnesses, thing start happening FAST! He is ambushed on a dark winter road, plunges into the frozen river and he (and Shadow) must fight for survival. Not only is surviving the crash a priority, so is not becoming hypothermic while evading his heavily armed pursuers. On top of it all, no one knows where he is! But this is Mike tough-as-nails Bowditch! He may not who is after him, but he is determined to survive the night and get some answers!
I love how this story was told, with alternating chapters of Mike attempting to survive with the events that led to him being ambushed. Often with this type of storytelling, things can get confusion, but not here. It is easy to keep track of everything and in my opinion made the book even better.
This was a real page tuner for me! I could not read this book fast enough! The beginning of this book was intense! This was no slow burn! It is fast and furious! Full of tension, action, and suspense. I just had to know what was going to happen. With each gun shot, I feared for Shadow and worried was the wolf-dog going to survive? Sorry Mike, I thought of Shadow first. But of course, I also worried if Mike would survive. I had my theories as to who was hunting him. I was soo wrong! But that made the book even better. The not knowing. The guessing. The intense chapters followed by ones that cooled down the action a little to provide previous events and then you are back in the fray. As with the other books that I have read in this series, this was well written and expertly plotted. The story was riveting and exciting. I enjoyed seeing the supporting characters!
Intense, riveting and a real nail biter! Is it too soon to wish for book #13??
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own!
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
February 22, 2022
The back and forth chapters from past to present were a bit jarring and slowed the plot down for me. The story sort of dragged along. Love the wolfdog Shadow, and the narration was really good.
November 18, 2021
First off, I won this as a goodreads giveaway. Thank you Minotaur Books and St. Martin’s Publishing.
This is the first book I have read in the Mike Bowditch series and I am hooked. Now to read the others.
This story takes place during a Maine winter around the Christmas holiday. So this would be a good gift to give.
The story was very picturesque and me think of winters where I live, we can have snow starting in October all the way to sometimes early June. What stood out for me the most was the relationship the main character was building with the semi feral wolf named Shadow.
Take time for this one. It’s well worth the read.
This is the first book I have read in the Mike Bowditch series and I am hooked. Now to read the others.
This story takes place during a Maine winter around the Christmas holiday. So this would be a good gift to give.
The story was very picturesque and me think of winters where I live, we can have snow starting in October all the way to sometimes early June. What stood out for me the most was the relationship the main character was building with the semi feral wolf named Shadow.
Take time for this one. It’s well worth the read.
June 19, 2021
A real cat and mouse game with deadly consequences begins to happen when Mike Bowditch, a Game Ranger is asked to start reinvestigating a case of a man who was suspiciously found dead in a river years ago.
Game rangers aren’t particularly liked in these woods, and over the years, Mike has made several enemies. It is apparent that the Ranger has someone trying to kill him as he runs over a strip of nails on a dark road, loses control of his jeep, and nearly drowns in the freezing water trying to escape the accident. But that is just the beginning of his problems. He must literally try to save his life in spite of being injured, shot and nearly frozen to death, while trying to outwit those hunting him, and to find the real truth involving the man’s death on the river that had happened years ago.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio version of this book. Henry Leyva was a brilliant and believable narrator!
Game rangers aren’t particularly liked in these woods, and over the years, Mike has made several enemies. It is apparent that the Ranger has someone trying to kill him as he runs over a strip of nails on a dark road, loses control of his jeep, and nearly drowns in the freezing water trying to escape the accident. But that is just the beginning of his problems. He must literally try to save his life in spite of being injured, shot and nearly frozen to death, while trying to outwit those hunting him, and to find the real truth involving the man’s death on the river that had happened years ago.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio version of this book. Henry Leyva was a brilliant and believable narrator!
June 17, 2021
Wow! This was great. The narrator Henry Leyva was solid and added an extra bonus to the already good story. This was a skillfully written suspense that lead me through a dangerous adventure of survival. Unthinkable things happen and all of it was believable. I loved the game warden and his wolf. Mike, the game warden was a likable, relatable character with human feelings and goals. He would make a great investigator. A enjoyable story that anyone who loves a suspenseful mystery, thriller. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook.
Thanks Macmillan Audio via Netgalley.
Thanks Macmillan Audio via Netgalley.
June 15, 2023
In the twelfth installment of this series, we find Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch both solving a mystery and fighting for his life after tripping a booby trap.
The daughter of a professor sends Mike a letter asking him to come talk to her about the death of her father, and the original investigation concluded was an accident. She believes it was murder and that the police were inept. When Mike starts looking into it, he finds it hard to believe what anyone tells him. While in-between chapters of the mystery is Mike's fight to survive after wrecking his vehicle. He has no phone, and he's getting frostbite and hypothermia. Can he survive and solve the case?
This book was fast-paced and had a great plot. It does get a little repetitive at first with the survival chapters with Mike constantly mentioning that he's getting hypothermia and that he might freeze to death. The audiobook narrator did a pretty decent job. I really enjoyed it once we got into the heart of the mystery. Would recommend. Be advised that there are some homophobia and a few homophobic slurs in parts of the book from some of the side characters.
The daughter of a professor sends Mike a letter asking him to come talk to her about the death of her father, and the original investigation concluded was an accident. She believes it was murder and that the police were inept. When Mike starts looking into it, he finds it hard to believe what anyone tells him. While in-between chapters of the mystery is Mike's fight to survive after wrecking his vehicle. He has no phone, and he's getting frostbite and hypothermia. Can he survive and solve the case?
This book was fast-paced and had a great plot. It does get a little repetitive at first with the survival chapters with Mike constantly mentioning that he's getting hypothermia and that he might freeze to death. The audiobook narrator did a pretty decent job. I really enjoyed it once we got into the heart of the mystery. Would recommend. Be advised that there are some homophobia and a few homophobic slurs in parts of the book from some of the side characters.
December 13, 2022
*sigh* Ok, this is my official vow in writing that this is the last of this series that I'll read. I've been doggedly reading each book as they're released, out of a sense of obligation because of my ties to the Maine warden service and because the series is really popular with my library patrons.......but in my opinion...*looks around furtively, then covers mouth to whisper*.....they're not very good.
In every book, I can't help but feel that the main character, Mike Bowditch, is a total author-insert dream fantasy. Like, Bowditch is too perfect. Oh sure, he has flaws like being too reckless and willing to jump into danger....but that's still like a macho fantasy flaw. It's not stupid, it's badass! But aside from that....He's young and fit, he's super knowledgeable about EVERYTHING, especially anything related to knives and guns, but he's also an "old soul" who appreciates antiques and old farmhouses and history and stuff. Even though he repeatedly does stupid shit and gets in trouble, he always comes out on top and saves the day. He even got special permission to be issued a Jeep Compass instead of the standard warden pickup truck, because he wants to be able to investigate more covertly, but obviously you wouldn't just do that in a vehicle that isn't also manly and cool. Bowditch is also, like, pretty "woke", always making sure to use PC terms for minorities and making sure to give us a little aside about how enlightened he is personally about X topic, even if others don't necessarily agree with him. That's how cool he is.
And it goes with out saying that the ladies like him too.
Ok, so he's a Gary Stu character. Fine. He's definitely not alone in the detective/action/thriller genre in that regards. I could go along with it for the sake of some fun adventure, but *sigh*...
Something about the writing always annoys me. It's told in Bowditch's first-person POV, which is fine, but of course it means that Bowditch tells us stuff that doesn't really fit with the flow of the narrative. Like, every time a gun or a knife comes out, he has to tell us the make, model, caliber, or whatever other details he knows about it (which is everything).
Take, for example, the opening scene of this book. Mike Bowditch has crashed his Jeep Compass, going over a bank and into a frozen river. Oh no! Peril! Action! Shit is going down! He has to act fast to cut through the straps hold his wolf-dog's crate in the back so that Shadow doesn't drown too! He reaches for the folding knife in the front pocket of his jeans:
The Gerber 06 Auto is no gentleman's folder but a massive hunk of machined metal: an aluminum and steel bar containing a razor-sharp switchblade for use in combat. It weighs 7.1 ounces. The drop point blade, serrated at the hilt, is forged from S30V steel alloy and measures 3.6 inches from tip to finger guards. My friend Billy Cronk carried this knife on his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and survived while thousands of his fellow warriors perished. Although Billy never said so, I believe the blade may have taken lives. He gave it to me as a gift on my thirtieth birthday. His nickname for it was "The Beast."
I can almost hear the grungey heavy metal music playing in that background of this infomercial ("A massive hunk of machined metal!), while "THE BEAST" flashes across the screen in edgy diagonal font. Probably with lightning bolts crackling from the sides.
Like....WHY???? Why is it important to the narrative to stop mid-action to tell us that this knife weighs seven-point-one ounces and that the blade measures three-point-six inches? Who the hell cares? Is the author getting paid to endorse certain products in his book, so he has to include spec details straight from the catalog?
I feel like that knife paragraph really sums up how...not....good...the writing is in this book. I read these books on audio, which is probably for the best. If I was reading them on paper, then I could more easily stop to take notes about dumb things I notice in the narrative. AND I WOULD. Because there are a lot. Stupid things like a character getting struck in the face by the butt of a shotgun, and the line was something like "when you get hit by synthetic fibers, you go down". It wasn't that exact phrase (again, I wasn't note taking), but it was something about the fibers. Now, we'd already been told in detail what kind of material this shotgun stock was made from, carbon fiber or whatever, so we get what the author meant by being hit by these fibers......but it also just sounds dumb when you're trying to say some kind of clever one liner to explain why our badass hero still went down because of the fibers. That was just ONE eye-rolling description that I remember, but there were honestly so many that they kind of blend together.
I did make a note of one facepalm stupid detail toward the end of the book. These books are excessively detailed when it comes to making note of gun calibers, knife weights, clothing materials, etc that you have to think the author has a Cabelas catalog open next to his writing computer at all times. He must have a contact in the Maine Warden Service that he calls up anytime he wants to verify the details on, like, what kind of tread pattern are on their LL Bean issued boots. ALL OF THAT excessive meticulous detail........And then in the second-to-last chapter, he mentions a state trooper putting on her campaign hat and then fastening the chinstrap. The chinstrap, I tell you! *cackles* Oh man, imagine being so specific about a knife weighing seven-point-one ounces, and then screwing up a detail about Maine state troopers wearing hats with a chinstrap. Sooooooo great. In case you're not at all familiar with Maine troopers: their hats have a strap that go around the back of their head. Female officers (like the one in this chapter) often wear their hair in a low tight bun, and the strap settles just underneath. It's a pretty distinctive obvious detail, and I can't understand how the author messed that up when he's so gear-detailed everywhere else.
*sigh*
Anyway, excessive details that pander to the ammosexual crowd weren't my only issue, but it's the easiest to describe. Mike Bowditch continues to annoy me for a variety of reasons, but sometimes it's hard to explain why. Take (for another example) the bit where he's describing a large amount of birds, and he says something like, "I've never seen Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds but if I had then I imagine I would probably sympathize with the birds in that scenario." WHAT? If you've never seen a particular film, and clearly know nothing about it, why would you cite that as an example for your viewpoint? Another dumb bird specific thing is when he says something about not buying into superstitions, and for that reason he doesn't use the phrase "a murder of crows". Ok, cool Mike, but like...does anyone use that term in every conversation? No, it's mostly just in writing or if someone's specifically trying to sound dramatic. "Oh, I don't use that term because I'm not superstitious." Why does this annoy me? I don't know, but...seriously, STFU, Mike.
ANOTHER thing that bothered me was when Bowditch came across a piece of woods that had been clearcut, he kept referring to it as "rape". Rape of the land, the woods had been raped, etc. Remember how I said before that he always tries to be really "woke"? Well, apparently that doesn't apply to rape. He then goes to interview a woman about the case he was working on, and he actually uses that term, saying something like, "Did he know about how they're raping the land up there?" She (rightfully) calls him out on it, asking if he'd ever been raped. When he says no, she says she didn't think so, because if he ever had then he wouldn't use the term for cutting down a few trees. He doesn't apologize or even acknowledge this statement, just moves onto the next question. So, the AUTHOR knows enough to have a character confront Bowditch on this ignorance, but still has Bowditch use the term and not amend his ways at all when called out. Of course, the woman who he was talking to was a trailer park druggie type, so she was probably just being confrontational because she doesn't like cops. *sigh* Like, someone can be "white trash" AND also be right about the inappropriateness of using "rape" in this instance. But nah, she's just aggressive. Bowditch himself wouldn't be in the wrong.
Readers may also find THIS particular book frustrating because it's told in alternating chapters of (a) Bowditch crashing into the river and then trying to survive while pursued by goons, and (b) the events of the day that led up to this climax. I don't know why this format was chosen, but it was tedious and clunky.
Anyway, I could probably keep going on about how these books are objectively....not...very...good...... But unfortunately I didn't take enough notes. Still, this is it! No more! I grudgingly read TWELVE of these books now, and this is my note to my future self to stop reading these, no matter how much obligation I feel to read them for others' sake.
In every book, I can't help but feel that the main character, Mike Bowditch, is a total author-insert dream fantasy. Like, Bowditch is too perfect. Oh sure, he has flaws like being too reckless and willing to jump into danger....but that's still like a macho fantasy flaw. It's not stupid, it's badass! But aside from that....He's young and fit, he's super knowledgeable about EVERYTHING, especially anything related to knives and guns, but he's also an "old soul" who appreciates antiques and old farmhouses and history and stuff. Even though he repeatedly does stupid shit and gets in trouble, he always comes out on top and saves the day. He even got special permission to be issued a Jeep Compass instead of the standard warden pickup truck, because he wants to be able to investigate more covertly, but obviously you wouldn't just do that in a vehicle that isn't also manly and cool. Bowditch is also, like, pretty "woke", always making sure to use PC terms for minorities and making sure to give us a little aside about how enlightened he is personally about X topic, even if others don't necessarily agree with him. That's how cool he is.
And it goes with out saying that the ladies like him too.
Ok, so he's a Gary Stu character. Fine. He's definitely not alone in the detective/action/thriller genre in that regards. I could go along with it for the sake of some fun adventure, but *sigh*...
Something about the writing always annoys me. It's told in Bowditch's first-person POV, which is fine, but of course it means that Bowditch tells us stuff that doesn't really fit with the flow of the narrative. Like, every time a gun or a knife comes out, he has to tell us the make, model, caliber, or whatever other details he knows about it (which is everything).
Take, for example, the opening scene of this book. Mike Bowditch has crashed his Jeep Compass, going over a bank and into a frozen river. Oh no! Peril! Action! Shit is going down! He has to act fast to cut through the straps hold his wolf-dog's crate in the back so that Shadow doesn't drown too! He reaches for the folding knife in the front pocket of his jeans:
The Gerber 06 Auto is no gentleman's folder but a massive hunk of machined metal: an aluminum and steel bar containing a razor-sharp switchblade for use in combat. It weighs 7.1 ounces. The drop point blade, serrated at the hilt, is forged from S30V steel alloy and measures 3.6 inches from tip to finger guards. My friend Billy Cronk carried this knife on his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and survived while thousands of his fellow warriors perished. Although Billy never said so, I believe the blade may have taken lives. He gave it to me as a gift on my thirtieth birthday. His nickname for it was "The Beast."
I can almost hear the grungey heavy metal music playing in that background of this infomercial ("A massive hunk of machined metal!), while "THE BEAST" flashes across the screen in edgy diagonal font. Probably with lightning bolts crackling from the sides.
Like....WHY???? Why is it important to the narrative to stop mid-action to tell us that this knife weighs seven-point-one ounces and that the blade measures three-point-six inches? Who the hell cares? Is the author getting paid to endorse certain products in his book, so he has to include spec details straight from the catalog?
I feel like that knife paragraph really sums up how...not....good...the writing is in this book. I read these books on audio, which is probably for the best. If I was reading them on paper, then I could more easily stop to take notes about dumb things I notice in the narrative. AND I WOULD. Because there are a lot. Stupid things like a character getting struck in the face by the butt of a shotgun, and the line was something like "when you get hit by synthetic fibers, you go down". It wasn't that exact phrase (again, I wasn't note taking), but it was something about the fibers. Now, we'd already been told in detail what kind of material this shotgun stock was made from, carbon fiber or whatever, so we get what the author meant by being hit by these fibers......but it also just sounds dumb when you're trying to say some kind of clever one liner to explain why our badass hero still went down because of the fibers. That was just ONE eye-rolling description that I remember, but there were honestly so many that they kind of blend together.
I did make a note of one facepalm stupid detail toward the end of the book. These books are excessively detailed when it comes to making note of gun calibers, knife weights, clothing materials, etc that you have to think the author has a Cabelas catalog open next to his writing computer at all times. He must have a contact in the Maine Warden Service that he calls up anytime he wants to verify the details on, like, what kind of tread pattern are on their LL Bean issued boots. ALL OF THAT excessive meticulous detail........And then in the second-to-last chapter, he mentions a state trooper putting on her campaign hat and then fastening the chinstrap. The chinstrap, I tell you! *cackles* Oh man, imagine being so specific about a knife weighing seven-point-one ounces, and then screwing up a detail about Maine state troopers wearing hats with a chinstrap. Sooooooo great. In case you're not at all familiar with Maine troopers: their hats have a strap that go around the back of their head. Female officers (like the one in this chapter) often wear their hair in a low tight bun, and the strap settles just underneath. It's a pretty distinctive obvious detail, and I can't understand how the author messed that up when he's so gear-detailed everywhere else.
*sigh*
Anyway, excessive details that pander to the ammosexual crowd weren't my only issue, but it's the easiest to describe. Mike Bowditch continues to annoy me for a variety of reasons, but sometimes it's hard to explain why. Take (for another example) the bit where he's describing a large amount of birds, and he says something like, "I've never seen Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds but if I had then I imagine I would probably sympathize with the birds in that scenario." WHAT? If you've never seen a particular film, and clearly know nothing about it, why would you cite that as an example for your viewpoint? Another dumb bird specific thing is when he says something about not buying into superstitions, and for that reason he doesn't use the phrase "a murder of crows". Ok, cool Mike, but like...does anyone use that term in every conversation? No, it's mostly just in writing or if someone's specifically trying to sound dramatic. "Oh, I don't use that term because I'm not superstitious." Why does this annoy me? I don't know, but...seriously, STFU, Mike.
ANOTHER thing that bothered me was when Bowditch came across a piece of woods that had been clearcut, he kept referring to it as "rape". Rape of the land, the woods had been raped, etc. Remember how I said before that he always tries to be really "woke"? Well, apparently that doesn't apply to rape. He then goes to interview a woman about the case he was working on, and he actually uses that term, saying something like, "Did he know about how they're raping the land up there?" She (rightfully) calls him out on it, asking if he'd ever been raped. When he says no, she says she didn't think so, because if he ever had then he wouldn't use the term for cutting down a few trees. He doesn't apologize or even acknowledge this statement, just moves onto the next question. So, the AUTHOR knows enough to have a character confront Bowditch on this ignorance, but still has Bowditch use the term and not amend his ways at all when called out. Of course, the woman who he was talking to was a trailer park druggie type, so she was probably just being confrontational because she doesn't like cops. *sigh* Like, someone can be "white trash" AND also be right about the inappropriateness of using "rape" in this instance. But nah, she's just aggressive. Bowditch himself wouldn't be in the wrong.
Readers may also find THIS particular book frustrating because it's told in alternating chapters of (a) Bowditch crashing into the river and then trying to survive while pursued by goons, and (b) the events of the day that led up to this climax. I don't know why this format was chosen, but it was tedious and clunky.
Anyway, I could probably keep going on about how these books are objectively....not...very...good...... But unfortunately I didn't take enough notes. Still, this is it! No more! I grudgingly read TWELVE of these books now, and this is my note to my future self to stop reading these, no matter how much obligation I feel to read them for others' sake.
November 17, 2021
First Sentence: The hill is steep here, and there is no guardrail above the river.
Some love books and take great care of them: don't write in them, or bend down corners. Hardcovers are put in mylar archival covers as soon as they arrive, and I the spines are not broken. But not this one. With a print, rather than an e-copy of this book, one would be tempted to rip out the pages out with abandon so they could be arranged in chronological order.
You see, the author decided to write the story alternating between the present, and the very recent past; truly a gap of an hour, perhaps. The story is jumping back and forth like the ball in the championship ping-pong tournament and tends to drive one crazy.
One assumes at some point, the past will with meetup with the present, but one may not wait that long before becoming screamingly frustrated. Not only does the style make the story nearly impossible to read, but it also removes most of the suspense which would have been otherwise palpable. Perhaps if one had a paper copy, they'd skip to the end just to see how it comes out. Frankly, however, no reader should feel the need to do that.
For pity's sake, what happened to the idea of starting the story at the beginning and carrying it straight through to the end; no prologue, no flashing back and forth, no portents: just tell the bleeding story!
One could nearly conclude that many books written in 2020 were subject to the pandemic rendering too many authors incapable of editing, not rambling, including far more extraneous information than remotely needed, muddling the plot, including every character they can imagine, and falling prey to using devices that drive some readers mad with frustration. Sadly, this is one of those.
Dead by Dawn is heartbreaking. Paul Doiron's other books with his great characters, information about Maine and being a game warden there, are wonderful to read. Others will love this book and it well may win awards. However, others may find it gimmicky and annoying, and hope his next book returns to telling a cracking story in a straight timeline fashion.
DEAD BY DAWN (GameWarden-Mike Bowditch-Maine-Contemp) – NR
Doiron, Paul – 12th in series
Minotaur Books, Jun 2021, 304 pp.
Some love books and take great care of them: don't write in them, or bend down corners. Hardcovers are put in mylar archival covers as soon as they arrive, and I the spines are not broken. But not this one. With a print, rather than an e-copy of this book, one would be tempted to rip out the pages out with abandon so they could be arranged in chronological order.
You see, the author decided to write the story alternating between the present, and the very recent past; truly a gap of an hour, perhaps. The story is jumping back and forth like the ball in the championship ping-pong tournament and tends to drive one crazy.
One assumes at some point, the past will with meetup with the present, but one may not wait that long before becoming screamingly frustrated. Not only does the style make the story nearly impossible to read, but it also removes most of the suspense which would have been otherwise palpable. Perhaps if one had a paper copy, they'd skip to the end just to see how it comes out. Frankly, however, no reader should feel the need to do that.
For pity's sake, what happened to the idea of starting the story at the beginning and carrying it straight through to the end; no prologue, no flashing back and forth, no portents: just tell the bleeding story!
One could nearly conclude that many books written in 2020 were subject to the pandemic rendering too many authors incapable of editing, not rambling, including far more extraneous information than remotely needed, muddling the plot, including every character they can imagine, and falling prey to using devices that drive some readers mad with frustration. Sadly, this is one of those.
Dead by Dawn is heartbreaking. Paul Doiron's other books with his great characters, information about Maine and being a game warden there, are wonderful to read. Others will love this book and it well may win awards. However, others may find it gimmicky and annoying, and hope his next book returns to telling a cracking story in a straight timeline fashion.
DEAD BY DAWN (GameWarden-Mike Bowditch-Maine-Contemp) – NR
Doiron, Paul – 12th in series
Minotaur Books, Jun 2021, 304 pp.
June 21, 2021
3 stars
A Maine game warden & the injured wolf dog he is caring for end up in an intense fight for a survival. Chapters written in present tense narrating the survival sequence alternate with chapters in past tense, describing the MC’s investigation of a possible homicide in the days leading up to the present. Well written, action packed, & the story caught me up on details from previous books in the series without info dumping.
[What I liked:]
•I didn’t realize when I picked up the story that there would be multiple timelines & such intense action. Those aren’t traits I look for in books, but this story is well written & I enjoyed it nonetheless. I cared about the MC & the wolf shadow & had to find out how they’d make it through.
•I enjoyed the Maine setting, the small towns, the descriptions of the natural beauty, etc.
•The survival scenes are reminiscent of a Jack London man & dog survival story, & the attention to detail adds a lot to the stakes & to the believability. So many things go wrong that it’s not easy for the MC to survive, but enough go right that he has a chance. The fluctuating situation with changing advantages & odds keeps things interesting. No lucky break comes without a downside. I’m impressed by how carefully constructed this aspect of the story is.
[What I didn’t like as much:]
•Okay so some of the action (most of the action?) is a little hard to believe. The amount of stuff that the MC managed to survive is pretty miraculous, though at least it’s described in enough detail & well though out enough to be plausible.
•Several characters felt just a bit too over the top. Billy seems like an exaggeration of the tough shelled softie. Juett feels like a caricature of conspiracy theory obsessed gun hoarders. The twins are 2 dimensional meanness & evil. Several of the side characters could have used more nuance.
CW: violence, homophobia, racism, sexism, murder, accidental death, torture
[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]
A Maine game warden & the injured wolf dog he is caring for end up in an intense fight for a survival. Chapters written in present tense narrating the survival sequence alternate with chapters in past tense, describing the MC’s investigation of a possible homicide in the days leading up to the present. Well written, action packed, & the story caught me up on details from previous books in the series without info dumping.
[What I liked:]
•I didn’t realize when I picked up the story that there would be multiple timelines & such intense action. Those aren’t traits I look for in books, but this story is well written & I enjoyed it nonetheless. I cared about the MC & the wolf shadow & had to find out how they’d make it through.
•I enjoyed the Maine setting, the small towns, the descriptions of the natural beauty, etc.
•The survival scenes are reminiscent of a Jack London man & dog survival story, & the attention to detail adds a lot to the stakes & to the believability. So many things go wrong that it’s not easy for the MC to survive, but enough go right that he has a chance. The fluctuating situation with changing advantages & odds keeps things interesting. No lucky break comes without a downside. I’m impressed by how carefully constructed this aspect of the story is.
[What I didn’t like as much:]
•Okay so some of the action (most of the action?) is a little hard to believe. The amount of stuff that the MC managed to survive is pretty miraculous, though at least it’s described in enough detail & well though out enough to be plausible.
•Several characters felt just a bit too over the top. Billy seems like an exaggeration of the tough shelled softie. Juett feels like a caricature of conspiracy theory obsessed gun hoarders. The twins are 2 dimensional meanness & evil. Several of the side characters could have used more nuance.
CW: violence, homophobia, racism, sexism, murder, accidental death, torture
[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]
May 9, 2021
I was very excited to win this advanced copy through a Goodreads giveaway! All in all, it’s another very good book in the Maine game warden Mike Bowditch series. It quickly takes off right from the start with Mike being run off the road and plunged into the frozen Androscoggin River. While fighting for his life, he thinks back to the earlier hours of the day in order to piece together who wants to kill him and why. My only issue with this story is flopping back and forth to “before the plunge” and “after the plunge” with each new chapter. Normally I like this particular way of telling a story, but for me, it didn’t work as well this time. It may have been because the chapters were fairly short. What happens earlier in the day is more of a slower paced investigation, and later in the day it’s a mad fight for survival. The shorter chapters don’t give you enough time to get into the feel of the moment before you go back to the other, thus affecting the flow. I think what would have worked better is to keep the same beginning to get the reader hooked, then go back to the earlier morning hours and begin the story. It would have built into a very intense overall story. That being said, I really did enjoy the book and without giving anything away, I like how it has ties to another book from the series, which remains one of my favorites. Another thing I like is how Doiron deals with the relationship between Mike and the wolf-dog Shadow. It’s a respectful relationship between man and animal and I loved how the book ended. Lots of love there. As always, I look forward to the next!
March 6, 2021
I love it when I know I am going to really like a book after only a few chapters. It actually took the first chapter and I was hooked. The adrenaline starts pumping and it doesn't stop all the way through.
I love this character and always look forward to a new addition to the series. This one is a high octane ride from start to finish that kept me reading until there was no more to read. I haven't read one of these books I didn't like but I have to say this one will have you swiping your forehead and saying "Whew"! when you finish. Definitely put this one on your summer to read list.
I love this character and always look forward to a new addition to the series. This one is a high octane ride from start to finish that kept me reading until there was no more to read. I haven't read one of these books I didn't like but I have to say this one will have you swiping your forehead and saying "Whew"! when you finish. Definitely put this one on your summer to read list.
January 30, 2022
Mike Bowditch was called to investigate a drowning that happened four years earlier. The family feels that is wasn't an accident.
On a dark winter road Mike was ambushed, his jeep crashed into a frozen river.
A family he had dealt with years before; they wanted him dead. The torchered him . What saved him was a knife he always carries and a person he just met, a least likely his ally; calls the authorities.
Loved all the action packed activity
On a dark winter road Mike was ambushed, his jeep crashed into a frozen river.
A family he had dealt with years before; they wanted him dead. The torchered him . What saved him was a knife he always carries and a person he just met, a least likely his ally; calls the authorities.
Loved all the action packed activity
May 24, 2021
I have not read any of the other books in this series, and I have to say, I didn't need to to understand what was going on. Sure, there were references to other characters and situations that may have been explained more in other installments, but I still understood everything that was happening. This book grabs you right in the first chapter and does not stop the action. It was very fast pace and had you riding along for the ride right with Mike. I think I need to go and located some of the other books from this series!
July 14, 2021
First of all, I've read every book in this series and I love it!
In the first chapter, Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch's vehicle crashes into a frozen river. His fight to the surface is valiant.
As several chapters explain how Bowditch got to this point, he received a letter from the daughter-in-law of a professor killed while on a duck hunt four years ago. Seems she's not satisfied with the investigation and wants bull-headed Bowditch to re-open the investigation.
Back to Bowditch who is almost frozen to death from the icy river. He's got no matches for a fire, no gun, a dead cell phone, no medical kit and whoever put spikes in the road to put him in the river is out looking for him. All he's got is the knife given to him by his friend Billy Cronk. But the knife is called the Beast so that's something. Anyhow, Bowditch is on the run from a killer. To his credit, no one is better able to survive in the wilds than a game warden.
If you've read any of the previous books, you know Bowditch is like a dog with a bone. He never lets go - even when that would be the smart thing to do. He's still undecided between Dani and Stacey. Come on, make up your mind!
I like the scenes with wolf dog Shadow in them. This book was a good addition to the series. I liked this one better than the last.
In the first chapter, Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch's vehicle crashes into a frozen river. His fight to the surface is valiant.
As several chapters explain how Bowditch got to this point, he received a letter from the daughter-in-law of a professor killed while on a duck hunt four years ago. Seems she's not satisfied with the investigation and wants bull-headed Bowditch to re-open the investigation.
Back to Bowditch who is almost frozen to death from the icy river. He's got no matches for a fire, no gun, a dead cell phone, no medical kit and whoever put spikes in the road to put him in the river is out looking for him. All he's got is the knife given to him by his friend Billy Cronk. But the knife is called the Beast so that's something. Anyhow, Bowditch is on the run from a killer. To his credit, no one is better able to survive in the wilds than a game warden.
If you've read any of the previous books, you know Bowditch is like a dog with a bone. He never lets go - even when that would be the smart thing to do. He's still undecided between Dani and Stacey. Come on, make up your mind!
I like the scenes with wolf dog Shadow in them. This book was a good addition to the series. I liked this one better than the last.
June 26, 2021
Dead by Dawn was an unexpectedly wonderful thrill ride! This is the latest installment in the Game Warden series, of which I’ve read none of, so it can be read as a standalone. The book immediately dives into chaos and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat the entire 300 pages. It is incredibly action packed and fast paced. There was never a dull moment. There is absolutely no rest for Mike. I loved the back and forth dual timelines that eventually converged into one as we solve the mystery. I especially loved the relationship between the game warden and the wolf, Shadow. Be careful, or you may end up reading the book quicker than you expected, like I did! 🤣 I highly suggest you pick this one up if you’re looking for a thrilling, survivalist adventure. Seriously, read this book!
Dead by Dawn is out June 29th!
Thank you @minotaur_books for my #gifted copy!
Dead by Dawn is out June 29th!
Thank you @minotaur_books for my #gifted copy!
May 23, 2021
Maine sounds like a wonderful place until you read this series. Dead by Dawn is the latest book about game warden Mike Bowditch by Paul Doiron. The murder rate and mayhem in these books makes me think twice about visiting. But, this series is one of the best out there. I love it. It's well written and it feels like Doiron knows his Maine like a local, wait, he is local. This time Mike has a little trouble staying on the road while investigating an old death and the jumping back and forth in time just keeps the suspense going. Did the fisherman die by accident or not and who wants to kill the game warden? Read this wonderful book to find out. I must thank @this_is_edelweiss @minotaur_books @macmillanusa for giving me this advance copy and #PaulDoiron for writing such a great book.
June 24, 2021
This is my first Mike Bowditch book (fortunately it works as a standalone too) and I'm quite impressed!
The book starts with a bang (quite literally) as a game warden is run off the road and plunged into an icy river where his car gets trapped. From there, we enter a very intense cat-and-mouse game and go over the details of Mike's day to figure out who's after him.
If you enjoy action-packed and well-paced thrillers, I recommend checking this one out. The narrator did a great job capturing the intensity of every dangerous situation Mike found himself in, so it was a pleasure to listen to.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a copy to review! :-)
The book starts with a bang (quite literally) as a game warden is run off the road and plunged into an icy river where his car gets trapped. From there, we enter a very intense cat-and-mouse game and go over the details of Mike's day to figure out who's after him.
If you enjoy action-packed and well-paced thrillers, I recommend checking this one out. The narrator did a great job capturing the intensity of every dangerous situation Mike found himself in, so it was a pleasure to listen to.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a copy to review! :-)
January 20, 2022
A riveting thrill-ride starring game warden Mike Bowditch, in all his tough-minded, kind-hearted survivalist best! Beautiful descriptions of the Maine woodlands & stellar action! . . . (I'm so glad I dipped my toe into this series & have about 9 more stories to enjoy. Woot!)
October 9, 2023
Loved this 12th book in Paul Doiron's "Mike Bowditch" series!
February 4, 2025
Fun book!! very simple a straight forward plot… main character got unrealistically lucky with every conflict but that’s ok because it was cool and epic…. I liked that it took place in maine!!!!!!!!!!
March 17, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly don’t think it has ever taken me more than a day to read a Bowditch book. Inevitably, I just can’t put it down and Dead by Dawn did it to me again. It’s another great installment in the series and the suspense in this one…whew it made my heart race a bit. I had to know how it ended, so sleep was sacrificed, and I regret nothing. Doiron is able to hit just the right mix of mystery, dogged investigator, danger, and the main character’s personal life. Like a master chef, he balances all the ingredients to create a book I was sad to have come to an end. If you have always loved the series, you won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t read anything in the series yet, what are you waiting for?
I honestly don’t think it has ever taken me more than a day to read a Bowditch book. Inevitably, I just can’t put it down and Dead by Dawn did it to me again. It’s another great installment in the series and the suspense in this one…whew it made my heart race a bit. I had to know how it ended, so sleep was sacrificed, and I regret nothing. Doiron is able to hit just the right mix of mystery, dogged investigator, danger, and the main character’s personal life. Like a master chef, he balances all the ingredients to create a book I was sad to have come to an end. If you have always loved the series, you won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t read anything in the series yet, what are you waiting for?
June 28, 2021
2.5 stars rounded up to 3
The book is told from two timelines. It starts with Mike Bowditch's car flying straight in an icy river. He finds himself in a real race agains nature and ... some other elements that would rather have him gone forever. On the other hand, we are told the story that lead to this gloomy night. The investigation in a clear cut closed case of a boating accident. But things are not as clear as they were supposed to be.
The book has a lot of sarcastic jokes that are quite funny. There is a lot of action in this book and a heartwarming story about a wolf. In the same time I felt the book was going in a lot of details and had a back story for every line, which made it long and dragged at times. The action scenes were a bit confusing and beyond realistic. Overall it felt as the book felt short to deliver what was aiming for.
Thank you MacMillian Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!
The book is told from two timelines. It starts with Mike Bowditch's car flying straight in an icy river. He finds himself in a real race agains nature and ... some other elements that would rather have him gone forever. On the other hand, we are told the story that lead to this gloomy night. The investigation in a clear cut closed case of a boating accident. But things are not as clear as they were supposed to be.
The book has a lot of sarcastic jokes that are quite funny. There is a lot of action in this book and a heartwarming story about a wolf. In the same time I felt the book was going in a lot of details and had a back story for every line, which made it long and dragged at times. The action scenes were a bit confusing and beyond realistic. Overall it felt as the book felt short to deliver what was aiming for.
Thank you MacMillian Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!
October 6, 2022
At one point early on, Mike makes a joke about what Rambo would do in the situation he is in and that Rambo would in reality die. But not Mike - he just keeps on through events that would have killed any normal person by page 50. But we struggle on for another 250 pages before we find out who the real bad guys/gals are and why.
Writing in alternating time periods was also annoying in this case. But at least it gave me a break from the lasest survival techniques.
Shadow is becoming my favorite character.
Writing in alternating time periods was also annoying in this case. But at least it gave me a break from the lasest survival techniques.
Shadow is becoming my favorite character.
September 12, 2021
#12 in Doiron's outstanding Mike Bowditch series set in Maine and for me, my least favorite. Game warden Bowditch is asked to look into a cold case where an elderly man supposedly fell out of his boat and drowned, but everyone Mike talks to seems to throw up a concrete wall on his enquiries and he soon finds himself fighting for his life in the winter wilderness of Maine. I have really enjoyed all previous 11 of this series....gave them all either 4* or 5*.......not sure why but this story never really grabbed ahold of me.
April 21, 2021
If for no other reason than I can lose myself in backwoods adventure, I always look forward to the latest book in this always entertaining series. That said, it certainly doesn't hurt to have an interesting, charismatic character like Maine game warden Mike Bowditch popping up in the pages, and this may be one of the most action-packed editions I've read, with my man fighting tooth and nail for his very life.
To that end, I have to admit this isn't my favorite of all that I've read, but that's purely a personal thing that has nothing to do with the quality of writing or the plot. When a character is put under this kind of physical and mental stress, I don't much enjoy reading about it (no, I don't worry much about him or her getting bumped off - it's a series, for gosh sake) - but it's a little too anxiety provoking for me. Along with that, I kept wishing some of the other characters would get buried in all the snow - or torn limb from limb by Mike's wolf-dog, Shadow - just because they are so over-the-top vile. Of course, whether either of those options comes to pass I won't say lest I give away too much.
The story begins in the present, when Mike puts his Jeep pedal to the metal and ends up in a mostly frozen river. He makes it out alive, but with little to help him survive except his own skills and instincts. Chapters then follow what led up to the ambush - with emphasis on those aforementioned vile characters. These are interspersed with chapters detailing how he's holding up in the snow and frigid temperature, and everything comes together for a bang-up finale (nope, can't reveal that, either).
If you haven't already guessed, this is one of my favorite series, in which this is the 12th entry. Endless thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review another installment. Well done once again - please keep 'em coming!
To that end, I have to admit this isn't my favorite of all that I've read, but that's purely a personal thing that has nothing to do with the quality of writing or the plot. When a character is put under this kind of physical and mental stress, I don't much enjoy reading about it (no, I don't worry much about him or her getting bumped off - it's a series, for gosh sake) - but it's a little too anxiety provoking for me. Along with that, I kept wishing some of the other characters would get buried in all the snow - or torn limb from limb by Mike's wolf-dog, Shadow - just because they are so over-the-top vile. Of course, whether either of those options comes to pass I won't say lest I give away too much.
The story begins in the present, when Mike puts his Jeep pedal to the metal and ends up in a mostly frozen river. He makes it out alive, but with little to help him survive except his own skills and instincts. Chapters then follow what led up to the ambush - with emphasis on those aforementioned vile characters. These are interspersed with chapters detailing how he's holding up in the snow and frigid temperature, and everything comes together for a bang-up finale (nope, can't reveal that, either).
If you haven't already guessed, this is one of my favorite series, in which this is the 12th entry. Endless thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review another installment. Well done once again - please keep 'em coming!
June 27, 2021
I received an e arc from Netgalley, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I haven't read too many outdoor survival stories, or any now that I think of it. So this type of story was new to me, and I really enjoyed going into this story blind, not knowing really what to expect. Being trapped in a vehicle underwater is one of my biggest fears, and Paul Doiron definitely didn't help with that. The opening few chapters set the tone of the entire novel, they're uneasy and slightly claustrophobic.
As someone who hasn't yet read the previous 11 novels in this series I didn't feel like I was missing anything when it came to the main character and this particular storyline. But when it came to the romance aspects of this story, and the two women he has in his life I felt a little left out. I didn't know either woman enough to form a clear opinion on which he should go with, or really understand either relationship.
The dual timeline, and short chapters really lend themselves to the pacing of this novel. It was a really quick read, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat right up to the end. I've read a couple thrillers this year that I felt rushed the ending or didn't flesh out the explanations at the end but I felt like Dead by Dawn had a believable ending, and explanation.
After reading this, I am most definitely going back to book one and reading from the beginning. I enjoyed the main character, and felt like we really got the chance to get to know him, and his personality. This is a well written thriller that will stick with me forever.
I haven't read too many outdoor survival stories, or any now that I think of it. So this type of story was new to me, and I really enjoyed going into this story blind, not knowing really what to expect. Being trapped in a vehicle underwater is one of my biggest fears, and Paul Doiron definitely didn't help with that. The opening few chapters set the tone of the entire novel, they're uneasy and slightly claustrophobic.
As someone who hasn't yet read the previous 11 novels in this series I didn't feel like I was missing anything when it came to the main character and this particular storyline. But when it came to the romance aspects of this story, and the two women he has in his life I felt a little left out. I didn't know either woman enough to form a clear opinion on which he should go with, or really understand either relationship.
The dual timeline, and short chapters really lend themselves to the pacing of this novel. It was a really quick read, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat right up to the end. I've read a couple thrillers this year that I felt rushed the ending or didn't flesh out the explanations at the end but I felt like Dead by Dawn had a believable ending, and explanation.
After reading this, I am most definitely going back to book one and reading from the beginning. I enjoyed the main character, and felt like we really got the chance to get to know him, and his personality. This is a well written thriller that will stick with me forever.
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