Mystery, Thriller
Mike Bowditch, Maine game warden extraordinaire, has made a name for himself among naturally nasty people. In the opening scene in this novel, his Jeep plunges off the edge of the road and down into the partially frozen Androscoggin River. He and his wolf-dog rapidly submerge in the freezing water.
The chapters in the book alternate between Bowditch’s survival efforts and his activities earlier in the day that got him into this predicament. He was just taking his dog (wolf) to the vet, and was just going to make a quick stop to check up on a complaint about a potentially mishandled investigation. But Bowditch is a curious character, and follows lead after lead until the sun has set, he begins his journey home, and is ambushed.
Mike Bowditch is a great character and has proven his bravery and curiosity about life throughout the series of Doiron’s books. Another thing I like about this book is that it matches its genres of both mystery and thriller. It is a mystery right from the opening scene as to why this deadly scenario is happening. And it is a thriller as to how Bowditch is going to extricate himself from the multiple ‘crucible’ situations that Doiron puts his protagonist in, chapter after chapter. Just when you think he has come up with a clever way to get dry and warm and get home for Christmas, his tormentors inflict another wound. One other thing: Doiron keeps fans hanging about Bowditch’s situation with women. That may be another author cliff hanger to keep love-story readers hanging from book to book.
This book, written in the first person, alternates between the present and the past tense until the two story lines finally merge. Paul Doiron is one of my favorite contemporary writers. His books are a pleasure to read and I’m sure that’s because he takes pleasure in writing them.