I just thought this book was "ok" but then mystery/thriller books are not my favorite. This was a suspenseful "who done it" which delved into the complicated relationship between father and son. I read it because my mom said she loved it. I'm shocked she liked it even - to me it was just too moody and sad. Satisfying ending overall -- yet haunting and terrible at the same time. Still wonder what mom wanted me to get from this book. I suspect it had something to do with a message the book seems to contain: "if someone is untrustworthy don't expect them to change" but I will ask her now that I've read it. It does contain some accurate northeast descriptive settings which took me back to when I was young - and overall hope was restored for the main character but other than that - it put a damper on me for 3 days while reading it. It did however, keep me guessing and I guessed wrong.

Share/Like this Review?

What a ride this author took me on! My picking up this first in a series meant my family was eating chicken salad for 2 meals in a row & I found myself slipping into bed long after I knew I should of been there. I just couldn't close the cover until I reached the end.

Paul Doiron weaves a mystery murder that is one of the best I've read in awhile. Before I was halfway thru I had to grab the putter and get in line for the following in the series. This first book could stand alone but I NEEEEED (whinny voice) to read them all.

Mike decided to become a Game Warden to try to give back for some of the wrongs his hard drinking father & friends had dealt the world, but when a murder is committed and Mike's father turns into a wanted man, Mike who has been alienated from his father for a few years, goes back to Rum Pond to see if he can help. He knew his father lived off the land and was a poacher. He also knew his father did not have it in him to commit murder. The problem is his dad is now on the run. Now Mike puts his job as a Ranger on the line to help prove his father innocent & to bring him home safely. This proves to be more dangerous than tracking down an injured bear.

This isn't just another murder story, it offers so much more. It's written with depth that sets the stage by letting you feel Mike's heart as he grew up with an alcoholic womanizing father who had little time for Mike. The characters are easy to follow & each plays a perfect part in this woven story of suspense. As usual some of the characters you will love some not so much. In a small community in which his father lives, deep in the forest... Rum Pond is the remote shabby Hunting & Fishing Camp that makes for a perfect colorful setting for this story.

Personally I can't wait to delve into Mike's life again and see what happens next. Due to the easy flow of words I sailed thru these 324 pages way to fast & although I am left with a quite unexpected but satisfying ending I am already craving more.

Share/Like this Review?

I've heard about this series for years, but I was already into CJ Box's series with game warden Joe Pickett. Finally bought a copy of this first one to try. And I see why it's praised. Good location, lots of action, a good whodunit plot, and lots of angst. A fast read and a satisfactory ending. But I couldn't identify with Mike Bowditch. Here's a guy whose memories of his father are all bad. I can, sadly, relate to this all too well. He's chosen a career pretty much in direct opposition of everything his father does. Okay. But one uninformative message on the answering machine and he just knows his dad is innocent and he will wreck his career, risk being arrested, etc, for that same POS. This was just incomprehensible to me. I spent most of the book telling Mike how stupid he was. Everybody's different...but I was the wrong reader for this book. Moving on.

Share/Like this Review?

What a great book! It grabbed me from the first page. I was intrigued initially by the chance to learn something about Maine and game wardens, a curiosity that was fulfilled. And then the plot, character development, and quality of writing kept me reading. I completed it in just a few hours. I highly recommend it and want to read more by Doiron.

Share/Like this Review?

Oh my. The further this story unfolds, the more flawed and quirky Mike Bowditch's character becomes. In many ways Mike puts me in mind of another game warden: Joe Pickett out Wyoming way in C.J. Box's series. There's one major difference between Mike and Joe, however. Mike's conflicted relationship with his parents has made him a bit passive aggressive. He's as stubborn as they come, but shows very little initiative in actually getting out there and finding clues. His investigation has no strategy and a wherever-the-wind-blows-me mentality. By book's end, I think a lot of that has been knocked out of him.

And not just by the action. As much as I liked Mike Bowditch, it was the character of former warden Charley Stevens that really caught my eye. Charley's a bit of a legend in those parts. There's little he hasn't seen or done, and he knows when to be a bull in a china shop and when to use the charm of a snake oil salesman. He sees something in Mike and goes out of his way to help the young man. I'm looking forward to seeing how the relationship between these two men develops in future books.

The third character in this book that caught my imagination was the Maine wilderness. It's a part of the world to which I've never been, but Doiron's descriptions of it remind me of many of my favorite wild places here in Arizona. Doiron has a lot to say about the wilderness and what's being done to it, and it defines Mike Bowditch's character in a way nothing else in the book can. I can only nod in heartfelt agreement when Mike says, "Nature will forgive humankind just about anything, and what it won't forgive I hope never to witness."

I've come to love certain crime fiction writers for their love of wild spaces... Nevada Barr, Pamela Beason, Craig Johnson, C.J. Box. Now Paul Doiron joins this group. I'm looking forward to watching Mike Bowditch mature in those deep, beautiful Maine woods.

Share/Like this Review?

Very hard to put this book down! Excellent story!

Share/Like this Review?

In Doiron's debut novel, we meet game warden Mike Bowditch who must come to grips with the fact that his estranged father, who is also a poacher, is wanted in a double homicide. Set in the mountains and forests of northern Maine, the author provides a great atmosphere for this wilderness mystery. Wyoming has C.J. Box, Maine has Paul Doiron. Based on "The Poacher's Son", Maine wins. This is one of the books where you finish the last page and think "Wow, what a great novel."

Share/Like this Review?