Another excellent book in the series! The newest book is just as exciting and captivating as every book before it. I actually think Paul Doiron is getting even better as this series continues. The story lines, in addition to the depth of the regular characters are meshing perfectly. More please!!!

This is the twelfth book in the series of Mike Bowditch, game warden in the state of Maine. Always action packed and really good, but I think this is one of Paul Doiron’s best. Another edge of your seat thriller!

Arguably the best book in the series!!

I stumbled upon Paul Doiron when his book "The Precipice" was on the front table in a B&N years ago and after plowing through that in a day I went back and read the series from book one on. While I loved them all, none have come close to caliber of "The Precipice" for me, and I've honestly been a little disappointed in the last two books. This one though...wow! What a way to jump right in!

Typically I find the Mike Bowditch books to be excellent but definitely slow burns. Not this one! Right from page one this one was not what I expected. The intense action was shocking and I was sweating reading the first scene. I thought the wolf was going to die and I was going to have to put it down immediately. The writing is so tense I actually felt relieved when he didn't!

Alternating between the present, high-octane situation, and the past, a more typical Mike Bowditch investigation, was the perfect choice. While I did get a little lost in one or two of the investigative chapters, overall this book is a very quick read and a really excellent installment in the series!

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.

Paul Doiron does not let us down with his suspenseful accounts of Game Warden Mike Bowdich and his memorable wolf/dog Shadow. this one is terse, tense, and wholly satisfying. You don't want to miss it.

Looking for a heart pounding book to read through? This is a great book! I loved the story and the writing was done so well! This series a wonderful one and the thriller this read has is so dang good. Absolutely loved this book!

This is the 12th book in Doiron’s crime series featuring former Maine game warden and now recently promoted warden investigator Mike Bowditch. (In Maine, game wardens are full law-enforcement officers, with all the powers of state troopers: “They are the ‘off-road police.’” A warden investigator, on the other hand, is “for all intents and purposes a plainclothes detective.”)

This book, more than any previous ones, certainly meets the definition of “thriller,” in my view.

The story goes back and forth over a short period of time during the week before Christmas to show how Mike, now 31, got in his current dilemma: he is fighting for his life after the tires are blown out of his Jeep Compass truck by spiked objects scattered across the asphalt. His vehicle was upended and he and his half-wolf, half-dog Shadow were plunged into the icy, half-frozen Androscoggin River.

Surviving the crash is only the beginning of his struggle to stay alive, with a number of heavily-armed pursuers on snowmobiles after him to make sure he doesn’t survive. As the story goes back and forth, with readers turning the pages furiously, we learn who is after him and why.

Evaluation: This book will get your adrenalin pumping! And in spite of the fact that we suspect Mike will make it out alive, because he is the protagonist of an ongoing series, the challenges to his surviving are very well done, and it is never, after all, a sure thing.

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 waiting for?

Another good one by Paul Doiron. When Bowditch sets out to give courtesy call to a Glamazon widow whose professor husband died four years before., he has no idea wat he is walking in to. But figuring things out comes late, and he finds himself trapped, with both he and his dog in danger. Compelling!

I've read all of Doiron's books in the Mike Bowditch series, and I love the author and his main character; not to mention the usual suspects of supporting characters (Ora, Stacey, Charley, Dani, Billy Cronk and his family, etcetera). So, it was with a bit of shock that I found myself oddly...removed from this book early on. Partly, I think, because of the structure. I didn't really feel connected to the present tense sections. It felt like Doiron was building unnecessary tension into the story, and it wasn't working for me. Until it did. Somewhere in the mid-20s, the present tense sections melded perfectly with the others and I couldn't stop turning the pages fast enough. Ultimately, this one is a scorcher, as have been all the others. I shouldn't have doubted. Shame on me. As for plot, this one involves Mike Bowditch looking into the drowning death of a man from four years prior. His daughter doesn't believe it was accidental, even though the Maine Warden Service investigated and came to that conclusion. In his quest for the truth of the situation, Mike will come up against a ruthless family that not only wants him dead, they want him dead in a remarkable way. Throw in the drama with Mike's wolf-dog hybrid, Shadow, and his love life, and you have a thriller with depth. This series is exceptional and should be on the radar of all serious crime fiction enthusiasts.

Another great book in the Mike Bowditch series. I have read the entire series and these get better with time. I found this to be a quick read with the story alternating between 'then' and 'now'. No spoilers, but I found some of the things that happened to Bowditch to be a (teeny-tiny) bit over the top. Love the setting as I live in the fictional area in which the the book is set. Would rate 4.5. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy. Everyone will want to read this one when it comes out this summer.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary: Mike Bowditch return as a Maine game warden investigator in this long running fabulous series. Mike receives a letter from a well off women from up state Maine to look into her father in laws death that was assumed a accidental death. Reluctantly Mike stars asking questions and soon finds a old foe and family.

Comments: Unlike past books Dorian does two new things. He keeps the story mainly in a short timeframe and geographical area and he goes back and forth in time. This creates a page turner I could not stop reading. Great work. Highly recommended series. Doiron knows his firearms very well.