*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This wasn't bad, not sure if i would have liked it more had i read the previous book or not but it was just really hard for me to get into this book despite all the action

This is part of a series but it written to where it can be read as a standalone. I honestly am shocked by how much I enjoyed this and I’m considering going back to read the previous ones in the series. I liked our protagonist and the action this book had. This was such a fast paced read with a mystery element.

This is probably my favorite book in the Mike Bowditch series. Right from the start the suspense and action grabbed you. Very quick read. I really liked the back and forth of the chapters to tell the story.

Mike Bowditch has been an investigator for the Forestry Department for years. He's exactly like one would expect; curious, insightful and introverted. He lives alone with a wolf for a companion. The wolf had come to him injured and he nursed it back to health but to his surprise, once healed the wolf had chosen to stick around. Mike doesn't consider it a pet but he must admit he enjoys having him around.
A new case has just come in. A wealthy professor died on the river several months ago. The case was ruled an accident but his family doesn't think that is so. The man's daughter-in-law is a South African who came to this country as a young woman and regarded the professor as her own father. Yet he left his fortune to her daughter, his granddaughter. The older woman is sure that the death was a murder rather than an accident and she wants Mike to investigate the death again. Mike finally agrees to ask around about it. He talks to some of the local families who don't have anything new to add to the investigation.

Before Mike can make up his mind, he encounters tragedy. Driving home in the dark, his vehicle is booby-trapped and before he can react Mike is thrown out into the river, trapped under the ice. He manages to fight free of the ice and get out but now he is caught in a race against whoever wants him dead. They are still out in the night, with a working vehicle and a gun they are quick to shoot at him. Exhausted and injured, it will take everything Mike has to survive...if he can.

This is the twelfth novel in the Mike Bowditch series. The story is told in chunks between two time periods; the now where Mike is fighting desperately for his life and the past where the reader learns more about Mike and about the case and people he has talked with. The action is fast and suspenseful and the reader will be caught up in Mike's fight for survival. Henry Leyva is the narrator and does an admirable job; his voice bringing a vision of the quiet ranger who won't be deterred from the truth. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Mike is a game warden who is called upon to look into a cold case by the family of the deceased. Although Mike is hesitant to do so he decides to look into it.

If only he knew how wrong his decision would be. He encounters a whole cast of characters which try to impede his case and put his life in danger.

Alright I admit this is not the best synopsis I have ever written but I really don’t want to give any spoilers. I do highly recommend this book as I thoroughly enjoyed it and listened it quickly as I was so enthralled. The narrator was amazing and the story was intriguing. This is my first book by the author but it certainly won’t be my last.

I love this series but the author's writing style really changed in this one. I am not one to enjoy stories that bounce around. I like my reading to be in one time line. Thus said, I almost would like to go back to find where the story begins and read every other chapter to follow the story in the order of it happening.

This was the first I have enjoyed by this author and left me gasping. Mike Bowditch is a Game Warden in Maine and after a long day of being at the vet with his wolf who is crated in the back of his Jeep and investigating and interviewing he is on his way home when he hits some spikes in the road and loses traction and ends up off the road and sliding into the river. Now it is a fight for his life. A fight against the hypothermia and against those who are trying to kill him. Wet, frozen, and alone he is left fighting against the elements and those hunting him. Who is it? This was a fast paced thriller that had me listening and recharging my device so I could keep listening. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though this was the first foray into this series I will be going back and finding more.

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: A killer wants Maine Game Warden, Mike Bowditch dead and soon he will be fighting to stay alive.

BRIEF REVIEW: This story starts out in high gear with Game Warden, Mike Bowditch and his half-wolf dog Shadow, crated in his truck, driving home on a frigid winter's night when large spiked jacks-shaped objects placed randomly in his path. This causes his tires to blow out and his truck careens into the frozen Androscoggin river below. Will man and dog survive the icy plunge? Who set him up and is someone waiting to attack as Mike tries to escape the vehicle and save himself and the dog?

In the other storyline of what happened earlier in the day we learn that Mike was asked to revisit the death of a wealthy professor by his difficult daughter-in-law. She believes her FIL's death was not accidental (death by drowning) as it was ruled. She claims that her late FIL been duck hunting on the Androscoggin river and supposedly fell out of his boat and drowned yet when he was found he did not have his life vest on. She claims that he would never have gone on a boat without a life vest. She further suspects a survivalist who was hunting with him that day had something to do with his death.

The entire story is told over a 24 hour period and the writing is very good and engaging. I loved the 1st person POV and how the mystery played out. I also enjoyed how humor is peppered at appropriate times which was a nice touch. This one is #12 of the Mike Bowditch, Game Warden series and unfortunately, I've only read a couple of other books in this series. I definitely would have benefited by reading the previous installment involving the Dow family as there were references to people and events that were foreign to me. I don't recall feeling that way with the other 2 series books I read previously. I do now want to go back and read all of the ones I've missed - the writing is well worth it and the characters well-crafted.

RATING: 4/5


https://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2021/07/116-2021-dead-by-dawn-paul-doiron.html
Thanks go to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audio book in exchange for my unbiased review. The audiobook was read by Henry Leyva did a very good job.

It's always a risk to jump into an established series, but I am so glad I jumped into this one! This book is the twelfth in the Mike Bowditch series. Mike is a Maine game warden who finds himself ambushed and thrown into a situation fighting for his life in the harsh Maine December winter. Told in alternating timelines of the same day, Mike is left to puzzle out how to stay alive and why he is put in this position in the first place. If Jack Bauer were a Maine game warden, 24 would have had a season based on this book. It is that intense and layered and interesting. Now I want to go back and read the whole series.

Content Warning: Cursing, Violence, Murder

Excellent book and am looking forward to reading more books in this Mike Bowditch Game Warden series by this very talented Maine author. This book is full of twists and turns and I love the way it all came together in the end.

DEAD BY DAWN by Paul Doiron, narrated by Henry Leyva

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Paul Doiron for a complimentary audio-ARC for my honest review.

This was a very gripping book, switching between timelines, before and after his crash into the frozen river. Why was he sabotagd? There was lots of action and the narrator kept it fast-paced and exciting. Now, I plan to go back and read the couple of books that I missed before this one. Great series!

#NetGalley #DeadbyDawn #PaulDoiron

When Mike Bowditch agrees to interview a pest complaining about a lax investigation into the death of a well known academic four years earlier, he has no clue that he's stepping into a hornets' nest from his own past. Short chapters alternate from the present, starting with a plunge into the frozen Androscoggin River, and then back to the start of his day interviewing the witnesses from the professor's last day. Mike manages to escape from under the ice only to find himself stranded, wet, weaponless, and with no matches in his pocket, in serious danger of hypothermia. Then a sniper starts shooting. The rest of the book is Mike's search to understand who wants him dead and why. This book is a masterpiece of timing, and impossible to set down. Henry Leyva, who has also narrated the previous eleven episodes of this series, turns in his usual excellent performance as the voice of Mike. Leyva's accents and perfect pace make this book a terrific listen.

This was an intense cat and mouse game. I was on the edge of seat with this one because the narrator was fantastic at bringing the story to life. I’ve never read a book by Paul Doiron and this is apparently the 12th book in a series but I found it could stand alone. But now that I’m done I requested several of his books from my library so be prepared to become an addict once you read this.

This story was intriguing at the outset but turned out to be just okay. The storyline went in a direction that is not exactly my cup of tea, which is a me issue not a book issue. I liked the writing style and the characters. I did not realize this was part of a series, but without reading any other ones I definitely think this can be read as a stand alone without issue.

I definitely enjoyed the narrator. He made the story compelling and it was easy to get into it.

Dead By Dawn (Mike Bowditch #12)
Paul Doiron
In this the 12th Mike Bowditch book we see him fight for his life.
Mike Bowditch is a Maine Game Warden. Four years previously Professor Eben Chamberlain was found drowned in a boating accident. The case was deemed accidental and closed. The deceased man’s daughter in law, Mariette Chamberlain, insists it was murder and demands they reopen the investigation. Mike Bowditch is awarded the task of talking to the woman and determining whether there is cause to reopening the case. He listens carefully to what the woman has to say and while he isn’t convinced the case should be reopened, he agrees to talk to some persons connected to the case.
Mike is on his way home from taking Shadow for a checkup. The wolf/dog is in a cage in the back of Mike’s jeep. The vet had sedated the wolf for the check up and the trip home. Shadow should sleep while Mike makes a few stops, talks to a few people about Chamberlain. Without realizing it Mike stirs up a hornets nest.
Mike’s jeep hits a spike strategically positioned in the road sending the jeep into the frozen river. He must fight for both his life and Shadow’s. That’s the easy part for the night. Mike faces hypothermia, gun shots, being dragged and that’s just the beginning of his long night.
This is a fast-paced, intense, and action-packed tale. This is the first book I have read/listened to by author Paul Doiron. His writing style is interesting and WORKS. The chapters moved back and forth between present and what led up to the present. The author writes in a sharp, vivid manner. The characters are well fleshed out. While it is obvious, they are cruel and evil you also sense they are clever, ruthless, and ingenious. The ending left it open for more books in this series. (This book stands well alone.)

I love thrillers and suspense, but this particular area of the genre I don't typically involve myself in, as it's very James Patterson esque, and that's not my usual interest. However, I did enjoy the continual heart-pumping action. There are two timelines at play here, and eventually come together on the timeline. Once it's clear who is after Mike, I found myself getting a little lost. I haven't read other books in this series, however others say this is a good standalone. Still, I found myself fairly lost about all of the characters involved. Many of the characters felt like caricatures of people. I enjoyed the book, but don't know that I'll pick up another Game Warden book.

Told in two timelines with the book opening with game warden Mike Bowditch crashing his car into a freezing river. One timeline is Mike's struggle for survival and the other timeline is the actions and events that led to Mike's crash. Mike had been hired to investigate a cold case of a man's death in a boating accident by a relative who believes that it wasn't an accident but a murder.

I enjoyed the characters in the book and found the dialogue to be quite funny at times. The action scenes were also very good but I felt that the timeline transitions were not super clear and that the author went into details that weren't very interesting. Overall I enjoyed this book but probably won't seek out other books in this series.

This book follows Mike Bowditch as he and his wolf-dog Shadow crash into an icy river and have to run for their lives. The book is told from before and after the crash. It was action-packed on both sides of the story! I got through this book in one day!

This was my first book in the Mike Bowditch series and also my first of Paul Doiron's. I found that even with not reading the other books in the story that I was able to easily follow the story and now I am itching to read the first book 11 books in the series.

This series follows our main character, Mike Bowditch. He is a game warden in Maine and he finds himself in quite the predicament. He is ambushed while driving on a winter road. He was on his way home from taking his wolf to the veterinarian in another town. His Jeep is trusted into a frozen river and he narrowly escapes drowning only to have to face the battle of staying alive in the harsh winter conditions. He is also trying to escape his pursuers, who also happen to be heavily armed. We end up switching back to the hours leading up the ambush and Bowditch trying to figure out who his pursuers may be. I liked the alternating timelines and trying to figure it out along with Bowditch.

The mystery thriller was a fun ride and I look forward to reading the first books in the series, as well as any future installments! I can't wait to see what Bowditch gets into next.

This is the first book that I have read by Paul Doiron but I really enjoyed it very much. It was a fast read. I know this is part of a series but it can be read as a stand alone. The book had a twist at the end but it was a good ending. I highly suggest this book. I plan to look into more of his other books after reading this one.

*Thank you netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my honest review**


**I listened to this as an audio book it was narrated very well and keeps you interested**