You can't go wrong with any book by Paul Doiron. full of wonderful descriptions and interesting plot lines. Don't miss this one!

This was my first book I’ve read by Paul Doiron. I learned that it’s the 13th book in this series, which I was excited about because now I can read all the previous books. But you don’t need to have read them to read this. This was a great mystery and thriller, grisly but not horribly so. It’s written well and I liked how Mike and Stacy are together.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC to review. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise. ~

Another great one y Paul Doiron. Doiron's gift of describing wildlife and nature is at full force in HATCHET ISLAND. We get to see Mike and Stacey work in tandem, each appreciating what the other brings to the table. It's refreshing to read a thriller with such strong and realistic characters of both sexes. And I learned a lot about puffins! While the mystery itself is pretty grisly, Doiron doesn't use violence gratuitously. As the plot unwinds, each act of violence becomes understandable, if not forgivable. A great read!

Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly.......(Billie Holiday)

Paul Doiron must have been humming a different tune when it came to his 13th edition of the Mike Bowditch Series. Hatchet Island is completely crossing into an unexpected lane in this latest offering. Those of us who have been long time fans will still visualize Mike tracking the bad guys through the thick woods of Maine. From his original position of game warden to his present job of game warden investigator, Mike has trekked on solid ground. Stay tuned........

Prologue: Young Evan Levandowski has been hitting into brick walls as of late. He's returned from college to Bar Harbor to take a break from things. He's informed his mother that he's taking a short trip to pursue the rare boreal owl. But Evan will never experience that. For some astounding reason, he's stopped traffic on the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and jumped from its rails to his death. The greatest secret is one never to be known.

Pivot the storyline to Mike Bowditch and his girlfriend, Stacey, who are kayaking toward Baker Island. Stacey was a former project manager on the island for the Maine Seabird Initiative.She's been contacted by her friend, Kendra Ballard, to bring Mike with her to investigate some strange happenings there. Baker Island is home to puffins and razorbills and other species of birds. Dr. Maeve McLeary is in charge there. Strangely, McLeary has been missing for several days after taking her boat out. She's not answering her phone.

After spending some time on the island, Mike and Stacey take off only to return the next day. What meets their eyes will be one of shock and horror at a tragedy that has unfolded there. Never would they expect such a scene. One call, even with weak reception, brings on the Coast Guard, the local sheriff, the Maine State Police, and the Marine patrol officers. And our Mike Bowditch is shuffled between all these officers. Doiron keeps Mike front and center, but it's a lot of individuals to sort through.

Hatchet Island turns into a psychological thriller in response to what happened on Baker Island. We'll meet a whole gamut of some twisted characters while Mike is trying to keep Stacey safe. It's complete with twists and turns, but Hatchet Island is not my favorite of this series. While the island and the kayaking delivered a different tone, I wish to return to the woods once again. It's there that Bowditch has the greatest impact. Still I recommend Hatchet Island because of the superb writing of Paul Doiron.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Minotaur Books and to Paul Doiron for the opportunity.

Mike Bowditch novels are automatic buys for me. I like the character and the situations he experiences in the novels. I especially appreciate the descriptions of the different settings.
In this novel, Mike and his once-again girlfriend take a long weekend visit to an isolated island in Maine. There they become involved in the deaths of some of Stacey's long time friends. After an absence in several novels, Stacey returns and their relationship reignites.
I enjoyed this mystery. I did feel that it moved more slowly than a lot of Bowditch's mysteries. I still enjoyed the novel. It was just different than usual.

Recently had a visit to Maine so I further appreciated the story. Enjoyed the setting, nature elements and the mystery story line.

Paul Doiron is an auto-buy author for me. This is his 13th book in the Mike Bowditch series and might be his best one yet. His love for Maine is obvious from the first page. Mike and Stacey are back together and on a kayaking trip to a bird sanctuary where the story is set. It is non-stop action but the descriptions of costal Maine, the islands, and wild life are amazing. Hatchet Island is a stand alone book but if you haven't read the other 12 novels you might want to pick them up.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I've been a long-time Paul Doiron fan, so I was excited to get a copy of Hatchet Island to review. It certainly didn't disappoint. I was transported to the Maine coast, and I honestly couldn't wait to continue the story when I picked it up every night. Mike Bowditch is a believable, likeable guy, and I truly enjoy following him on his adventures.

I'm really looking forward to the next installment.

I received an ARC from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Fans of the Mike Bowditch series will welcome the latest mystery, set this time on the coast of Maine. Mike's girlfriend Stacy, has been asked to visit an old friend at a seabird research station where she had interned, so they take a side trip from their planned kayak camping and find themselves embroiled in a murderous situation with a troubled cast of characters. Doiron does a good job of capturing Maine dialog and lifestyle, and the suspense keeps the pages turning.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I never miss a Mike Bowditch book. There has not been a single one that has failed to pull me right in and keep me hooked, inevitably leading to reading far too late into the night. There is the perfect blend of intriguing mystery, dangerous suspense, and personal growth. Hatchet Isalnd takes us to a misty, fogbound, almost uninhabited island that holds temporary housing for a team of researchers. Mike and Stacey take a detour on their mini vacation to check in on the researchers after they get a mysterious email asking for help. Things quickly get intense as murders abound and mysterious millionaires pull Stacey and Mike into their orbit. The suspense is tangible in the pages and it becomes nearly impossible to set it down and not simply ignore all else to find out what happens next. If you’re already a fan, you’ll definitely be satisfied with another great installment. If you’re not, then go back to the beginning and speed read until you can catch up with the rest of us because you won’t be disappointed.

The setting is Puffin Island off the Maine coast and I enjoyed reading about the area and the bird colonies. Mike Bowditch is a game warden and investigator but off duty, taking a kayak vacation with his girlfriend Stacy.

Stacy did an internship on the island and is very careful about docking where the endangered species are nesting. A friend who works on the island asked Stacy to come see her as the founder of the project is missing. The tension between the volunteers and head of the research project is tangible. Stacy hopes to connect with the founder and mentor who is currently missing.

Camping off another island one night they hear a gunshot and that's when the action begins. Three researchers are found murdered and posed in odd positions. (This is not a spoiler but in the description). Bowditch starts working with a few former coworkers in Marine Patrol, Coast Guard and Environmental Protection and some of those men have secrets.

I liked the slow reveal on many mysteries and plan to read more in this series. I did not know this was #13 in the Mike Bowditch series so I have catching up to do. Publication date is June 28, 2022 by St. Martin's Press. Genre: Mystery and Thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

I have loved all the Paul Doiron/Mike Bowditch books and happily waited for each new book/storyline. I am sorry to say, this book didn't do it for me.

I just finished it and went to the NetGalley site to read peoples' reviews. Very surprised to see most were enthralled. Not me. Sorry. Some of the writing was very good. Some was tedious. I did not care for any of the characters and I also don't think there was much character development.

Maybe just me. But this is my honest opinion.

This is a favorite series of mine, but I must say this latest entry - the 13th - isn't my favorite of the bunch. Still, Maine game warden Mike Bowditch retains his perch near the top of my favorite heroes list, even if the rest of the cast are for the most part rather unlikable characters.

This one begins as Mike and his significant other, Stacey Stevens, are kayaking to an island that's a sanctuary for endangered seabirds and the site of a research project in which Stacey was once involved as an intern. The project, the Maine Seabird Initiative, is headed by Dr. Maeve McLeary; Stacey's good friend, an intern there, tells Stacey that strange things are happening. Most curious of all, Maeve seems to be missing - and her unexplained disappearance follows on the heels of the death by suicide of a young male intern.

As they camp for the following night, Mike and Stacey are awakened by a gunshot; when they pull up stakes to get to the island, they find a total disaster. Of the three researchers on the island, two have been brutally murdered. The third - now a person of interest - either escaped being a victim or himself was the perpetrator. Several other law enforcement entities are called in to help, including the Marine Patrol and an officer who's got a violent streak. On a nearby island is a community that's dominated by a powerful but secretive photographer and a wife who will do anything to protect her husband. A third island, the rather inhospitable Hatchet Island, is the site of said photographer's "studio," which may hold a few secrets of its own.

The action starts at the beginning and doesn't let up till the end, with Mike and Stacey in the middle and, on occasion, threatened with extinction just like some of the seabirds (the details of which, of course, I won't reveal). In the overall scheme of things, the "big reveal" left me a little underwhelmed, but I will say getting there was a whole bunch of fun. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it - already looking forward to the next.

Maine Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch should know better than to try to vacation in his home state, because he happens on trouble when he does. This time he's paddling with his girlfriend Stacy Stevens, who wants to stop by an island where she had interned at a puffin sanctuary because an old friend was worried. After worry turns to the worst, Mike and Stacy help unravel a baffling set of circumstances on the sea-bird island and its close neighbor, where a wealthy and eccentric photographer who bought the island rules the roost.

As always, Mike is impatient, courageous, and unrelenting and the characters that surround him display the range of humanity found in Maine. Pride, greed, lust, and falls from grace vie with competence and conscious before the truth comes out. On his 13th outing, Paul Doiron's hero won't disappoint his fans and will keep new comers to this mystery series turning the pages.

(3). The Mike Bowditch series is always entertaining. I bet I have read most of them. This one is good fun, with lots of twists and turns and steady action. A very contemporary theme also holds us together well. Good stuff.

Stacy Stevens and Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch have planned a quiet getaway on Spruce Island as Hatchet Island by Paul Doiron begins. The plan was to paddle out on their kayaks and get away from everything. That was before Stacy got a concerning email from her old friend Kendra Ballard. As it happens, Kendra Ballard is on nearby Baker Island working as part of The Maine Sea Bird Initiative Project as Stacy did long ago. Kendra Ballard supervises the two interns and organizes everything from May to August. Her email was concerning and she specifically requested Mike to come with Stacy and bring his badge and gun.

Baker Island is in a dead zone so they have to go out there to learn what is going on at the island. Fortunately, the island which is home to numerous types of birds, is close by and not much of a detour on thus July morning. They make it out to the island in the fog, despite the near miss with a boat moving at far too high a speed for the weather conditions. Once they arrive at the island, they are met by an armed intern who clearly does not want them to land. The intern, Hillary Fitzgerald, is eventually persuaded to check in with Kendra who makes it clear she is in charge and she wants Stacy Stevens and Mike Bowditch to come ashore.

Maeve McLeary, the person in charge of everything overall, has gone missing and none of the researchers now where she or her boat is or why she is not on the island with them. In addition to that, some of the locals are harassing one of the interns. They claim it is all in good fun, but Bowditch knows it is racism and is disgusted. There are other strange things happening as well.

Within hours, all that will be eclipsed by the murders.

Stacy Stevens and Game Warden Mike Bowditch are soon in the thick of it and there are suspects galore. Hatchet Island is a complicated mystery filled read that shifts across several islands and puts Stevens and Bowditch in peril several times in the often violence filled read. Hatchet Island is another solidly good book in the long running series.



Hatchet Island is currently scheduled to be released on June 28, 2022. My reading copy was an ARC via NetGalley.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

One of my favorite authors. Great characters. Always enjoy the setting- feel like you're there, especially for someone from Maine/New England. Like the switch to the ocean this time.

Recommended.

Mike Bowditch and Stacey are on the way to Bayer's Island after receiving a message from Kendall about weird goings on at the bird sanctuary. The leader, Maeve has been missing a few days and the lobstermen are bothering the volunteers.

This is book 13 in the series and the first one that I've read. I didn't feel lost bu it would give some background on the main characters to have started from number one. I thought the book was well written and the descriptions by the author make you feel as if you are there.

I look forward to reading the previous books. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review this book.

In Paul Doiron’s new Mike Bowditch story, Mike gets reunited with his girlfriend Stacy Stevens. They decide to take a vacation weekend to the Maine Seabird Initiative on Hatchet Island where Stacy once worked and has friends. Warden Mike is out of his element out here on the water but Stacy is in familar territory back with her old friends and the birds. But as often happens with these two, trouble follows and the old friends are not who they seem to be. The sanctuary staff is also being threatened by locals. So, not really a vacation after all.
But as usual, a good story and a mystery to solve.
Another good Warden Bowditch novel.

Paul Doiron is without a doubt an excellent writer. His descriptions of the Maine sea and woods are always well-versed and captivating. I was attracted to the descriptions of the bird sanctuary island and other surrounding islands. There is one descriptive scene of a violent storm while Mike and his girlfriend Stacy are camping that drew me right into the setting. With that said, this was not my favorite book in the Mike Bowditch series. Unfortunately, I did not connect with any of the characters, other than the regulars, and I found some of their actions to be far-fetched. I also didn't love the story line. It was a little "out there" and the ending was kind of confusing and abrupt. Despite these drawbacks, fans of this series will definitely want to read this as Mike Bowditch never fails to deliver!.