This is an intense novel set in the wilderness of the Maine woods bordering Canada. It is action packed with lots of suspense and bodies piling up.

This novel shows the tenacious attitude of Mike Bowditch as he pursues a relentless villain. With no way of calling for help, he is on his own. I like how he manages to find ways to continue his pursuit with limited resources. This is more of a survival story for him rather than an intellectual investigative one. There are many deadly scenes and a twist near the end. The circumstances at the very end might be a little unbelievable but makes for a surprising conclusion to this adventure.

Doiron is a capable writer, taking readers on an action packed survival adventure in the wild woods of Maine. Be prepared. This novel is a wild ride and an engaging read.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

In book #15 of this thriller series featuring Mike Bowditch, a warden with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Mike gets a call about a tourist named Pratt who went off exploring in an ATV and hasn't been seen since. The guy had been asking about a man who lives alone in the woods with his daughter. The only one fitting that description is a man named Mark Redmond who is building a log cabin for Josie Jonson on Prentiss Pond near the Canadian border. Spring rain storms have made many of the deep woods roads impassible so Mike's father-in-law Charley contacts Josie to see if she would be willing to fly them to the site by helicopter to talk to the builder. The 'conversation' they have with the builder leads to a crazy manhunt through the wilds of Maine. Very exciting adventure thriller!

Somehow I wasn't even aware of this author and his long-running thriller series before being offered an arc for this latest novel from the publisher through NetGalley. I looked it over and thought it might be a book both my husband and I would enjoy. And it sure was! I hope we can find the time to go back and read the previous books. However it isn't necessary to have read them to enjoy this latest. I can highly recommend it for those looking for some exciting reading this summer, especially if you enjoy books set in the great outdoors.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. I have read all of the Mike Bowditch books and have enjoyed them. In the fifteenth installment, we find Mike and Stacy married. Mike gets called up north because of a man missing who was asking about a father and daughter living in the remote woods. This leads to an intense chase that lasts throughout the night. I could not put the book down. I needed to know how it finished. I do feel like the end was rushed a little bit. I also wish we had more of Stacy. The next installment can’t come fast enough.

Pitch Dark by Paul Doiron

Recently Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacy Woodson were married. As Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron begins, they are talking about the important changes to their lives when they are interrupted by a phone call. Game Warden Brandon Barstow is a young warden and unsure of himself, but thinks he might have a missing person’s case.

It is the first week of May and pouring rain, as it has for weeks now. Game Warden Barstow gradually explains that a man from Idaho, Hammond Pratt, is missing from his rented cabin at Seboomook Farm located up in the Rockwood District. Pratt rented an ATV from the property owner and left on it after asking questions about some guy and his young daughter that are supposed to be in the woods, somewhere nearby.

Game Warden Barstow knows that a guy by the name of Mark Redmond and his young daughter are in the area at Prentiss Pond building a cabin. The work site is very close to the Canadian Border. Apparently, they are the ones that Pratt was asking about before he left on the ATV.

Game Warden Barstow tells Bowditch other things that paint a seriously odd picture. It becomes clear that, regardless of the weather, he needs to get up there and assess the situation, in order to know what to do. He has to make a determination in order to start a search and rescue operation. At this point, Bowditch does not know enough to make that determination.

As it turns out, the horrible weather will be the least of his problems.

What follows is a page turning story that gets increasingly violent and convoluted. Much is happening in Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron and all of it keeps the reader highly entertained. The situation is complicated. Bowditch is going to be lucky to have a career, let alone his life, when things are said and done. Highly recommended.


My digital reading copy came from Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Pitch Dark
by Paul Doiron
Pub Date: Jun 25 2024

Pitch Dark is an edge of your seat suspenseful murder crime drama with lots of action up until the final page! Although this is the 15th book in a series, it can be read as a stand-a-lone. The book has great descriptive characters, you either loved them or hated them! Many plot twists with lots of action, and an ending I did not see coming!

Synopsis: Game Warden Mike Bowditch must chase down a cunning and dangerous fugitive in the North Maine Woods in this nail-biter of a thriller.

Many thanks to #NetGalley #PitchDark and #StMartinsPress for providing me with an E-ARC of this book.

New to the Mike Bowditch series but I am super invested! Thank you to St Martins Publishing Group for this opportunity to read this arc. So I actually had Dead By Dawn that I purchased last year because it sounded good, having no clue it was part of a series. So I decided to read that first, loved it, and followed up with starting the entire series from the beginning! Pitch Dark was great! Who never knew I could love a Gaming Warden so much? These books have just enough action, thrill and humor to keep me going. It’s the second book from the Bowditch series that I’ve finished in a day. This storyline was great and had some twists that I didn’t see coming. Not sure what’s next for Mr. Bowditch seeing that it seems he has truly been through it all, but I’m here for the ride along with him!

Mike Bowditch is a game warden in northern Maine. He and father-in-law, Charley, go with bush pilot, Josie, to where her cabin is being built. Also the site of the camp of the builder, a father who is home-schooling his daughter. Mike is trying to locate information about a fugitive and hope they can provide information. The 3 are drugged and tied to trees while the father and daughter go on the run. Unfortunately, Josie dies because of a reaction to the drug. Leaving Charley at the cabin, Mike chases the father/daughter team towards the Canadian border. No sleep, winter snowstorm and fraught at every turn with trouble, he finally closes in on the duo. In doing so, he has to cross the border and thus is no longer a game warden. Will he prevail or lose everything he has worked for? Grab a copy to find out.

This book was fantastic read. It started with a bang and it never stopped until the end. This is the first book I have read by this author. I'm proud to say, I'm going to look for more books by him especially the Mike Bow ditch series. It was so good.

It only took me one day to read it. It was that spectacular! Great job!

Ebook/Thriller: Thank you Netgalley for giving me a copy of this ARC. I've been reading really lousy books lately and this one was terrific. There are no slow spots, nothing is what it seems, and the first person narrative really works. It is a great addition to the series.

I don’t know how I’ve lived without this series in my life up until this point! Pitch Dark by Paul Dorian has all of the elements that I love in a thriller, and I read it from cover to cover in a day. I absolutely could not put it down, and I’ll be reading more of the Mike Bowditch series in the near future!
I love Warden Mike Bowditch because even when he’s in a chaotic situation, he keeps his cool. He has to make quick decisions and rely on his intuition. His intuition leads him deep into the Maine woods when he hears about a situation he finds a little off. Now, I know there are people who live off the grid and homeschool their kids, but the fact that a man was asking questions about them and is now missing leads Mike to action.

The action in this novel was almost non-stop! The way that the questions build up along with the suspense made it impossible to stop reading. I had to know what was going on. The setting is almost a character itself. The woods, the storms, the mud, the darkness! There are a lot of twists that I didn’t see coming, and I loved that!

I highly recommend Pitch Dark!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Paul Doiron has written a novel that will keep you awake (in the "Pitch Dark") turning pages. A wonderful atmospheric tale of Maine woods, misfit people, and a mystery and thriller put together. I would recommend this book to everyone, not just mystery lovers,,,and, I wish this author could write a book a week---his writing is that good!

Pitch Dark is part of the Mike Bowditch series. This one is number 15. I have read a few in the series and so I was familiar with many of the characters.
Mike is a Game Warden Investigator in Maine. He becomes suspicious of a builder and his daughter when her asks for only privacy.
He goes to check it out things go bad. He escapes and chases the fugitive through Maine and Canada.

This one is nonstop action and kept my heart rate up. The story was very well done and the writing very good.
I recommend this book and this series.

PITCH DARK by Paul Doiron is the 15th Mike Bowditch mystery, and this one was a thrill ride!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I am clearly a fan of this series. Naturally I found another 2 books after I took this picture, but I still have plenty to read in the backlist. The Maine Game Warden Investigator gets a curious call and wants to check it out. When it leads to a recluse with his 12-year-old daughter, Mike's intuition pushes him to find out more. This leads to a confrontation that results in a murder and a chase through the Maine wilderness with a cunning adversary.

I was engaged quite quickly with this story, feeling like I knew Mike a bit more. The side personal details, while easily read as a stand alone, added to the character growth as a series does. When the action really began in this book, it felt like it didn't let up until the end. I couldn't look away! I can't say more, but this one was a true thriller!

I love being able to pair the digital ARC with the audiobook, especially with all the fast action!

A huge thanks to @minotaur_books @macmillan.audio & @netgalley for this book and letting me rave about it! I don't normally stick with series' for long, so I am excited to have one I look forward to. This publishes June 25th, so keep a lookout for this one.

Suspense, murder, and danger are expected from Paul Doiron’s Mike Bowditch series, and Pitch Dark, the fifteenth book in the series, brings the action and intensity to new levels. Bush pilot Josie Jonson is ecstatic when she finds a skilled builder for the log cabin she wants built near Prentiss Pond. All Mark Redmond asks for in return is to be left alone to build and to homeschool his daughter, Cady.

Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch is concerned about the intensity of Redmond’s secretiveness; especially after a man looking for the Redmonds has gone missing. Josie eventually agrees to fly Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens to the pond so they can protect Mark and Cady. But hours later, they witness a murder and are taken captive.

Mike is a great tracker and wants to believe the best of others, but he can be fiery and bold. He also has a somewhat perverse sense of humor that isn’t always appreciated by others. He’s a good listener and mentor, but can be baited somewhat easily and isn’t always likeable. He listens to his intuition and is relentless in his pursuit of his investigations. I appreciated his independent thinking and his observation skills. Mike’s wife, Stacey, plays a much smaller, but important role in this novel.

This riveting crime thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat from near the beginning to the exhilarating finish. The world-building of rural northern Maine was fantastic. I was easily transported there and felt like I was running a gauntlet of adversity with Mike and immersed in the atmosphere of the north woods.

The novel builds suspense in a way that pulls readers into the lives of the characters. Mike’s perseverance, resourcefulness, and determination were highlights in this novel. The plot is suspenseful and full of action. Moving at breakneck speed, it has several twists and turns and is darker than others I’ve read by this author. While a couple of plot points were a little predictable, my main quibble is that while the main mystery was solved, there are a few too many loose ends. However, I’m sure the next book will resolve them.

Overall, this fast-paced novel was engaging, gripping, pulse-pounding, and atmospheric with good characterization and great world-building details. Even though this is part of a series, it is a great stand-alone read too. I can’t wait to find out what is next for Mike, Stacey, and Charley. I recommend this to those who like crime thrillers with strong main characters and those who enjoy action-packed wilderness adventure novels.

St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Paul Doiron provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently expected to be June 25, 2024. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

When it comes to suspenseful, intelligent, and completely addicting thrillers, Paul Doiron is an expert. In Pitch Dark, 15th in the Mike Bowditch Mysteries, Mike chases a murderer through the wilderness between Maine and Quebec, putting his job and even his life on the line. From beginning to end, the action and tension never quit and I loved every unputdownable minute of it. I read the novel while listening to the audiobook narrated by Henry Leyva who does an amazing job of bringing the many characters, including Quebecois, to life.

I received the novel from Netgalley and St Martin’s Press and the audiobook from Macmillan Audio

Every time I read a Mike Bowditch book by Paul Doiron I remember how much I enjoy the series and the latest Pitch Dark did not disappoint! Mike & Stacey are settling into married life when he receives a phone call about a missing man about 3 hours north. Charley goes along with Mike and they find themselves in one situation after another - an action packed, fast paced mystery. Thank you NetGalley!

I loved it! Breathtaking mystery. It was nerve wracking following the suspect through the cold and the dark far from home while knowing that the killer's skills and smarts were on a level higher than his own. When the trek began I didn't think there could be any outcome that ended well. Thrilling and unpredictable chase. Great author!

First read from this author. Quick action packed thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I was excited about the Maine Ranger and looking forward to hearing more about the forest and service. The author spent a large amount of time on guns and ammunition. While it wasn’t a complete turn off it was definitely geared toward a specific graphic of reader. I am found myself able to enjoy the story overall despite this specific detail. I was unable to guess the twist and enjoyed the mystery.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

'Pitch Dark' by Paul Doiron is his BEST yet! By best, I've been fortunate enough to read a number of his works and without a doubt, his writing improves with each successive thriller! Mike Bowditch, a Maine game warden, has married his best friend, outside of Charlie and Oma. He's been tasked to fly into a less populated area as a vacationeer is missing and the woods are seldom forgiving when a person doesn't practice forest safety. Mike and Charlie are flown by a female pilot who isn't eager to pilot these two due to the ever-changing weather. She knows the people living in the area. One in particular has Mike's interest as he and his young daughter live up here. Yet, for some reason, she doesn't attend school and is hardly ever seen. Mike's suspicious. Mike is always suspicious. It's his job as game warden! There's tension, plenty of it when Mike and Charlie meet the man. The three visitors are drugged, left each tied to different trees. Events turn from bad to worse! Father and daughter take off, leaving the three tethered. One doesn't survive! Mike finds their trail and begins his pursuit. Tension? Oh, it's palpable! Weather's worsening! Are they heading for the Canadian border? Do they have friends ready to help hide them from the law? Will Mike get to them before they go any farther?
I highly recommend this outstanding thriller by Paul Doiron!!!!!

4.5⭐

Paul Dorian has now written 15 books in the Mike Bowditch Series and they are still amazing. I always enjoy to see what the Maine Game Warden is investigating or getting into. I feel that you could read this as a stand--alone and not be lost.

Mike is called to assist with a missing person case, that may not be a missing person, by a rookie game warden. Mike and Charley, his father-in-law, head to the northern woods of Maine. Soon, Mike is trying to survive another daring adventure.

Dorian has developed Bowditch's character so much throughout this series. Bowditch is a warden that's not afraid to bend the rules. He is often finding himself in trouble with his superiors. He doesn't care though, as long as he solves the case. The series is a different take on your regular police procedurals. If you have never read the Bowditch Series and like Police Procedurals, I think you would enjoy this series.

Tentative Publishing Date: June 25, 2024

Thanks to Netgalley, Saint Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Dorian for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

☺️ Happy Reading ☺️

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