The Poacher's Son: The First Mike Bowditch Mystery (Mike Bowditch Mysteries, 1)

After I read the first 2 books in the series, I wasn't sure I would continue. I didn't like the protagonist or many of the people he came across in his work. Mike Bowditch has good reason to be full of anger and hate, coming from such a dysfunctional family, but it didn't make him more pleasant to be around.Maine wardens deal with the dark underbelly of Maine because we, traditionally, are very poor. So they deal with actual criminals, but also with poor people who are merely trying to feed their families by poaching for meat. Increasingly they have to face drug smugglers and dealers. Mike Bowditch seemed to put them all in the same box. Maybe I am feeling defensive because I know too many of the feeding a family kind of scofflaw. Maybe it is simply because I lean more toward cozies in my binge reading.I have now read the entire series. Mike Bowditch matures throughout which is a huge plus in a series. What often happens is the protagonist never learns or grows throughout an entire series. An author who can draw multifaceted people is a real talent. Paul Doiron draws complex characters set in Maine which is one of the best places in the world. Maine is no longer as poor as it was in Book One so maybe we have grown over the years too. I could never give less than 5 stars to this series, and I hope more are coming.

I love the book, but the pictures show the author's signature, which my copy of the book did not have. That's my only complaint because the picture is a little misleading.

Writing hooks you into the main character. Love reading all of the books in the series

The narrative keeps you looking forward to the next time you pick up this book. Somewhat implausible was the central character’s unfailing allegiance to an abusive father.

Ah, family dynamics. You sometimes don't realize what an effect your childhood or your relationship with your parents, siblings, or other relatives will have on you until later in life. And other times these relationships define your entire existence.Mike Bowditch is a game warden in Maine. His father, Jack, is a hard-drinking, often unemployed womanizer who poaches illegal game from the wilderness. Mike never seemed to get his father's approval--or even his interest--throughout his childhood, and once his parents' marriage ended and his mother moved away with Mike in tow, his relationship with his father was tenuous at best. Mike's decision to become a game warden was made in part because of a need to pay society back for his father's actions, a decision that also led to the dissolution of his relationship with his longtime girlfriend.One night after responding to a resident's call for help, he finds an answering machine message from his father, which is surprising, since they haven't spoken in nearly two years. The message is cryptic, but it grows in importance when the next morning Mike learns that a local policeman and a lawyer representing a timber company were both murdered, and Jack is the primary suspect. Plus, Jack escaped from police and is on the run.Mike believes that while his father has been proven to have a violent temper, there's no way he could have killed the men. But he's nearly the only one that feels that way, and as Mike tries to gather some facts and understand what happened, he begins to jeopardize his own career and his relationships with colleagues and loved ones. Determined to find out the truth, despite being warned against it, he joins forces with a retired warden (and one-time nemesis of his father) and begins searching for his father. And then he meets a woman who claims to be his father's girlfriend, who insists she knows what happened.The Poacher's Son, Paul Doiron's first book in a series featuring Mike Bowditch, is a compelling and well-written mystery/thriller that is a bit weightier than typical books in this genre because of the emotional back story. Doiron, who is editor of the magazine Down East, has a terrific knack for creating an evocative setting--his descriptions of the isolated, wild, and beautiful places on Maine's coast and in the woods were tremendously vivid and set an appropriate mood for the book.Doiron created the appropriate amount of tension in his story, and while not all of the characters are sympathetic, many are well-drawn and complex, although a few tend to hew closer to stereotypes. There were a number of times when I expected the action to go one way and I was surprised, which is always a good thing when reading mysteries like these. The truth is, however, I actually liked the story of Mike and Jack's relationship, and its impact on other aspects of their lives, almost more than the mystery itself. But I'm still interested in reading the two other books in this series to see how Doiron moves Mike's character forward.If you enjoy mysteries with a great sense of place, this is one for you.

The Poacher's Son "Mike Bowditch's Mysteries" Audiobook read by John Bedford Lloyd is the first book in the intense series written by Award Winning Paul Doiron. The narrator's smooth deep-toned voice guides you through a maze of anguish, suspicion, treachery, betrayal and keeps you so enthralled that you won't be able to stop listening/reading for a minute.The story will wrench your heart strings as you follow the life of Mike Bowditch a 24 year old game warden in the wild woods of Maine weather more that complaining residents, snowstorms, blizzards, rogue bears, unscrupulous poachers, dishonest destructive tourists, secret marijuana gardens, snowmobiling accidents, his college sweetheart leaving and his Father Jack Bowditch being accused of killing a cop.Despite feeling utterly alone sometimes, Mike Bowditch knows that he is where he belongs - in the woods in Maine. He heads home to an empty house and finds a message from his Father on his answering machine asking for help. Mike is suspicious at first realizing that it has been 2 long years since he has spoken to his father - so why is he calling now? Jack Bowditch never needed anyone or anything.Soon, Mike is in the middle of a man hunt for his Father struggling with his fellow law enforcement community because he is the "son of a known poacher" and now maybe a cop killer. No matter how alienated Mike feels he is determined to find his Father. After all, Mike knows how his Father thinks & knows all of his hiding places. He knows almost every square inch of the forest and Mike has one ace - one somebody that he can depend on because he knows deep down inside that he will never be able to depend on his own flesh and blood.Mike soon catches up with him and is confident that he can convince his Father to return so they both can clear his name. Before long it becomes more than obvious that Mike has made a grave mistake and he may not be able to reason with his Father or live through the whole nightmare.

Pfff … this one gripped me from page one. Sometimes slow, sometimes hyperventilatingly (is that a word?) fast. Throughout well written. And not an easy story. Not at all.Top of the hill writing!

But it pulled me in and I really enjoyed it. Great to learn about a bit of the US I never have heard of.

Bonjour,Le colis est bien arrivé ce matin.Il manque une partie des pages 207 à 238 (dans le bas).Je ne suis donc pas satisfait : pourriez vous remplacer ce livre ?Je me tiens à votre disposition pour vous retourner cet exemplaire défectueux.Cordialement

Excellent reading

Insgesamt ist die Story bei dem ersten Werk in der Reihe von Paul Doiron zwar wenig überraschend. Dafür überzeugen aber die Charaktere (gerade auch die Nebencharaktere) und der von Maine vermittelte Eindruck ist super. Das Buch ist definitiv zu empfehlen und macht gespannt auf die weiteren Teile der Reihe.