I didnt realize this was a book in a series that I havent read. I will try to get to all of them but honestly do not see that happening.

This was a solid thriller in a series I hadn’t read before, but it can be read alone. I didn’t like the back and forth between past and present without any warning. It felt jerky at times because of it. And the setup was a bit awkward, but I suppose that could be because I hadn’t read any prior books about the main character. Mike Bowditch is chasing a killer in the dead of winter, but ends up being the prey when he knocks on the wrong door and sets in motion the killer’s attempt to kill Mike before he uncovers the truth. I liked the setting for the book and it kept me guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of my go to authors. I love all his books and this was no exception. It was a fast paced thriller set in my beloved Maine . I love warden Bowditch . Another gem of a read

Another stellar addition to the Mike Bowditch series of books! This one had me hooked from the first page and I really loved the way the author alternated between the present (survival adventure) and several hours earlier (criminal investigation). The ending came much too soon for me and I could have kept reading more.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an advance copy. I highly recommend this book and the series...you won't be disappointed!!

Wow!! What a page turner! Doiron is a great writer and I felt all the tension as the story progressed. Wonderful thriller with a twisty plot.

Dead by Dawn – Paul Doiron

This book takes off like a runaway train, and all you can do is hold on for dear life as you frantically turn the pages to figure out who Mike has angered so badly! Additionally, for me, having spent several years living in the beautiful state of Maine, this series is always like a visit home for me as I read of places that I’ve visited and grown to love.

Maine State Game Warden Mike Bowditch is driving down a dark stretch of isolated road when he drives over a homemade ‘spike strip’ which promptly flattens his tires and sends him careening over an embankment into the icy Kennebec River. Completely submerged in ice cold water, Mike somehow manages to escape the vehicle, freeing his canine companion as he does so, before the vehicle sinks beneath the ice. Fighting to get safely to land, Mike must now find a way to warm himself, before frostbite and hypothermia become irreversible. As he works to save himself, he notices headlights and a flashlight in the distance where his Jeep left the roadway and realizes that someone has returned to be sure the trap had worked.

Several hours beforehand, Mike had paid a visit to a family who had written to him personally to express their dissatisfaction over the Warden’s Service handling of a relative’s death, presumably in an accident, while duck hunting along the same river. While the case was long considered an accidental death and closed, the story piques Mike’s interest enough to follow up on some interviews of witnesses at the time. One such person was the deceased’s alleged lover, who Mike suspects may be behind the situation he finds himself in now. But Mike is only half right…

Told in back-and-forth snippets from Mike’s present situation to the preceding events of the same day which landed him here, this book was literally impossible for me to put down! I was sucked in from the first page and read it straight through! A fantastic read, and for those of you not familiar with this series, it is a perfect start! I can’t say enough about it!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit Netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

This is my first Paul Doiron novel. Apparently the main character (Mike Bowditch) has a whole series of books.

I really enjoyed this story. It was well written, fast paced, suspenseful, and rife with tension. The suspense drew me in, and I couldn’t put it down.

The story goes between the current day and the prior day, but it is so well-written that you’re able to follow the story and you stay invested in it.

I highly recommend this story and will be on the look out for other books in this series, as well as others from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Paul Doiron and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the opportunity to review this ARC. This review and all opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the preview copy of this book.

I have loved every one of the Mike Bowditch novels I've read and this is no exception. I did find that the way the narrative timeline flipped back and forth between past and present to be a bit disconcerting at first, but quickly appreciated the flow.

As always, interesting situations, great action and it's in Maine- what's not to like?

action, game-warden, Maine, suspense, crime-fiction, abduction, rural, family-dynamics, facing-death, violence*****

Tightly crafted suspense thriller in a long running series about a beleaguered wildlife warden in Maine. He was ambushed and near freezing in the outback of Maine when the perpetrators began to punish him. My favorite character is the wolf-dog he cares for. Very tense reading.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

If for no other reason than I can lose myself in backwoods adventure, I always look forward to the latest book in this always entertaining series. That said, it certainly doesn't hurt to have an interesting, charismatic character like Maine game warden Mike Bowditch popping up in the pages, and this may be one of the most action-packed editions I've read, with my man fighting tooth and nail for his very life.

To that end, I have to admit this isn't my favorite of all that I've read, but that's purely a personal thing that has nothing to do with the quality of writing or the plot. When a character is put under this kind of physical and mental stress, I don't much enjoy reading about it (no, I don't worry much about him or her getting bumped off - it's a series, for gosh sake) - but it's a little too anxiety provoking for me. Along with that, I kept wishing some of the other characters would get buried in all the snow - or torn limb from limb by Mike's wolf-dog, Shadow - just because they are so over-the-top vile. Of course, whether either of those options comes to pass I won't say lest I give away too much.

The story begins in the present, when Mike puts his Jeep pedal to the metal and ends up in a mostly frozen river. He makes it out alive, but with little to help him survive except his own skills and instincts. Chapters then follow what led up to the ambush - with emphasis on those aforementioned vile characters. These are interspersed with chapters detailing how he's holding up in the snow and frigid temperature, and everything comes together for a bang-up finale (nope, can't reveal that, either).

If you haven't already guessed, this is one of my favorite series, in which this is the 12th entry. Endless thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review another installment. Well done once again - please keep 'em coming!

Paul Doiron is one of my favorite writers, but he has really out done himself with this new book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in mysteries. I am looking forward to his next book already!

Dead by Dawn grabs you from page one. You'll be unable to put it down. The characters are deverse and hard to guess as to lies and truth. You'll have to follow the clues with Mike.

I just LOVE this series! I look forward to each book, just as I do with the John Sandford Davenport series, or the Michael Connelly Bosch series. Mike Bowditch is such a great protagonist. In this latest episode, the book starts with a bang, literally....Mike has been involved in a car accident and his car is slowly sinking into the freezing water of the Androscoggin River, with he and his wolf-dog fighting to survive. From there, the reader is brought back to the beginning of the day, with each chapter going back and forth in time as you slowly find out how Mike wound up the victim of attempted murder. A thrill ride as always, the book never lets up. So grateful to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy. Highly recommend.

Another excellent suspense/mystery in the Mike Bowditch series. Mike is investigating the 4-year-old accidental death of a man that the family is convinced was actually murder. He interviews several very colorful and unsavory characters and then is ambushed and run off the road on his ride home because someone doesn’t want him to find out the truth. The chapters alternate with descriptions of events both before and after his ambush, as the motives behind those who wish him harm are slowly revealed.

This had me on the edge of my seat throughout. It was taut with tension and the suspenseful scenes drew me in and were extremely well-written. This was a little different than the other books in Doiron’s series with the before after alternating chapters and I found it to be highly successful and entertaining. As always, I look forward to the next book in this series.

This book did NOT disappoint! I couldn’t put it down, The descriptive details of situations are outstanding, almost make you feel like you are there.

This series keeps getting better!

This is book 12 in the Mike Bowditch series and can be read as a stand-alone. That is how I stumbled, thankfully, upon this series. I started with book #9 initially not realizing it was part of a series and have read from there.

Mike Bowditch is a Maine game warden who is asked to investigate the drowning of a man. It seems clear cut. The man was duck hunting and fell into the water which was cold and rapidly moving. But his daughter-in-law is convinced that is not the case. Her father-in-law never went in a book without a personal flotation device/vest, when he is found without one on, she is convinced foul play is involved and she even gives Bowditch the "killer's name". But is she right?

As Mike begins to talk to witnesses, thing start happening FAST! He is ambushed on a dark winter road, plunges into the frozen river and he (and Shadow) must fight for survival. Not only is surviving the crash a priority, so is not becoming hypothermic while evading his heavily armed pursuers. On top of it all, no one knows where he is! But this is Mike tough-as-nails Bowditch! He may not who is after him, but he is determined to survive the night and get some answers!

I love how this story was told, with alternating chapters of Mike attempting to survive with the events that led to him being ambushed. Often with this type of storytelling, things can get confusion, but not here. It is easy to keep track of everything and in my opinion made the book even better.

This was a real page tuner for me! I could not read this book fast enough! The beginning of this book was intense! This was no slow burn! It is fast and furious! Full of tension, action, and suspense. I just had to know what was going to happen. With each gun shot, I feared for Shadow and worried was the wolf-dog going to survive? Sorry Mike, I thought of Shadow first. But of course, I also worried if Mike would survive. I had my theories as to who was hunting him. I was soo wrong! But that made the book even better. The not knowing. The guessing. The intense chapters followed by ones that cooled down the action a little to provide previous events and then you are back in the fray. As with the other books that I have read in this series, this was well written and expertly plotted. The story was riveting and exciting. I enjoyed seeing the supporting characters!

Intense, riveting and a real nail biter! Is it too soon to wish for book #13??

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own!

A real page turner.

The story alternates each chapter between Mike's fight for survival and the background on how he ended up in his situation. I would get mad each time it switched as I was caught up in the story. Back and forth it went. It made for a very suspenseful read that kept you on your toes.

I really enjoyed the main character and his "pet" wolf.

This book was about survival, it was about friendship and it was a murder mystery all wrapped up in one.

I want to thank the author #PaulDoiron the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC. This did not impact my review, and I am looking forward (hopefully) to many more books starring Mike Bowditch.

#deadbydawn

I am not outdoorsy and I've never been to Maine (yet) so I'm always surprised how much I love this series. I received an e-arc from the publisher and Netgalley Wednesday afternoon, started reading after work and finished it this morning. Who needs sleep when you can catch up on Mike Bowditch's latest adventures?

This is super fast paced, jumps between the current events and the prior day, and keeps you invested in both parallel tracks very well. It's as close as a mystery can come to a one man show but still have a huge element of suspense and threat. The usual suspects are sprinkled very lightly into the story but in a way that really makes it work. Highly recommend this one.

Maine game warden Mike Bowditch agrees to a meeting with Mariette Chamberlain, whose father-in-law died four years ago. Mariette believes that the death investigation was closed too quickly by the game service and wants Mike to take another look at the case. As Mike proceeds with his interviews on this late December day, it becomes clear that someone wants to do him harm. The big questions are who and why--and whether Mike will even survive. Dead by Dawn will be published in June.

(Nominated for LibraryReads through Edelweiss)

This may be the best book in the series, Mike Bowditch books are always good but this one started out faster than some and pulled me in. Paul Dorian shows his love for Maine in his books, summer and winter. Winter is beautiful but can be dangerous as this book showed. While you don't need to read the earlier books it's helpful for background. I like seeing what Warden Bowditch is doing currently. Great series. Thanks NetGalley and St Martin's Press for my advanced reader copy.