Paul Doiron

I was absolutely thrilled when I received an advance copy of Skin and Bones: A Mike Bowditch Short Story Collection by author Paul Doiron and I was just as thrilled when I finished reading it. I have read some of these stories before, but all of them in a row, one after the other, including the brand new SHEEP’S CLOTHING, was so satisfying. Took me right back into Mike Bowditch Land, with a huge helping of the spellbinding, captivating, not-sure-if-you-can-believe-them tales told by show more Charley Stevens.

As always author Doiron takes us deep into the gruesome, rugged, raw, violent, graphic world of a Maine game warden. It’s beautiful but it’s hard and unforgiving. I’ve never been to Maine, but when reading Doiron’s books I feel like I am right there, enjoying the stillness and the magnificence of the terrain – and the ever present danger.

The little peeks into Mike's unique personality were delightful; he is such an interesting man, a one of a kind old soul, and we’ve literally gotten to watch him grow up. Reading these stories took me back in time through Mike’s life: his career, his growth, his mistakes. Made me once again see that green, new game warden, that impulsive young man, always fighting for justice and fairness, dedicated to saving the woods and the animals that live in them while serving and protecting the citizens of Maine, to a somewhat older man, not quite as impulsive but still never hesitating to speak when he thinks he must, taking any risk when necessary, and seeing the fulfillment of some of his most important, personal goals and dreams. The bonus: more time with Mike’s mentor and friend, Charley Stevens. Mike is interesting; Charley is beyond interesting. His stories always entertain, often teach a lesson, and usually leave you wondering just how much you can believe.

The eight stories in this collection range from Mike’s time as a rookie to more insight into Charley’s past and include many exciting tales of the wardens having to deal with not only the game in the woods but the most dangerous animal of all – man.

Each story is a perfect standalone or a satisfying trip down memory lane. Doiron’s phrasing, word pictures, descriptions of the surroundings and the excitement, complexity and danger are stellar as always. Skin and Bones left me ready to read entire series again and very eager for the next full-length novel. I received an advance copy of Skin and Bones from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. This is one of my all-time favorite series and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. I recommend it and the entire series without hesitation. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. show less

I like characters who have a gift for making the wrong decision. Whether it's the guy who always picks trouble or the woman who just grabbed an opportunity and is digging in deeper and deeper to make it work, I find it all fascinating. Usually, the person making the wrong life choices is the bad guy, but here that guy is Mike Bowditch and he's a game warden in Maine, the guy trying to solve the crime and rescue the girl. Bowditch is hard work. He's insensitive and deliberately rude, show more self-righteous and a terrible boyfriend. He's got a chip on his shoulder that he refuses to deal with and he's prone to tunnel vision. He's dealing with some destructive off-roaders when he's called to haul a dead deer off the highway. When he arrives, the car that hit the animal is there, but both deer and woman are gone. A state trooper shows up and takes charge of the scene, sending Bowditch home. Bowditch leaves, but something about the situation bothers him and he finds himself going back to the scene and trying to find out what happened long after he's been told to leave it to the officers assigned to the case. He's also increasingly bothered by the scofflaw off-roaders and his attempts to deal with them grow more extreme.

This was a good, quick read where the plot made sense and the author created a vivid setting in coastal Maine during March, the "mud season". Bowditch is a wonderfully conceived character. I'd never want to know him personally, but he's great fun to follow through a book as he alienates everyone around him. I did want to yell at him a few times - self-righteousness is never a good trait and being inside his head could be aggravating. That said, the supporting characters were a bit thin, from his mentor who likes to call him "young feller" to the people Bowditch dealt with as part of his job - the hardscrabble locals were rendered as caricatures in a political ad, there was not much more than an outline to any of them. show less

Mike Bowditch is a game warden in Maine. He's responsible for making sure that hunters and those partaking in sport are doing so according to the state's regulations. He loves his job even though it has recently cost him his relationship after she couldn't deal with the isolation of the work and lack of money.

To make matters worse a police officer has been murdered in a remote hunting camp where his estranged father lives. A new company has purchased a huge swath of land and intends to evict show more the poor inhabitants and develop it.

In a shocking turn of events, it seems that Mike's father might have been involved. He beats up the police officer who arrests him and escapes into the Maine wilderness. Mike's father is a complicated figure in his life. A drunk and an abuser through his childhood and a disinterested stranger in his young adulthood, Mike still finds himself hoping to gain is approval. And being on the receiving end of a desperate call for help, Mike believes his father must be innocent. But if he hopes to save him, he'll need to be quick about it as every law officer in Maine is hot on his trail.

This really isn't my genre but I'm here because I love Maine as a setting and in that area the author delivers. I loved learning about the work of a game warden and experiencing the drama of small town life.

That being said, I had a couple of issues with this book that really took me out of it. The biggest one was the extremely troubling fact that the primary villain of the novel in a twenty year old indigenous woman who is presented by the book as being promiscuous and sexually aggressive and seems to compulsively lie about being raped.

I would take issue with any character in media making a false claim of rape as this is actually very uncommon and representation of this kind only leads to real women being disbelieved. But the fact that it is an indigenous woman, a population that is already disproportionately sexualized and victimized is really reprehensible.

But even more unforgiveable is the way this book establishes Brenda Dean as a twelve year old girl who is essentially a slave at a hunting camp with the demeaning name of B.J. given to her by the many male predators in her life. The author doesn't really bother to develop her as a character, but he does take time to have full grown men, including her father, sexualize and objectify her. There's simply no excuse for this disgusting portrayal and frankly, I believe Brenda! Suffice it to say, this book isn't passing the Aila Test.

The other big problem I had with this book was the main character's motivation. When the book opens, he hasn't spoken to his father in two years. Through flashbacks we witness the abuse he endured as a child and the callous indifference his father has to him later. It's not clear at all why he believes his father is innocent and there is absolutely no obvious reason he would risk the career that he chose over his girlfriend for the man who has done nothing but hurt him.

Mike also seems remarkably unmoved when he discovers his father has been having sex with Brenda, a girl young enough to be his daughter whom he's know about as long and far more intimately than his own son. He's grossed out by this reveal, but only slightly and at least some of that disgust comes from his personal disdain for Brenda herself.

In the end, the final twist that actually his father is guilty of the murder which he carried out because Brenda told him one of the men raped her is frankly hard to believe. The book presents this man as a slut who runs through women regularly. But he's so in love with Brenda that he kills two men and then two more men (whom he'd been working alongside for decades) in order to cover up the crime. He then attempts to kill another man and kidnaps his own son to use as a hostage. After all this, when he learns that Brenda is dead, he immediately shoots himself.

It's just as bizarrely out of character as the original murder was and isn't very convincing or satisfying. show less

This is the 13th book in Doiron’s crime series featuring former Maine game warden and now warden investigator, 32-year-old Mike Bowditch. (In Maine, game wardens are full law-enforcement officers, with all the powers of state troopers: “They are the ‘off-road police.’” A warden investigator, on the other hand, is “for all intents and purposes a plainclothes detective.”)

This book begins with Mike and Stacey Stevens, now back together again after two years apart, heading out in show more canoes for a camping trip. They decided to take a detour to Baker Island, a seabird research station off the coast, after Stacey received a call for help from Kendra, her college roommate and fellow intern on Baker Island. Coming ashore, they learned that not only the puffin population was in danger, but the biologists as well. They were being threatened by local lobstermen and harassed by unknown assailants. Moreover, the head of the facility, Maeve McLeary, seemed to be falling apart and had become quite unpredictable. She had taken off to parts unknown, and they were worried.

After talking to the biologists - Kendra along with Hillary and Garrett, they left to sleep on a nearby islet, but were awakened by gunshots. When they returned to Baker, they discovered the gruesome murders of two of the researchers, and the third one missing. Mike and Stacey called in the Marine Patrol and the state police, and began their own investigation. They not only unlocked the secrets to what was happening on the island currently, but what had happened in the past to lead to this awful moment.

Discussion: I love learning more about the biology of Maine from Doiron’s books. He excels at evoking the sights, sounds, and even smells of the area, as in these passages when Mike and Stacey set out on their canoes. No Maine tourism guide could be as compelling:

“The sea was a sheet of hammered platinum. Every stir of my paddle brought the fecund smell of the ocean into my nose and mouth. It was as if I could taste the teeming life in the depths: the phytoplankton and the zooplankton, the oyster beds, the shoals of mackerel, and the deep-diving seals. The sensory stimulation left me feeling intoxicated.”

“The sea was a chameleon; it changed color as the mist lifted. It had been a leaden gray when we’d pushed off from the boat launch. Now in the fullness of the sunlight, the water above the shoals was transmuted, as if by alchemy, from metal into turquoise. Out in the open ocean, it changed again, becoming as hard and blue as sapphire.”

On Baker Island:

“Above the island, a living storm was raging. White shapes spiraled skyward like pieces of paper blown aloft, and from the cloud of seabirds came a cacophony of barks, shrieks, cackles, and screams. Half a dozen species giving voice to their alien, unknowable emotions.”

Evaluation: The crimes in Doiron’s books can be complicated, but they hold your attention. I always look forward to more stories in the series. show less