Because of his questionable behavior in the last book, Game Warden Mike Bowditch is sent Down East to a pretty desperate part of Maine, where poverty and rampant drug dealing are a blight. During a blizzard, he is part of a team that locates a half frozen man and his murdered companion. In his efforts to understand what happened, Mike becomes involved with the recovering addict, Jamie, and her haunted son, Lucas, and encounters resistance in all of his efforts from co-workers, Jamie's ex, and the local exotic game purveyor. The sections written by Lucas are sometimes funny and sometimes heart rending.
A very depressing book. Not only in the description of the physical conditions of that north eastern part of Maine, but also in the depiction of the people who live there. John grew up in a mid-sized town in central Maine and has talked about moving back to that state when we retire and that always seemed OK, but after reading articles my brother-in-law, Jim, has been sending me about what is going on in Maine now the thought of living there is beginning to scare me a little. Doiron's books depict life in non-big city Maine accurately, according to both John and Jim.
ReplyDeleteI think that I like Mike, but by this third book, I had hoped that his life, both personally and professionally, would get back on track. Or, maybe it's just that I want a different kind of protagonist, someone I could really cheer for, instead of this very flawed human character! Now that Mike is only an hour away from Charlie and Ora I hope they will have a greater part in the next book because I really like them.
Cathy