This fictional character is one of my fave contemporary fiction characters! What I appreciate about this author, is that one can read these books as a "stand alone". There's no need to read them all, or in order, although it does help with Mike's character development and those of the characters who do appear in each novel. I personally, have read the third book first only to discover it is a series, so from that point on, I went back to read books 1-2 and then in order ever since. It's a really good, fast-paced mystery-drama series.
STORY SUMMARY
The last words that retired game warden, Charley Stevens speaks to his young friend and game warden Mike Bowditch, whom he thinks of as a surrogate son, are "Never trust a man without secrets". What does this mean??
Charley has vanished without any explanation. His wife Ora says he did not take the seaplane that he normally would take on excursions throughout Maine. His daughter Stacey, who lives in Florida now, and has since broken up with Mike, also has no idea where her dad is.
Mike suspects that Charley's disappearance has to do with the antique warden badge that appeared at a local flea market. It's a badge that is connected to a cold case from the northern part of Maine, way up by Canada and the Bay of Fundy, that Charley and the Maine Warden Service would rather forget.
Basically, fifteen years ago, a young warden was sent on an undercover mission. His job was to infiltrate a notorious and violent poaching ring....but he never returned! He was presumed dead yet his body was never recovered. Mike is getting desperate to find Charley before he also meets a similar fate.
Mike's investigation leads him to miles of forest and riverside towns along the Canadian border. Meanwhile, his new girlfriend Dani, a state trooper, has been infected with encephalitis from a tick borne disease and is in the hospital, but...Mike feels compelled to solve the case of his missing father figure and the case from 15 years ago.
Mike soon learns that his fellow game wardens also have secrets to keep. Charley's past isn't the only one coming to light. Stacy, his daughter, is now coming to Maine to help search for her dad and Mike needs to figure out if the woman who is returning to Maine is really the one for him. Or is she gone from him forever??
He is also forced to face his questions about his faith in Charley as he reopens a cold case that powerful people...one of whom is the killer of the game warden...will do anything to keep those questions and this case closed.
MY THOUGHTS
This was one of the best books in the series! I really liked where this story was going because Charley is usually just a minor character and this time he was the main one. I also like the relationship struggle Mike is having with Dani vs Stacey. I am making some predictions for future books in the series and I'm wondering if I'm going to be correct.
The setting and development of the characters in this plot are executed with excellence as always.
The author has a wonderful way of describing each area of Maine that Mike, the fictional character is in. Every town that the author describes can be found on a map of Maine. The only exception I could find was that St Ignace is a town in Michigan not Maine but there is a St Ignace church in Northeast Harbor Maine. The detailed description of the Maines woods and sea, and ponds/lakes/towns is always interesting to me.
The plot has some twists and turns I didn't see coming which make it fast-paced and exciting.
I did not find editing errors in this novel.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (Due to some slight mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
1 comment:
It sounds like a great series! If I ever get the multiple series read that I am already into I'll look into these.
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