STORY SUMMARY
Mike Bowditch, Maine Game Warden investigator, has taken on a cold case. He was called to investigate the suspicious drowning of a professor (who was quite wealthy), even though the incident was ruled an accident. The professor's name was Eben Chamberlain, and his eccentric but elegant daughter-in-law insists that her father in law was murdered. She believes the murderer is the survivalist, reclusive, and conspiracy theorist neighbor named Bruce Jewett. Mainly because Jewett accompanied the professor on the duck-hunting trip. But...what exactly was their relationship?
And Eben's granddaughter, who has a sharp tongue and who inherited her dead grandfather's fortune, might not be as close to her grandfather as she claims she was.
This accusation leads Mike to a very sinister local family who claim they have information about the crime.
But when Mike's jeep ends up in the river and unknown armed assailants on snowmobiles begin to pursue him through the wooded wilderness, the investigation turns into a long night of survival.
Mike faces a battle to stay alive and he has to go back through the hours leading up to this "accident" which was really an ambush, to solve two puzzles: which one of these dangerous people wants him dead, and what has he done to bring on their wrath??
MY THOUGHTS
Once again, the author brings a fast-paced story with well developed characters.
The setting of just before Christmas in a very cold, snowy Maine really sets the scene for the Androscoggin River and the surrounding "trailer trash" towns and wilderness. I always enjoy the descriptions of this series set in Maine.
I also enjoyed a twist towards the end which I did not see coming. This really made the book because I was starting to lose interest and it started to seem to drag (with the subplot which ended up being the actual plot....I don't want to ruin it for you and reveal just who the sinister family really is). Let's just say, you need to read a previous book in the series to fully appreciate the ending of this thriller for survival.
I found a plethora of editing errors which in my opinion is uncalled for today but yet which I'm finding is so common in contemporary fiction. Things like extra articles/ pronouns or words out of order. This drops my score down a point. Also, sometimes this author oversues the F word and i just don't find that to be creative at all. I get why authors do this to set up character development but it's just so crass and over done.
I did love that a character from previous books in the series is back. I'm super thrilled as to where Mike's character and his romantic life is leading. I hope there's more of this in Book 13.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.
And now I need a break from this series for the rest of the calendar year.
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