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    The Poacher's Son: A Novel
    The Poacher's Son: A Novel
    The Poacher's Son: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Poacher's Son: A Novel

    Written by Paul Doiron

    Narrated by Henry Leyva

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Set in the wilds of Maine, this is an explosive tale of an estranged son thrust into the hunt for a murderous fugitive---his own father.

    Game warden Mike Bowditch returns home one evening to find an alarming voice from the past on his answering machine: his father, Jack, a hard-drinking womanizer who makes his living poaching illegal game. An even more frightening call comes the next morning from the police: They are searching for the man who killed a beloved local cop the night before---and his father is their prime suspect. Jack has escaped from police custody, and only Mike believes that his tormented father might not be guilty.

    Now, alienated from the woman he loves, shunned by colleagues who have no sympathy for the suspected cop killer, Mike must come to terms with his haunted past. He knows firsthand Jack's brutality, but is the man capable of murder? Desperate and alone, Mike strikes up an uneasy alliance with a retired warden pilot, and together the two men journey deep into the Maine wilderness in search of a runaway fugitive. There they meet a beautiful woman who claims to be Jack's mistress but who seems to be guarding a more dangerous secret. The only way for Mike to save his father now is to find the real killer---which could mean putting everyone he loves in the line of fire.The Poacher's Son is a sterling debut of literary suspense. Taut and engrossing, it represents the first in a series by Paul Doiron featuring Mike Bowditch.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateDec 23, 2014
    ISBN9781427265326
    Author

    Paul Doiron

    A native of Maine, bestselling author PAUL DOIRON attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English. The Poacher’s Son, the first book in the Mike Bowditch series, won the Barry award, the Strand award for best first novel, and has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity awards in the same category. He is a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing and lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, Kristen Lindquist.

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    Reviews for The Poacher's Son

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    • 3/5
      This is a review of the 7-CD audio book version of "The Poacher's Son," as read by John Bedford Lloyd. Maine game warden Mike Bowditch is not in a happy place. He believes that his girlfriend of four years left him because he refuses to resign his game warden position. Now that she is gone, all Mike has left are the solitary hours he spends watching for poachers and helping injured animals in his section of the Maine woods. Mike made his choice and is willing to live with it. Things are bad now - but they will get much worse when he discovers a phone message from his hard drinking poacher father, the man who deserted Mike and his mother when Mike was just a boy. A phone call to his son is so out of character for Jack Bowditch that his son senses that something is terribly wrong. But even knowing what a disaster his father's life had turned into, Mike Bowditch cannot imagine that he will soon be the only thing standing between his father and the lawmen who accuse him of assassinating a policeman and a paper company executive. Mike refuses to believe that his father is capable of murder and his biggest fear is that, before he can safely surrender, his father will be gunned down by the lawmen searching Maine and southern Canada for him. "The Poacher's Son" explores the strengths and weaknesses of the father-son relationship, a bond that is often strong enough to blind a son to his father's weaknesses and worse. Mike Bowditch convinces himself that, despite everything he knows about his father's despicable behavior and his drinking problems, the man would never do what he is accused of having done. He so much wants to bring his father safely into custody that he is willing to put his own job on the line by interfering in the manhunt despite direct orders from his lieutenant to stay clear of the whole thing. But is his father as innocent as Mike believes him to be? Or, as the authorities believe, is he a killer willing to use his son to cover his tracks until he can escape his pursuers? The isolated woods of Maine make an excellent setting for Paul Doiron's story and he gives the reader a good feel for what life in that part of the country must be like. As Doiron describes it, the locale is a mixture of awesome beauty and isolation, a place the locals fear will be spoiled by the outsiders seeking to exploit its resources for their own purposes. Those woods provide Jack Bowditch with the cover he needs to stay on the run and the isolation they create makes possible many of the twists in Doiron's plot. Mike Bowditch is a young man, a likeable enough hero who knows his way around the Maine wilderness but is still a little too naïve and inexperienced for his own good. His temper, combined with his inability to control his mouth when he is angry, sees him consistently making things rougher for himself than they have to be. Some of the book's other characters tend to err on the stereotypical side of the scale, however. This is the case with Truman (the drunken Indian), the retired game warden (and his devoted wife) who takes Mike under his wing when every other lawman within 500 miles would prefer to chew his head off, and B.J., the brash young woman/slut who grew up in an isolated fishing camp known as Rum Pond. Perhaps these characters seem stereotypical because of the stoic way that John Bedford Lloyd reads the author's characterizations. For most of the book, Lloyd uses the same steady monotone to present the book, only occasionally changing his voice or inflection to add a little life to one of the characters. Unfortunately, it is only toward the end of the book that Lloyd seems to gain any enthusiasm about the story he is telling, when he does a nice job on the book's climax. Despite my misgivings about "The Poacher's Son," Paul Doiron has made me curious enough to wonder how the Mike Bowditch character will evolve over time. I will very likely look at the next book in the series to see how he's doing. Rated at: 3.0
    • 4/5
      Paul Doiron's new book, The Poacher's Son, was a roller coaster read for me. The read started out slow with few tight turns or exciting twists, but somewhere in the middle the read picked up some steam, started to add some excitement, believability to the characters. I especially liked how the author put me in the Maine woods, transported me. As with roller coasters the excitement is in the eye of the rider. You'll need to give this book more than a chapter or two before you decide to jump ship or not. Consider strapping yourself in for the entire read.
    • 4/5
      Unfortunately I started reading Doiron's books with his 5th novel in the Mike Bowditch series. I enjoyed this one as well. With this his first novel I learned valuable information in the back story of the primary character. Easy read - quick read - entertaining - and full of references and descriptions of nature - specifically the Maine woods. Now it is on to #2 !
    • 3/5
      For some reasons this book took me longer to read then expected. It's a fairly interesting story that moves at a brisk pace, but tends to bog down at times. I think part of the reason for this is the underdevelopment of the characters. There's no real motivation for them to do what they do. They just kind of do it because the author wrote. I did enjoy the descriptions of Maine. It made me think about Maine in a different light. This author is definitely talented and I look forward to reading future works by him.
    • 5/5
      The reason why I chose this book was that I wanted to know what would happen to the Game wardens father. So far the book has been interesting. I read through the first chapter and I couldn't put it down after that. Each chapter connects so you can't put it down..
    • 2/5
      This mystery began with so much promise by offering a new environment (Maine's backwoods) and a new angle on law enforcement (game warden) but did not at all live up to the praise that put it on my wishlist. In particular, the characters are so lightly built that motives for their actions remain opaque even when explanations are written out right on the page.
    • 4/5
      The Poacher's Son is a good book. The story and writing made me want to continue reading it. It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but it's a solid contribution to the mystery genre. And since it appears that it might be a series, I'd certainly read the next installment.Mike Bowditch is a 24 year old forest warden. His parents divorced when he was nine and he lived with his mother. His father lived in the woods of Maine, making a living however he could.A paper company owned much of the forested land where Mike's father lived and worked. As an accommodation to the town it let residents lease certain land to build homes and resorts. A new com;pany has just bought the land and ultimately the residents will be evicted. After a heated town meeting, a policeman and a company representative are murdered as they are driving a back road away from the meeting. Mike's father is the prime suspect. As he is being driven to jail, he overpowers his driver and escapes, adding to the aura of guilt.The Poacher's Son is nicely written. It's got some good characters in Mike, Kathy (his boss), Sarah (his estranged wife) and Charley (a retired warden and pilot). The story moves along well. There is less action (but there is some) and more description in this novel. It's a fast read--3 days. So go for it.
    • 4/5
      I saw a lot of my dad in Mike's father so maybe that is why I enjoyed the book. There were a few sections I skimmed through because it read as filler, not really needed to move the book along. It kept me guessing until the end, which shocked me.
    • 5/5
      This is a very impressive debut novel/mystery. The author presents us with a well-defined cast of characters with a wide range of motivations. The setting is lush and well painted, and the plot is a true page-turner. Mike Bowditch, 24 yrs old, is a Maine Game Warden whose father is a suspect in a double murder. The father has taken off into the North Woods of Maine, and calls Mike for help.The following chapters are full of flashbacks to an unhappy childhood, a lousy relation with his father, descriptions of his previous and current relationship with his girlfriend Sarah, and Mike's struggle to decide where his loyalties lie. The action is concise and believable. Mike is truly conflicted, trying to balance his feelings for his father with his desire to do his job and his need to feel validated in many of his life choices. NO spoilers. It is definitely recommended if you like good characters and lots of action. It is especially recommended if you like the great outdoors, Maine, and wildlife. Let's hope that Warden Mike Bowditch appears in future works.
    • 4/5
      Game Warden Mike Bowditch investigates a double homicide featuring his father as the prime suspect. This gets Mike into all kinds of sticky situations with his job and his personal life, as well as placing Mike's life in mortal danger. Along the way, Mike grabbles with unresolved father-son issues-- his father being legendarily outlaw that frequently favored drinking and women over Mike himself-- a theme that repeats itself throughout the novel. Paul Doiron writes an entertaining adventure novel about the Maine wilderness. His style is straightforward, reflecting a respect for nature that I admire. He also explores the childlike desire that haunts us as adults to continue to seek parental validation througout our lifetime. I look forward to the next Doiron novel.
    • 5/5
      I have read this series completely out of sequence and am proof that you can thoroughly love it book by book. :) I've been looking for this book for a while but it was always out of stock. That's a good sign. I started reading whatever book in the series that I could find available. :)
    • 3/5
      This book wasn't bad to read, nor was it exceptionally good. It did pull me in and want to keep reading it, but mostly because it was a mystery, and it was fairly well paced. The lead character is Mike, a game warden in a remote area of Maine. His father is accused of a double homicide and vanishes, and Mike is immediately stuck between his law enforcement role and the need to help his father. While we learn a good bit about Mike's past, we don't learn enough about Mike himself. The situation with his father causes understandable stress, but we're left to infer that from Mike's on the job behavior, not his thoughts, and since we don't know what his on the job behavior is like normally, its hard to make a real connection. It seems like in several places the author had a clear idea of what was going on, but he does not convey that well. The ending may be satisfying to some mystery fans, but I found it a bit disappointing. It made sense, but it was still lacking.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable first-effort from this author. Set in the woods of Maine, this murder mystery kept me turning the pages. The pre-release edition had a few typos, but I assume they will be corrected in the final edition. Over-all, I think this author has a bright future, and I look forward to reading more from him.
    • 5/5
      This debut novel by Paul Doiron bodes well for the future of Maine-based crime/suspense fiction. Editor of DOWN EAST: THE MAGAZINE OF MAINE and a registered Maine guide, Doiron writes with authority of the people and locales in the North Maine Woods.Mike Bowditch had a troubled upbringing, his drunken violent father poaching drinking and fighting throughout his early childhood. Everyone new the notorious Jack Bowditch. After his mother took him away and divorced his father, Mike grew up wanting to love the man but never finding how. To the surprise of many, Mike became a member of the Maine Warden's Service, partly to atone for his father's lifelong flouting of the law, and resigned himself to estrangement from his father.So it came as a shock when Jack called Mike for his help. A double murder had occurred, one victim being a deputy sheriff, and Jack was on the run, chief suspect. He wanted Mike's help. So Mike faces the dilemma of staying true to he law enforcement career on the one hand, and trying to help his father, who he believes is innocent.There is enough excitement and suspense in this book to keep the pages turning as Mike tries to help clear his father, all the while risking the relationships he has worked hard to build. He is faced with difficult choices, where no direction seems the right one, and the consequences of any are bad. The ending is stark, yet satisfying, and the writing is superb. Look for this one.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book! I love a good mystery and this didn't disappoint.What I enjoyed most were the characters. The main character, Mike, is not perfect, in fact he's pretty flawed. I love a character who isn't perfect and shiny. All of the characters were very well written. The Setting was amazing. Makes me want to travel to Maine and go camping.This is a who did it style of mystery and without giving any spoilers, I was very surprised by the outcome.All and all a very good start to a series and I look forward to reading the next in line.(B&N FL Book Club)
    • 3/5
      The Poacher's Son places you in the backwoods and small towns of Maine. The story revolves around a game warden and his desire to help his father who is on the run after being accused of killing two people. The story is written in a simple style that maintains your interest to read. However, this is no "barn burner", there is no strong desire nor compulsion to read this book. The story and action is okay, the ending is a tad disappointing. Almost as if the authors was saying "I have written enough words, now lets finish it up". The epilogue is sorely lacking that helps the reader (and main character) is resolving all the issues that were developed in the story. While disappointing, I will certainly give a new story about the life of Mike Bowdich in the future, to learn more about life in the backwoods of Maine.
    • 4/5
      Paul Doiron has written a suspenseful novel filled with very interesting characters. Some likable while others are not so likable. It's a great mix of people. The setting of the Maine wilderness was a perfect backdrop for the murders and mystery which followed. This is a mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. Just when I thought I might have it figured out someone else would become a suspect on my radar. I enjoyed it very much! I can't wait for the next book in the series.
    • 5/5
      The book introduces us to young Mike Bowditch, a fairly new Maine Game Warden. His territory is the mid-coast Knox county, but his formative years were spend in the wilder Northwoods of Maine. He lived there with his parents, in a state of what his mother called "downward mobility" until, when Mike was nine, his mother left, taking him along. She'd had enough of his father Jack's drinking, womanizing, fighting and any number of illegal ways of making a very poor living, including the poaching mentioned in the title, and left for the more civilized Portland. When Mike last saw his father a couple of years ago, having been newly accepted as a Game Warden, his father commented on what a strange job that was for a poacher's son. Actually, as we learn, it was not that strange, since both father and son share a love of the wilderness of Maine and descriptions of that love are one of several great elements of this book.At it's heart, this is a mystery. Mike arrives home one evening to find a brief message on his answering machine from his father, who sounds quite upset. In the background he hears the voice of a woman talking to Jack...but then the ladies all loved Jack. When Mike finds out the next day that a police deputy and the vice president of a timber company were shot and killed after a very hostile meeting with the residents of the remote area where his father lives and that his father is the number one suspect, he understand the reason for the phone call. He and his father have a bit of a love/hate relationship, and while he knows his father can be violent and brutal when drunk, he can not believe that Jack is capable of a planned, cold blooded murder. Few, if anyone, share his conviction, especially when Jack escapes police custody, injuring a policeman and takes off for the woods. Innocent men don't run, everyone says.Even if it may cost him the job he loves, Mike feels that he must head back up to the woods, deal again with some people he has less than fond memories of, and try to prove his father's innocence. Happily, he does not have to go it alone but gains the assistance of a retired warden, Charley Stevens. Charley is the man Mike credits with his desire to become a game warden and a man who knows the woods almost as well as the fugitive Jack. And they are both going to needs every bit of knowledge and skill to get out of this alive.It seems this this is the first in a new series with Game Warden Mike and I for one, am looking forward to the next already. The author has introduced some great characters that I certainly hope will be back, first among them Charley and his wife Ora. And while I had a few issues with Mike at first, (he broke my cardinal rule of doing several stupid things), by the book's end he seems to pull his wits together and started to grow on me. Even his on again/off again romance with his college sweetheart Sarah (she does not envision being married to a poorly paid warden and rather he go to law school) seemed to have a future. For all their flaws, and they do have some, every characters in the book is totally realistic in how they behave.The book has an excellent plot, a fine cast of suspects and a thrilling, unexpected ending and is a fine mystery novel. But, to go back to my original point, about the setting, The Poacher's Son has something extra as well. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book are those wild Maine woods the author describes, a wilderness that Mike and Charley...and you...fear may well be disappearing, replaced with summer homes and housing developments. If you have visited the state, but hung close to the beautiful coast as many of us do, the inland wilderness is a very different place, but a place we get a small taste of in this book, a place with mile after mile of trees, mountains and countless beautiful lakes...and a very different way of life.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it a strong recommendation.
    • 4/5
      Jack loves being in the woods, drinkiing and women. After Mike's mother leaves Jack and remarries Mike is intigued by his father. After spending the summer with his father at age 16, Mike becames a game warden. Shortly after, Mike receives a strange phone call from his father and two people are dead. I found the book easy to read and enjoyed the short chapters. There are lots of nature talk about hunting and animals.
    • 3/5
      the mystery was quite stupid but the story was ok. the reader was good
    • 4/5
      A great first novel by a very knowledgeable writer, whose roots are deep in the New England soil. The Poachers Son hits you at once, like a nor'easter, and holds you in it's grip till the last pages. Mike Bowditch has become a Maine Game Warden, in spite of, or perhaps, because of his poacher father. When his dad becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a local police officer, Mike offers to help track him down, hoping to protect him and clear his name. This exciting story unfolds across the spectacular panorama of backwoods Maine, which is richly and lovingly described by the author. The characters are full of life and the book seems to cry out for a further installment. If you are looking for a fresh, summer read full of action and mystery in the great outdoors, this is the book for you.
    • 4/5
      The Poacher's Son is an enjoyable debut novel. The setting in the Maine woods was interesting and different. The characters and plot held my interest. I hope this is the beginning of a series -- I'll be looking for more by Paul Doiron.
    • 4/5
      I had the privilege to have the opportunity to read "The Poacher's Son" by Paul Doiron as a part of BN's First Look club. I was not sure what to expect, except that it was a mystery. I enjoy mystery's and this one did NOT fail me!! I was a great read and read it all in one day! I thought that "The Poacher's Son" fascinating. The characters and the plot were well developed. The plot had many twists and turns. The setting of camp in the woods of Maine was quite accurate!. A fun week-end read!
    • 4/5
      This book is the first in a series about Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch. I saw a reference to the latest book in the series on some internet site and thought it sounded interesting but since I don’t like to read mystery series out of order I thought I would check out the first book. Now that I have done so I have another series to add to the growing list that I feel I should read.Mike Bowditch has recently become a game warden for the State of Maine. He grew up in Maine as the son of an alcoholic who worked at various occupations in the north woods but, as the title implies, also poached game. Bowditch senior always said he poached in order to put food on the table. When Mike was nine years old his mother left his father and moved to the city. She remarried and lived in a nice home for the first time. Mike, however, always hankered for the north woods of his youth. He decided to become a game warden in order to spend time there. His girlfriend, Sarah, thought he would soon grow tired of the poor pay and long hours and go to law school but Mike knew he had found the career he wanted. Sarah and he had separated shortly before the story starts because of this dichotomy between their aspirations. When Mike learns that his father is a suspect in a double murder he refuses to believe it. His father is on the run and Mike hopes that he can help clear his name and bring him in before somebody shoots him. Told by his superiors to back off from the investigation he does so initially but he makes some bad decisions in his job and is told to take some holidays. Soon, however, he is back involved with the investigation when his father’s girlfriend asks to speak with him. He is given a lift by airplane up to the town where the girlfriend is being held as a material witness by a retired game warden named Charley Stevens. Charley also has doubts about his father’s guilt and wants to clear things up. Charley and Mike like each other and Mike really respects Charley. Without Charley’s help this book might have had quite a different ending. No spoilers but I will say that Charley is a better father figure than Mike’s real father.Although Doiron isn’t a game warden he obviously researched the life well. He also has a reverence for nature that shows in his writing. I’ll be interested to see where this series goes.
    • 5/5
      The story line is excellent; true to Maine with descriptions that really fit the state. Living here, I'll have to say though, there are mispronunciations of some place names---Augusta, Bangor and Skowhegan especially but generally a good reader. His interpretation of a Maine accent is flawed, but most people don't do it right unless they're really here for years. But overall, Paul Doiron has written a great beginning to this series.
    • 3/5
      Few things get my pulse going more than a debut mystery series. So I looked forward to reading Paul Doiron's "The Poacher's Son" especially after scanning the kudos on the back of the ARC submitted by other writers.The story revolves around 20-something Mike Bowditch, a game warden for the state of Maine. Recently dumped by his girlfriend, Sarah, and struggling with residual pain from his fractured childhood, Mike has thrown himself into the job he loves. But a midnight call from his estranged father, a dark yet charismatic figure, throws him into the middle of a murder mystery.On the whole, Doiron gets a B+ for plotting but a C- for characterizations. Aside from a couple of slow passages, the book moves along nicely and the denouement will catch many readers unaware.But we never get a true sense of what drives Mike even with detailed descriptions of his upbringing and thought process. Frankly, I found Sarah to be little more than a good-looking whiner - Doiron does a better job of detailing her flaws versus her good points. He seems to have better success with older characters like the sharp and witty Charley Stevens, a retired game warden. Mike's father, the mercurial Jack Bowditch, is fleshed out more than his protagonist son.I agree with Julia Spencer-Fleming who notes that "Fans of C.J. Box and Nevada Barr will relish..." this debut. What I hope is that Doiron's second attempt features a deeper look into the mind of young Mike.
    • 3/5
      This was an okay book for the most part but had several flaws. The characterization was a bit weak. I felt I got to know Mike a little bit but most of what I knew didn't make sense. He made bad decisions for absolutely no reason. He gave up his marriage for a career as a game warden, then made the decision to throw his career away without any effort at all. Like I said, didnt' make sense to me. Initially I thought this was going to be a pretty good book about the often complicated relationship that exists between fathers and sons. And about a son proving himself to his father. That hope eventually dwindled. The ending left me flabergasted -- although it had suprise on its side, it wasn't necessarily a welcome one. I do think Doiron has talent, and hope to see better from him in the future.
    • 4/5
      Mike Bowditch is a game warden for the state of Maine. Perhaps he chose this career to make amends for his father’s criminal acts. His father, Jack, is a Vietnam vet who has been divorced from Mike’s mother for several years. Since the divorce, Jack has tried to live as far from people as possible, living off the land and poaching game. When two men are gunned down in an ambush, all evidence leads to Jack. One of the dead men is a Sheriff’s deputy and the other is a representative from Wendigo Timberlands, a company that has recently purchased close to half a million acres of forestland. Included in the purchase was land that had been used for privately owned camps and sporting lodges, one of the camps belonging to Jack As a child, Mike suffered from abuse and neglect at the hands of his father, but he cannot believe his father is capable of murder and sets out to prove his innocence. The wilderness setting and the added family drama make “The Poacher’s Son” a compelling story. As an animal lover, however, I could have done without the descriptions of Jack’s hunting and trapping practices. In fact, I had to skim over the graphic details. Other than that, I really enjoyed this story and hope to hear more about Mike Bowditch in the future.
    • 5/5
      Debut author Paul Doiron has penned a top-notch who-done-it with his first novel The Poacher’s Son. A myriad of twists and turns will keep the reader guessing as suspicion moves from one character to another until the startling conclusion.Set in the wilderness of Maine the story centers around Mike Bowditch, the local game warden. Mike returns home one night to find a cryptic message on his answering machine from his father, Jack. The next day he finds out that the police are searching for a murderer who killed two people the night before and Jack is their prime suspect. Most of the locals and Mike’s co-workers also believe Jack is involved in the murders. Jack has been far from the ideal father, neglecting Mike most of his life. In spite of this Mike feels compelled to defend his father and search for the real killer.The book started out a little slow, but it was necessary to develop the various characters and provide the background information on Mike, his family, friends and co-workers. As we learn more about Mike and his relationships with other characters the pace of the story picks up. The writing style is fluid and descriptive; the Maine wilderness vividly comes to life.The author deftly shifts suspicion from one character to another to keep the reader off balance. I’ve read a fair share of mystery novels and usually half way through the story I have a pretty good idea which one of the characters is guilty. That was not true with The Poacher’s Son. I did not see that ending coming and for me those are the best kind of endings.This was not a typical mystery novel. It was also a coming of age story about a young man and his relationships with key people in his life. I very much enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. This is book one in a series of three books about Mike Bowditch, Game Warden.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoy his writings on Maine and its characters.