Book Review - Hatchet Island; Paul Doiron

 

Hatchet Island; Paul Doiron

Macmillan Audio - 2022 - (9 hours - 1 minute)

(narrator - Henry Leyva - very good)

Maine Game Warden, Mike Bowditch and his biologist girlfriend Stacey Stevens have been planning a sea kayaking / camping trip to the Maine Seabird Initiative, a sanctuary to puffins and terns where Stacey had once previously been a project manager.  She had received request from her friend Kendra Ballard asking her to come with Mike after the staff has faced some harassment from disgruntled lobstermen recently.  Things seem to take a more sinister turn when the project manager goes missing and gunshots during the night lead to the deaths of (2) interns.  Mike's job is to figure out what is going on and why a peaceful sanctuary has ended up a crime scene.

This is book #13 in the Mike Bowditch Maine Game Warden series but, this can easily be read as a standalone mystery.  What I love about this series is that it's very easy to pick up any title in the series and not feel lost.  The writing is always very good and the Maine setting, descriptiveness of the area, the people of Maine and all the little nuances that go along with each mystery just work so well and make me want to come back for more. In this case the peacefulness of the sanctuary for puffins and terns contrasted by the darker, sinister happenings gave the island an eerie feel.  The mystery was well-paced, atmospheric and had murder and mayhem to boot; the story held my interest. I liked that it took place over just a couple of days as well. Bowditch fans and newcomers to the series alike should not be disappointed.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

(NOTE: The audio download was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review.)

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Hatchet Island; Paul Doiron

                                                     

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon. 

Hatchet Island; Paul Doiron

Macmillan Audio - 2022

Prologue

Every night, no mater how many drinks he'd had or joints he'd smoked, he would awake to the screams of birds.  For an instant, he would think he was back on the island.  Then his hand would find the lamp beside the bed and the light would expose the messiness of his dorm room.

The odd thing was he'd never had trouble sleeping on Baker Island, where the chatter of gulls and keening of terns had lasted from dusk to dawn. The night terrors had only started afterward.--once he'd returned to the mainland.  Now insomnia was short-circuiting his central nervous system.

What do you think, read more or pass?  This book is #13 of the Mike Bowditch mystery series however, I have found that it isn't necessary to read them all in order to enjoy them.