Publisher's Weekly Review
At the outset of Edgar-finalist Doiron's uneven seventh contemporary mystery featuring Maine game warden Mike Bowditch (after 2015's The Precipice), Mike spies a Jeep parked across the road from his Sebago Lake home. Inside the vehicle is Amber Langstrom, a woman who claims that her son, Adam, is Mike's half-brother. Adam, who served 18 months for statutory rape in a minimum security prison, recently missed a meeting with his parole officer, and Amber wants Mike to track him down. Mike initially refuses, but then an on-the-job near-death experience triggers a leave of absence, and he heads north to the Rangeley region, where Adam was last seen. Mike's investigation takes him from the third-rate ski resort where his outlaw father, Jack, used to work to an off-the-books logging camp staffed with convicted sex offenders. A thrilling denouement and an affecting subplot about a condemned wolfdog don't sufficiently compensate for a slow start and a mystery that fails to engage. Author tour. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Award-winning Doiron's evocative description of northern Maine summons up images of idyllic wilderness for the reader, but in the mind of his character, game-warden Mike Bowditch, those mountains are populated by resident poachers, petty criminals, and drug fiends. Not to mention pedophiles. This is the seventh novel (after The Precipice, 2015) in the series, and Mike's character continues to grow and endear him to his followers. He is still at odds with his dead father. When a woman with a connection to the late Jack Bowditch asks Mike for help, he is reluctantly drawn into an off-duty investigation that leads to some reconciliation with the past. In addition to his ability to create an extraordinary sense of place, Doiron delivers a host of complex characters who are just full of surprises. Adding a wolf dog to the cast brings a dash of Jack London's lyricism to the narrative. The suspense is strong and the action is well rendered. Widowmaker will go down well with armchair outdoorsfolk, especially fans of C. J. Box and Craig Johnson.--Murphy, Jane Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Game Warden Mike Bowditch may be stationed in "Northern Massachusetts" (what folks in rural Maine call the Portland area), but in his new adventure he spends a lot of time in ski country. First, while covering for a fellow warden, he is called to check out a wolf sighting. What should have been a routine encounter ends up with Mike getting injured and being told to take time off. To him that means following up on a request for help to find a young man who has disappeared in the Widowmaker ski area, where Mike's late father (a notorious poacher) once worked. His girlfriend -Stacey is in the far north doing wildlife research, so Mike is on his own as he must contend with fierce prejudices and face down deadly animals and human killers alike. VERDICT The seventh Mike Bowditch novel (after The Precipice) continues to deliver vivid descriptions of rural Maine, a satisfying mystery (this one with tantalizing loose ends), and a conflicted main character. Those who relish outdoor mysteries, especially ones set in New England, will appreciate this latest entry. [See Prepub Alert, 12/21/16.]-Nancy H. Fontaine, Norwich P.L., VT © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
