Dead by Dawn (Mike Bowditch, #12)

This series keeps getting better!

This is book 12 in the Mike Bowditch series and can be read as a stand-alone. That is how I stumbled, thankfully, upon this series. I started with book #9 initially not realizing it was part of a series and have read from there.

Mike Bowditch is a Maine game warden who is asked to investigate the drowning of a man. It seems clear cut. The man was duck hunting and fell into the water which was cold and rapidly moving. But his daughter-in-law is convinced that is not the case. Her father-in-law never went in a book without a personal flotation device/vest, when he is found without one on, she is convinced foul play is involved and she even gives Bowditch the “killer’s name”. But is she right?

As Mike begins to talk to witnesses, thing start happening FAST! He is ambushed on a dark winter road, plunges into the frozen river and he (and Shadow) must fight for survival. Not only is surviving the crash a priority, so is not becoming hypothermic while evading his heavily armed pursuers. On top of it all, no one knows where he is! But this is Mike tough-as-nails Bowditch! He may not who is after him, but he is determined to survive the night and get some answers!

I love how this story was told, with alternating chapters of Mike attempting to survive with the events that led to him being ambushed. Often with this type of storytelling, things can get confusion, but not here. It is easy to keep track of everything and in my opinion made the book even better.

This was a real page tuner for me! I could not read this book fast enough! The beginning of this book was intense! This was no slow burn! It is fast and furious! Full of tension, action, and suspense. I just had to know what was going to happen. With each gun shot, I feared for Shadow and worried was the wolf-dog going to survive? Sorry Mike, I thought of Shadow first. But of course, I also worried if Mike would survive. I had my theories as to who was hunting him. I was soo wrong! But that made the book even better. The not knowing. The guessing. The intense chapters followed by ones that cooled down the action a little to provide previous events and then you are back in the fray. As with the other books that I have read in this series, this was well written and expertly plotted. The story was riveting and exciting. I enjoyed seeing the supporting characters!

Intense, riveting and a real nail biter! Is it too soon to wish for book #13??

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own!