If everything went right, I spent yesterday reading Louise Penny’s forthcoming book, The Grey Wolf. When I get an Advanced Reader’s Copy of her books, I give myself a day when I have nothing else on the agenda. I just settle in to read and absorb all of the story and meat in the new Armand Gamache. The new book will be out October 29, but I have a deadline in just a couple weeks. So, I’m turning today’s blog over to Kevin Tipple for his review of Paul Doiron’s new book, Pitch Dark. Thank you, Kevin.

Recently Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacy Woodson were
married. As Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron begins, they are talking about the
important changes to their lives when they are interrupted by a phone call. Game
Warden Brandon Barstow is a young warden and unsure of himself, but thinks he might
have a missing person’s case.

It is the first week of May and pouring rain, as it has for weeks now. Game Warden
Barstow gradually explains that a man from Idaho, Hammond Pratt, is missing from his
rented cabin at Seboomook Farm located up in the Rockwood District. Pratt rented an
ATV from the property owner and left on it after asking questions about some guy and
his young daughter that are supposed to be in the woods, somewhere nearby.

Game Warden Barstow knows that a guy by the name of Mark Redmond and his young
daughter are in the area at Prentiss Pond building a cabin. The work site is very close to
the Canadian Border. Apparently, they are the ones that Pratt was asking about before
he left on the ATV.

Game Warden Barstow tells Bowditch other things that paint a seriously odd picture. It
becomes clear that, regardless of the weather, he needs to get up there and assess the
situation, in order to know what to do. He has to make a determination in order to start a
search and rescue operation. At this point, Bowditch does not know enough to make
that determination.

As it turns out, the horrible weather will be the least of his problems.

What follows is a page turning story that gets increasingly violent and convoluted. Much
is happening in Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron and all of it keeps the reader highly
entertained. The situation is complicated. Bowditch is going to be lucky to have a
career, let alone his life, when things are said and done. Highly recommended.

My digital reading copy came from Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no
expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024