Bad Little Falls by Paul DoironMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Maine game warden Mike Bowditch has been sent into exile, transferred by his superiors to a remote outpost on the Canadian border. When a blizzard descends on the coast, Bowditch is called to the rustic cabin of a terrified couple. A raving and half-frozen man has appeared at their door, claiming his friend is lost in the storm.
But what starts as a rescue mission in the wilderness soon becomes a baffling murder investigation. The dead man is a notorious drug dealer, and state police detectives suspect it was his own friend who killed him. Bowditch isn’t so sure, but his vow not to interfere in the case is tested when he finds himself powerfully attracted to a beautiful woman with a dark past and a troubled young son. The boy seems to know something about what really happened in the blizzard, but he is keeping his secrets locked in a cryptic notebook, and Mike fears for the safety of the strange child.
Meanwhile, an anonymous tormentor has decided to make the new warden’s life a living hell. Alone and outgunned, Bowditch turns for assistance to his old friend, the legendary bush pilot Charley Stevens. But in this snowbound landscape -— where smugglers wage blood feuds by night -— help seems very far away indeed. If Bowditch is going to catch a killer, he must survive on his own wits and discover strength he never knew he possessed.
Read as an audio book.
Goodreads asks above the review box, "what do you think?" I think...this felt like a romance disguised as a mystery. It seemed like Mike spent more time pining after, driving around, bedding, and judging the flawed but highly attractive Jamie Suel (spelling?) than actually doing his job. YO! Authors! If I want romance I'll read a romance book!
What small mystery there was, was lost in the romance and really didn't come to the forefront until the final disk.
Ah, Mike, Mike, Mike. How many bad decisions can you make in one book? A lot apparently. I would have hoped by book three in the series that I'd start to see some character development beyond rookie mistakes that lands him in trouble. That I would see something beyond "Oh woe is me" comments regarding his previous girlfriend Sarah (so glad she's gone), his current state of affairs (being stuck in backwater Maine), that he's friendless (because he has the personality of a wet dishcloth), and his boss and the sheriff's deputies despise him (he's a know it all who doesn't follow orders).
So why did I keep reading? Because the writing is solid, the setting is interesting and some of the secondary characters were more interesting than Mike. Like Lucas and the Veterinarian. Lucas was a bit of an enigma, a little boy stuck in some really tough circumstances. The Veterinarian...I don't know exactly why I liked him, I just did.
Overall, mixed thoughts on this installment - Mike is a bit of an idiot and it's hard to feel empathy for a character who repeatedly acknowledges what he's doing is wrong but does it anyway. The secondary characters were more interesting and I enjoyed the travelogue of the Machais area. The little twist at the end was kinda cool, the next love interest was not.
Recommended with reservations - start with book one for sure.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment