The Precipice by Paul DoironMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: In this riveting new novel from Edgar finalist Paul Doiron, Bowditch joins a desperate search for two missing hikers as Maine wildlife officials deal with a frightening rash of coyote attacks.
When two young female hikers disappear in the Hundred Mile Wilderness—the most remote stretch along the entire two-thousand mile Appalachian Trail—Maine game warden Mike Bowditch joins the search to find them. The police interview everyone they can find who came in contact with the college students and learn that the women were lovers who had been keeping their relationship secret from their Evangelical parents in Georgia.
When two corpses are discovered—the bones picked clean by coyotes—rumors spread that the women were stalked and killed by the increasingly aggressive canines. Faced with a statewide panic, Maine’s governor places an emergency bounty on every dead coyote, and wildlife officials are tasked with collecting the carcasses.
Despite some misgivings, Bowditch does his grisly job. But he finds his complacency challenged by his new girlfriend, the brilliant but volatile biologist Stacey Stevens, who insists coyotes merely scavenged the bodies after the women were murdered. When Stacey herself disappears on the outskirts of the Hundred Mile Wilderness, Bowditch realizes that locating her means he must also discover the truth behind what happened to the two hikers. Were the young women really killed by coyotes or, as Stacey insisted, were they murdered by the most dangerous animal in the North Woods?
Read as an audio book.
One of the things I enjoy about reading books, is exploring new places and wondering what it would be like to visit them. I've read series set in the desert southwest in New Mexico, I've read series set in Charleston, South Carolina, and series set in Las Angeles (thought I'm still not inclined to go to LA). This is the first time I've had a book so utterly turn me off from something - I love to hike, I've thought about hiking the Appalachian Trail, and after reading this installment I don't think I'll be doing that.
And no, it wasn't the coyotes.
Premise of the book is Mike Bowditch is back with the Maine Warden service and has been called upon to search for two hikers that have been missing for 10 days. Mike's now girlfriend Stacy Steven's, wildlife biologist, is insistent on doing her part in the search, with allusions and references to "she was able to get away". The girls are found dead, nothing but bones remaining, and the coyotes are blamed. Stacy is insistent it wasn't coyotes, and when Mike can't locate her after an argument, he fears the worst.
This would be an outstanding series if Mr. Doiran dropped the romance completely. I didn't like Sarah in the first couple of books, the middle gal was okay but came with issues, and I detest Stacy. Now there is the added "complication" of Tate being attracted to Mike and potential jealousy issues between Tate and Stacy. I'm especially not a fan of Stacy's mercurial personality - pushing Mike away one moment then all coo-y the next. Yeah, I would be much happier without this romantic dance Mike has going on.
Mike's personality matured in this book, there are still glimpses of his rebelliousness, but his overall personality has smoothed out. That being said, I still had a face palm moment when he goes barreling off without back-up. The heroines in cozy mysteries do that, Mike, as a game warden, should know better. But then I suppose if he didn't it wouldn't be as "dramatic". I could do with less dramatic and a bit more realism.
There are several items I have issues with (fully admitting these are my quirks):
I'm fairly certain it takes more than ten days to reduce a body to just bones out in the woods. If there were only bones left, the ravens would have moved on.
Stacy's mysterious references to being attacked was never expounded upon and I felt the reader was left hanging. The business at the Dows (spelling? "read" as an audio book) compound was, in all honesty, stupid.
If a law enforcement person knows an area has the potential to be booby-trapped by some seriously deranged people, you don't go sneaking about the woods. But again, setting up dramatics I supposed.
Finally, the thread with the families and their own preacher also felt like it was cut short, like it was building to be something more, and, poof! they were out of the picture.
Overall an interesting plot even it it totally turned me off from ever hiking the AT, improved character development, some interesting new characters as well as a glimpse of the established group made for a good read.
Recommended if you've read the first five in the series.
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