The Precipice is "Phenomenal," says RT Book Reviews

RT Book Reviews has named The Precipice its Top Pick of the week and given the book its highest rating. 

Doiron's series keeps getting better and better with each book, and his latest is no exception. He paints a vivid picture of the culture surrounding the Appalachian Trail; the inevitable culture clashes between the hikers and the small towns that rely on the tourism while resenting the commercialization create the perfect backdrop and a large backdrop of potential suspects. This will keep readers guessing — and biting their nails — right until the end. New readers can jump into the series here just fine, but we warned: You'll be compelled to read the rest.

All I can say is "Wow." And, "Thank you."  

PW Calls The Precipice "A Taut Whodunit"

Publisher's Weekly has bestowed a highly coveted star on The Precipice, saying:

Doiron brings his gift for making the Maine woods live and breathe to a taut whodunit in his stellar sixth novel featuring game warden Mike Bowditch (after 2014’s The Bone Orchard).... Multidimensional characters and a high level of suspense help make this a winner. 

Read the whole thing!

An Enthusiastic Early Review of The Precipice

The sixth book in my Mike Bowditch series will be out in less than two months now (on June 16 to be exact) but reviewers have had advanced copies for a while. George Smith, who writes for the Maine Sportsman and the Bangor Daily News, is the first to chime in:

If you’ve never read one of Paul Doiron’s novels, you are in for a summer of fun, because he just added novel number six to his group of engagingly fast reads of stories featuring a Maine game warden. And while I enjoyed every one of Paul’s novels, I do think he is getting better and better.

The dialogue is really good, something I always appreciate in a novel. The characters are well drawn – and I can only hope you don’t recognize any of them as living in your town.

The Precipice grabbed me right from the get go, and as I read I really felt like Paul kept me on the precipice, staring down into the fast moving water, wondering, guessing, trying to figure out who or what happened to those girls. And no, I didn’t guess right.

I appreciate the kind review, and I am crossing my fingers that you will find my new book just as gripping.

The Toronto Star on Mike Bowditch: "Perversely Attractive"

Jack Batten, reviewing The Bone Orchard for the Toronto Star, has written one of the more perceptive takes I've seen on the character of Mike Bowdich:

Bowditch is frequently in an irascible mood, a quality that perversely makes him a more attractive character. “I am a malcontent by nature,” he says early in The Bone Orchard. And then he proceeds to prove it.

His anger, it’s apparent, isn’t of the free-form variety. Bowditch’s rage has a specific focus. What he can’t abide is the dismantling of Maine’s rustic beauty, a process that goes on in full public view. It’s the lumber companies, the careless hunters and other depredators of the environment that get Bowditch so colossally and colourfully steamed.

But the major value of Doiron’s novels still lies in their renditions of Maine’s distinctive society, and in that department, The Bone Orchard doesn’t fail its readers.

Batten also gets an aspect of my novels that don't get as much coverage as I hope: "Doiron’s Bowditch novels, now up to [five], function as Maine chronicles, the sort of accounts that make social history seem the most appealing possible subject."

It's a short review, but a goodie.

Read chapters 1 & 2 of The Bone Orchard

You asked. The Criminal Element answered. Enjoy!