Kennebec Journal Says Third Time Is the Charm

William Bushnell is out with his review of Bad Little Falls in the Kennebec Journal, and he calls it the best yet in the series:

Bad Little Falls is Camden author Paul Doiron’s third book in his wildly popular, award-winning mystery series featuring Game Warden Mike Bowditch. Following The Poacher's Son and Trespasser, this mystery is even better than the first two, which says a lot about Doiron’s exceptional ability to hold readers’ interest with compelling plots and enduring characters. Best, however, is Doiron’s keen talent for creating a palpable atmosphere, capturing the Maine winter in all its bitter-cold and snow-covered landscape, as well as the poverty, violence and despair of a Maine county too easily ignored.

Bill might just be the preeminent book reviewer in the state these days, having reviewed hundreds of titles for Maine papers over the past couple of decades. We know each other a little from a previous job I held, but he has never worked for me at the magazine, and he certainly doesn't owe me a favorable review. His honest opinion means a great deal to me.

Love + Sex

The funniest review of Bad Little Falls comes via Yahoo Singapore Sports—no, I have no idea either—from the pen of David Marshall James:

Mike's relationship with his upwardly mobile mother and her second husband is fractious at best, while Mike's father was an outstanding bad example. 

As the snowstorms settle in on Mike's bleak new life, he encounters a nearby family even more dysfunctional than his own. 

At least his mother traded up in the husband department. 

The attractive, young, neighborhood mother has had a codependent fling with the drug-dealing pal of her ne'er-do-well brother. Meanwhile, her sister has suffered a brain injury in the auto wreck that claimed their parents' lives. 

No surprise, then, that the recovering addict's -- who has caught Mike's eye, among other body parts-- son is a candidate for some serious counseling. 

Mike-- please don't go there. Mike ... Mike .... 

Yahoo has tagged the review under "love" and "sex." I'd add "death" to mix, but otherwise that sounds about right to me.

PW Gives "Bad Little Falls" a Starred Boxed Review!

The new issue of "Publisher's Weekly" is out with an absolutely glowing review of Bad Little Falls. It calls the new Mike Bowditch novel "excellent" and praises its "strong characters, effective prose, and subtle characterizations." This period, when you're waiting for the pre-pub reviews to appear is one of those nervous times in an author's life, since many bookstores and libraries take their ordering cues from these journals. A starred, boxed review in "PW" —which indicates a book is of outstanding quality in the eyes of the reviewer — is an auspicious start to what I hope will be a string of favorable notices. If you can't read the clip below, click this link to go the magazine's Web site.