In this 16th book in the 'Mike Bowditch' series,
the Maine game warden is in the sights of a vengeful killer. The book
can be read as a standalone.
*****
Mike Bowditch has been a Maine game warden for ten years, and he's been in trouble for breaking the rules many times. 
You'd think Mike would learn from his mistakes, but he's too determined to get the perpetrator. 
As
'Storm Tide' opens, Mike has been busted from warden investigator back
to patrol for chasing a fugitive across the border into Canada. Mike is
on routine night patrol when he sees a house fire, and hurries over to
help. 
A
woman named Karen Kershaw is outside the burning house holding a baby,
and she says the father gave her the child and ran back to rescue his
wife. The home's residents, Brian and Angela Malloy, perish in the
blaze, and Mike learns the couple is notorious for (allegedly)
kidnapping and killing a child Brian had with a drug addict. 
Mike
suspects the Malloy fire was arson, and though it isn't his purview,
Mike goes to interview Karen Kershaw. Karen is clearly uneasy and runs
away, then makes a false report about Mike threatening her with his
wolf-dog Shadow. 
This
gets Mike into into hot water with Detective Sergeant Delphine Cruz
from the Major Crimes Unit of the Maine State Police. Delphine doesn't
believe Karen's story, but she tells Mike IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS to leave
the homicide investigating to her. Of course, Mike pays no attention,
but he and Delphine form a kind of under the radar partnership as the
story moves forward.
The
next day, Mike gets an anonymous phone call from a man who says: "Mike
Bowditch, after all these years! It really is a small world....You were
such an infamous presence around Machias. I couldn't help but take an
interest in you....You've been in the news so much - so many
shootings....One of the things I remember is that, when you weren't on
duty, you used to drive that cool Jeep Wrangler with the expedition roof
rack and Mammoth wheels." The caller then reports seeing lights near
the site of the Malloy house fire, and hangs up. When Mike hits redial,
he gets 'Pleasure Chest Adult Superstore' and knows the caller spoofed
the number.
This
is the beginning of a nightmare period for Mike and his wife Stacey
Stevens, an emergency medical technician who's expecting their first
child. While Mike keeps poking into the Malloys' deaths, Stacey leaves
work one day and is followed home by a white van. 
A
couple of months later, Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens, a
legendary retired game warden, are in Mike's truck when the police
scanner calls all units to a fatality on the train tracks near
Vanceboro. 
Mike
and Charley hurry over and see a crushed body on the tracks, who turns
out to be Axl Deming. Axl and his brother Shayn were suspected of raping
and murdering a teenage girl, but their mother gave them an alibi. The
police deem Axl's death a homicide, and Mike suspects vigilantes killed
the Malloys and Axl to get 'justice' for their crimes.
As
the weeks pass, Mike gets additional spoofed phone calls and is lured
into life-threatening situations. Mike determines the vigilantes are
after him as well, and it's a cat and mouse game as Mike and the perps
try to outsmart one another.
Mike is especially reckless in this
novel since Stacey is pregnant, then gives birth. You'd think Mike would
avoid danger, so he'd be around for his wife and baby, but Mike can't
seem to avoid murderous people. (You just know a man wrote this
book. LOL) 
Recurring characters that appear in the novel include:
Billy
Cronk - a registered Maine guide and outdoorsman who looks like a
viking; Billy goes along when Mike tries to catch a vigilante.
Kathy Frost - Mike's former supervisor, who's a skilled woodswoman and tracker; Kathy helps in a pinch. 
Ora Stevens - Stacey's mother (Mike's mother-in-law) who's on hand to help with Stacey and Mike's baby.
The
Mike Bowditch novels are action-adventure all the way, and there are
plenty of edge of your seat moments in the story. I enjoyed the book,
but wish Mike would be more careful in perilous situations.
I
had the digital book and the audiobook, narrated by Henry Leyva. Leyva
is a good narrator, but some of his female voices are hinky.
Thanks to Netgalley, Paul Doiron, Macmillan Audio and Minotaur for ARCs of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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