Trespasser by Paul Doiron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


THE POACHER'S SON was one of my better discoveries last year, and so when I found out that there would be a second book in the series I was more than pleased. I've often started an author's second novel with a bit of trepidation. The sophomore jinx isn't quite the urban legend that many believe it to be. More often than not, the promise shown with a first novel is never quite realized with those that follow. So, the question posed to Mr. Doiron: Can you write a second book as good as THE POACHER'S SON? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes. The lively Maine setting is still in effect. The flawed but generally decent first person perspective of Game Warden Mike Bowditch still serves as our purveyor of a brutally violent and yet poetic story. Revelations still abound around every corner. Secondary characters (Sarah, Charley, Hutchins etc.) still display the verisimilitude present in all good fiction. In review, my effort isn't to regurgitate all of the ins-and-outs of plot--I'll leave that to the book's jacket. Rather, my aim is to express my pleasure, or lack of, to potential readers. That said, anyone interested in soulful crime fiction, fiction with the pulse of poetry and ugliness found in say a James Lee Burke Dave Robicheaux novel, will be well served by this admirable followup to THE POACHER'S SON.



Phillip Thomas Duck, Author of Distracted: A Thriller



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