Hatchet Island
A Novel
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4.3 • 184 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The eerie, windswept Hatchet Island off the coast of Maine becomes the site of a double murder and a disappearance in this thriller from bestselling author Paul Doiron.
A call for help from a former colleague leads Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch and his girlfriend Stacey Stevens on a sea kayaking trip to a research station far off the coast. Stacey spent summers interning on the island, a sanctuary for endangered seabirds, and they are shocked by the atmosphere of tension they encounter when they come ashore. The biologists are being threatened and stalked by a mysterious boatman who they suspect is trespassing on the refuge late at night. And now the sanctuary’s enigmatic founder, whose mind has been slowly unraveling, has gone missing.
Camped on an islet for the night, Mike and Stacey waken to the sound of a gunshot. When they return to the refuge at dawn, their darkest fears are confirmed: two of the three researchers have been brutally murdered and the third has disappeared, along with the island skiff. Mike’s quest to find the missing man leads to a nearby island owned by a world-renowned photographer and his equally brilliant wife. The inhabitants of this private kingdom quickly close ranks, and Mike increasingly comes to believe that someone in the village knows more about the killings than they dare admit.
With no one to trust and miles from shore, Mike Bowditch must stop a ruthless murderer determined to make sure a terrifying secret never sees the light of day.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar finalist Doiron's exceptional 13th mystery featuring Maine game warden Mike Bowditch (after 2021's Dead by Dawn) takes Bowditch and his significant other, biologist Stacey Stevens, to Baker Island after Stacey receives a request for help from her college roommate and former colleague, Kendra Ballard, who's been working on the island as the project manager for the Maine Seabird Initiative's restoration efforts there. Kendra is worried about her boss, Maeve McLeary, who hasn't been heard from for several days. That disturbing silence comes shortly after Maeve incurred the wrath of local lobstermen by successfully backing a proposal to close part of the Gulf of Maine to their boats to protect endangered whales. The restoration project has since been receiving anonymous threats, and someone shot up its observation blinds. Kendra's fears of violence prove justified as Bowditch soon has two murders on the island to solve, which may be connected to a young man's recent death by suicide. The author is especially good at conveying the island's creepy atmosphere, and the taut plot features numerous shocking twists while further developing an already complex lead. Doiron is writing at the top of his game.
Customer Reviews
See AllHatchet Island
This is an interesting story and very atmospheric. The ornithology aspect is excellent. The murder plot takes some suspension of logic to believe. Still a good page turner and it kept my attention.
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Definitely not the best👎🏻. The story is such a stretch. And, please stop making all your characters who support the right side of politics such racist jerks! Look you can have political views with your characters, and both sides are gonna have extremist, but you clearly never got to know someone with a different view of things (or just don’t want to know), and see that they are decent human beings that even though you both may not agree on everything, but still treat people with the same respect, courtesy, and kindness that you would want to be treated. I’m really rooting for the next book to be better in plot, and the right balance in characters. If this series continues to be shoddy then it’s time to move on.
Hatchet Island. Paul Doiron
Hatchet Island, a research station off the coast of Maine. The island is a sanctuary for endangered seabirds. The biologists who live there, two females and a male are constantly being threatened by local fishermen and a mysterious man on a boat who they cannot identify. The two female biologists are brutally murdered and their corpses are staged as a shocking display. The male biologist manages to escape on a small boat and is later discovered and rescued. Mike Bowditch is sent to the island as an investigator and with. His girlfriend Stacy they begin to unravel the hideous secrets on a nearby island owned and controlled by famous photographer with a scandalous reputation. Along with his wife they rule the island as their fiefdom. Another excellent read in this series!! My highest recommendation!!