DCL Book Chat

Doiron’s debut novel was recommended to me as a read alike to C.J. Box and I agree that it is. Doiron’s main character, Mike Bowditch, is a warden with the Maine Warden Service and like Box’s character, Joe Pickett, who is a Wyoming game warden, is headstrong, independent, honest and dedicated to his job.  Doiron is also as passionate about the Maine woods as Box is about his beloved Wyoming. 

  In The Poacher’s Son Mike Bowditch gets a brief phone message from the father he has not heard from or seen in two years. The next day Mike hears that a deputy sheriff has been murdered along with an executive of a timber company and that his father is the prime suspect.  Even though his father is a womanizing drunk and a poacher, Mike believes he is innocent while all those around him think Jack Bowditch is the killer. What follows is a fast paced thriller as Mike tries to find his father before he is tracked down by the police. He risks not only his future as a game warden but his life when he defies his commanding officers in his search for the real killer.

This is a great debut novel and has already been named one of the best crime novels of the year by Booklist.

Allison

Belfer’s novel could be a contemporary thriller. The U.S. is at war and greedy pharmaceutical companies race against each other to find and patent the first mass produced miracle drug.  A Fierce Radiance is actually set during World War II, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the military wants to keep the research for this miracle drug under wraps and is protecting its secrets at all costs.  

The novel follows Claire Shipley, a photographer for Life Magazine, who does a story about the use of a new drug, penicillin being tested at the Rockefeller Institute. While there Claire meets Dr. James Stanton and his sister Tia, both researchers and she becomes romantically involved with James. Claire’s story doesn’t run in the magazine, for reasons she doesn’t quite believe and she suddenly becomes involved in a web of intrigue. When there is a suspicious death, Claire fears that her father, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company might be behind it.

I loved Belfer’s description of wartime New York, the way she captures the feel of what everyday life must have been like and her inclusion of historic figures such as Henry and Claire Booth Luce.

Alison

Best-selling novelist Octavia Frost learns of her rock star son Milo’s arrest for the murder of his girlfriend on the Times Square news crawl. A family tragedy has driven them apart but Octavia rushes to California with the hope of exonerating Milo. Surprising information is revealed as she delves into events surrounding the murder and gets reacquainted with Milo and his circle.

Parkhurst gives a unique twist to the story by including excerpts from Octavia’s recently completed experimental work in which she has rewritten the endings to her novels. Excerpts from Octavia’s new work help drive the plot and reveal the emotions behind her personal and professional struggles.

This novel illustrates the ways family life can both damage and heal us, and the nuances of the mother-son relationship are beautifully explored.

Marsha