The Poacher's Son, Early Chapters: 1-7

[Shaggy68]

I think Mike saw himself in the boy.   Perhaps he was reaching out to the boy by being a figure of authority.  An officer who is doing what is right and according to the law would be a very respectable adult figure to look up too.

[Kim_S]

I think Mike is a good man at heart but very much a loner. After such a turbulent childhood with his father's mood swings,  and fights that he definitely did not want to follow in his Dad's footsteps.  That is why he pursued a job in law enforcement although his upbringing did make him long for the woods and desolation which made becoming a game warden the perfect job for him. All of his relationships with the people close to him are poor.  Sarah stuck by him but didn't believe that he would continue being a warden for life.  She always hoped for something better(like his mom). His job (and love of the wodds) made him absent much of the time which really is not too different then the way his father was aside from the bar fights and illegal activity. It seems that Sarah and Mike were still in love but the lifestyle was too much for her and he wasn't willing to give it up. He realizes he is better off on his own.   The book has really captivated with it's explicit description of the Northern Maine landscape and I get a great sense of the people that live there. I am looking forward to finishing the book.

[torbank6]

What is Mike Bowditch like?  I think he is a loner and lonely and most of it by his own doing.

What is his father like?   Mike's father is self centered and has not been a great father figure for Mike and now when he is in trouble, he turns to Mike for help.  He also think she is above the law and shouldn't be punished for anything he does illegally.

What are the romantic relationships like so far?  Mike's mother and father are divorced and Mike's relationship with his wife is almost over...interesting that he is counting the days from when she left him.  Mike exhibits some of his father's selfishness in choosing being a game warden over law school and then being surprised that Sarah left him. 

How does Mike's attitudes for far seem similar to or different from other people around him?

Mike believes in his father being innocent whereas others don't. 

What are my early expectations for the story? I think the POW will be involved, maybe even part of the murder or his body will be found while Mike is out in the woods.

What do I expect next?  I think the father will vanish like the POW and Mike will never hear or see him again.

[CharminKB]

Mike seems like an honest, caring man who seems to have dedicated his life to his job (and perhaps trying to get approval from his father).  Mike's father is a self centered man who appears to have put himself and his own needs in front of that of his families - well in front of everyone and everything else. 

All the relationships that we have touched on so far have all been extremely dysfunctional. 

So far I'm not seeing where the story is going....which is good!!  I hate a predictable book, and so far I'm turning the pages to see what's next and not already guessing.  I do have one thought in my mind that is hanging around.......I'm wondering what the story of the escaped prisoner at the beginning of the book - and all the other history stories told to Mike as a child - may have to do with the story - - if anything.

....that being said, I'm off to read more!!

[dclement04]

What is Mike Bowditch like? What about his father?

I believe that Mike wants to be the opposite of his father. I think he is trying not to live in the shadow of his father and wants to have his own life and not be known as "Jack's son".

What are the romantic relationships like that have been described this far into the novel? What was Mike's relationship with Sarah like?

I think Mike is still deeply in love with Sarah but he doesn't want to show it and he doesn't really know that he loves her as much as he does...Sarah on the other hand prob still loves him but knows that she can come in and out of his life when she wants because Mike seems like he is naive.

What are your early expectations for the story? What has shaped your sense of what to expect?

 I think that this story so far is fantastic! I have a bunch of ideas as to what is going to happen and what I would like to see happen but I am just going to wait and keep reading!

[LaX_book_lover]

What is Mike Bowditch like? What about his father?

Mike seems like a very down to earth man who has been through some hard times, staring with his parents splitting up when he was a child. He seems to be very committed to his job as a game warden, possibly too much. He is a bit of a loner who prefers to work in nature than have to interact and be held accountable to another person. His life choices have resulted in his beloved Sara leaving him.

His father is a handsome man who makes his living working in the wild and generally living off the land. He has a reputation for being a little rough around the edges. A war veteran, he now drinks a lot and seems to have spent most of his life just barely staying on the right side of the law.

What are the romantic relationships like that have been described this far into the novel? What was Mike's relationship with Sarah like?

Thus far, the romantic relationships have been failures. Mike is no longer with his love, Sara. Mike's father split from his mother when he was a young child.

Mike's relationship with Sara started off well, but over time, Sara came to realize Mike was not going to become the lawyer/judge she was looking for, and being a warden was an all-encompassing job that really was more of a lifestyle.

How do Mike's attitudes so far seem similar to and different from the people around him?

I see Mike's attitudes as more different than similar to those aound him. We know his wife left him, and we also know he and his father have been estranged for two years.

What are your early expectations for the story? What has shaped your sense of what to expect?

I think this will be a great mystery/adventure. There seems to be a lot of potential for danger to Mike and his father to pop up throughout the story. Based on how Mike's history (as well as his father's) has been presented this far, I think there will be several antagonists, which could add some twists to the story. I'm pulled in already!

[LastWord]

In a way, I think Peppermill and I agree with each other. I also feel that the bear subplot is overshadowing what I assumed was the main plot --- the murders. Because I had a preconceived notion that this was a traditional mystery, I came to the book thinking that "whodunit" was the central question the book was going to answer. Now I'm not so sure. I think the central question isn't really "whodunit" but "can Mike find his father and come to terms with the past?"  

That said, I do love the story of Mike and Bud Thompson and the bear. Not as crazy about the LaSalle subplot, though I see why the author uses it. As others have pointed out, I think Mike relates to the boy and is trying to make LaSalle obey the law as Mike wished his own father did. 

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Peppermill wrote:

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LastWord wrote  (excerpt):

I have to say that I absolutely love the bear subplot. That is my favorite aspect of the book thus far.

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I love how each of us reads differently -- for me, the bear subplot is getting in the way of learning what is happening at the murder site!  Thanks for sharing that viewpoint; it will help me enjoy the bear story, too.

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[dhaupt]

Some of us have been discussing Mike and DeSalle, and I have to admit that it kind of bothered me at first the way Mike seemed to be bating the guy. So after I read a few things about how some of you felt I re-read it.

My final thoughts about it are that at first Mike wasn't going to be petty with the guy, but after DeSalle started being a jerk and especially how he acted in front of his son Mike took action. I agree with those of you who said that Mike saw himself in the boy. But it still disturbed me especially because now I'm afraid what consequences the boy will have to pay because of the father's actions and reactions to Mike.

It also showed me that Mike is young and takes things more to heart and lets things effect him more than someone older and more mature would.

[BookBobBP]

Mike in regards to his Father is desperate for his Father's approval.  Mike also totally believes in his father might be hard to get along with but is a good man.

In regards to Sarah I think Mike honestly still loves her but is afraid of marriage because of the rotten one his parents had.  So he pushes her away.

I am liking this story there is a sense of adventure and a love of the outdoors.  I am enjoying this book.

[pen21]

I think Mike handled the DeSalle incident well. I realize the author let us peak into Mike and his feelings. But I have been on a lot of lakes and been stopped to check for fishing license and life jackets. It's the same as a police officer stopping your car. Mike has the leeway for a warning or a ticket. No parent should be in a boat that doesn't have enough life jackets, especially a life jacket that fits the child. Considering the father's attitude, I don't think he should have been driving a boat with a child on the lake at that time. I don't think Mike was trying to bait the father, anything seems to set off a person of this type. To me the boy would have been in danger anytime he was around a father like that. The father is the type of boater you avoid on the lake.

pen21

[literature]

What is Mike Bowditch like? What about his father?

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Mike's life for his first 9 years was very disturbing and unsettling.  His father drank too much, was a womanizer and disappeared for  periods of time.  When he was home, he fought with his wife, Mike's mother, and didn't pay much attention to Mike.  Viet Nam had changed him.  Prior to being in the war he was a gifted student.  In spite of all his shortfalls, Mike still viewed his father as the strongest and bravest man.  Even through his tirades, his father still wanted Mike to see his side of things.  His father held a job long enough to convince his wife that he had prospects and then things would get bad again.

When his mother took him and they finally left his father, things settled down somewhat for Mike, even though he couldn't understand why his father didn't fight to keep them together.  She remarried and gave Mike a more stable life.

Mike grew up, met Sarah, and married.   The 9 years spent living together with his parents had a very strong impact on his emotional development.  Sarah was also somewhat insecure.  One of her greatest fears in life was being poorer than their college friends.  She wanted Mike to go to law school and be a prosecutor or a judge, not be a game warden.  Being a game warden was a 24/7 job and not a high paying job.

Mike was a loner like his father.  I had the feeling when his father told him about the German POW camp in the remote part of Maine that he, his father, wanted to just disappear the same way as the escaped POW did and never be found.  After Mike and his mother left him, his drinking got worse and he moved far away from people.  Mike still felt an emotional attachment to his father, took Sarah to meet him and during this meeting at the bar, Mike became annoyed because someone had criticized his father.  Mike wanted his father's approval, had been embarrassed by him and in trying to get his approval, became a game warden to make amends for the petty crimes his father had committed against society and against his family.   Mike thinks as his father as having the persona of a Tasmanian Devil.  When Sarah left Mike, Mike thought "he could love this solitary and morbid profession without excuses and not have to look too deeply into the dark side of myself". 

You have to feel bad for Mike.  He is trying to have a better life than his father has but there is always something drawing him back to him and vice versa, as we shall soon find out.

[maxcat]

I did not like DeSalle and his boy either. The guy is just looking for trouble. To me, his description was much like a mafia type person. He instigates everything and I really don't know how Mike kept his cool throughout the whole conversation. Laws are laws and on the water, you have to abide them. The guy made a big stink about not having enough life preserver jackets on board. Own up to the truth and pay the fine. Don't make Mike angrier by filing a complaint.

[debbaker]

Sorry it has taken me so long to join in. I have been overwhelmed. So here goes-----Mike keeps talking about being a loner--I am not sure whether it is true or not. He seems to be torn between two aspects of his personality. He both loves and hates his father. His mother and Sarah seem similiar, which brings up even more questions. Mike is a very conflicted character.

Mike's job seems to follow parts of his father's life as well as be against parts of his father's life. Jack is damaged--he has seen things that most of us never will see and that has changed him. I think the biggest tragedy of any war is how it breaks down the views of the men and women involved in the conflict. Jack is struggling with something that happened to him or by him during the war. I have known men who served in Vietnam and it deeply affected their relationships with everything and everyone. I actually like Jack to a certain extent--I am not sure why. Possibly because I think he distanced himself from his family because he didn't trust himself any longer. That is a type of misplaced love. He seems to care in spite of himself.

I am not sure how I feel about Sarah. The distraction of trying to keep up with your college friends can be overwhelming and have devastating effects. It can turn you bitter and overly critical. I don't know if that is truly the way Sarah is. Mike and Sarah needed to come to an understanding of their expectations for each other and marriage. They obviously didn't before marriage--the mistakes of the young and inexperienced--we have all been there.

The bear thing seemed to me like an interesting interlude much like the clown's role in tragic theater. It lightens the mood in the face of dark circumstances. I was not sure of the purpose of it.

As others I initially struggled with Mike and DeSalle. But I agree that Mike did not intentionally bait the guy. The guy was rude and overbearing. Mike responded the way he was supposed to officially. I think that Mike felt for the boy but also saw standing up to DeSalle as a way to stand up to his own father. A test of wills. DeSalle ended up looking like a fool in front of his son. While I worry about the boy I also wonder if it somehow shows the boy that his father is not the end all and be all of the world. He can eventually grow up and overcome his father's bad behavior. Maybe the boy can see his father for what he is at least for a moment.

The thing I did wonder about was the way the police were treating Mike when he came in to talk to them. They didn't call him, he came in voluntarily and got treated like a suspect. He is a fellow officer. It definitely made me unsympathetic to the police handling the case at this point.

I have many questions at this point. Is Jack innocent? Will Mike be able to repair the relationship with his father? Will Mike and Sarah find a way to make things work or will Mike finally let go and move on? Why was the officer so gungho to go after Jack? Who is the guy in the bar and what does he have to do with the events going on? I am not sure whether the story of the POW will come back into the story or not. Are we making more out of that than there really is?

So many questions. Only further reading will tell.

[Becktrek]

Love all the comments on DeSalle you all are sharing.  His attitude made my blood boil!!!  I had never considered that Mike saw himself in the little boy, but that is an EXCELLENT point.  I completely agree....

Becky in IN

[jenpalombi]

Hello to all!  I'm joining the discussion a little late, as I couldn't start reading until today.  But boy, did I tear through those first 7 chapters fast!  Here are my thoughts about the questions posed in the opening posts.

What is Mike Bowditch like? What about his father?

I'm still trying to figure him out.  Young, of course... exuding all of that youthful enthusiasm about his first job... maybe trying a bit too hard?  I'm trying to decide if the scene with DeSalle is supposed to make him out to be a youthful zealot or, like others have said, if he's acting on his own father issues.It'll be interesting to see how he develops.

What are the romantic relationships like that have been described this far into the novel? What was Mike's relationship with Sarah like?

Like some others, I don't see much happening in the romance department here yet, but I do suspect that we'll be meeting Sarah.  I wonder if there will be a rekindling of their relationship...

How do Mike's attitudes so far seem similar to and different from the people around him?

That's a tough one... between the bruisers in the bar, Hank Varnum, DeSalle and Sheriff Hatch, it seems like most of the people around him are adversarial pricks.  I did notice that Mike almost seemed like a different character in the scene with Kathy Frost... joking, using a little sarcastic humor, even a slightly off-color jibe ("I'm checking you out").  That Mike doesn't mesh so much with the withdrawn, borderline insecure Mike in the rest of these 7 chapters.  I'll be interested in seeing how future scenes with Kathy compare to the first.

What are your early expectations for the story? What has shaped your sense of what to expect?

So far, my expectation is that we heard the story of the POW because it parallels the way Jack is going to try to disappear into the wild.  Whether the angle taken is that Mike is the only one capable of finding him, we'll have to wait and see!

[Bonnie_C]

I agree that the scene with DeSalle was unsettling.  But I thought Mike handled himself beautifully.  He intended only to say hello.  DeSalle is the one who started the ugliness.  Mike kept his cool and even tried to reach out to the young boy by giving him his dropped fishing rods and telling him he hopes he catches a big one.  I was impressed that a 24 year old had that level of maturity to stay calm.

For some reason, I really wondered if the boy was actually DeSalle's son.  Maybe he's a stepson that DeSalle felt was forced on him.  Maybe that's why he only has the one life vest. I also get the feeling that the kid's day was not going to be a happy one whether he spent the day with DeSalle in his new boat or riding back home in DeSalle's new truck after being fined by a game warden.  I can only hope he took comfort in the fact that not all adults act like DeSalle.

I think we may see more of these characters later on.  But that is just a guess on my part.

[Darbys_Closet]

Hi Everyone,

I have been anxiously awaiting 3/3 so we could start discussing this book!!!

At first I was a tad confused as to the forward and then the character's in the first couple of chapter's.....I kept referring back to the forward to see if any names had been mentioned (I was trying to map out how these characters, facts and circumstances all intertwined); yet once I let my need for organization rest or go, I easily saw the character's fall into place.  So far this book has been a fast and compelling read.  I'm anxious to find out how the POW comes into play.

I think Mike, not really having a father image to map on has in a way turned into his father, by being a loner and living the life he thinks he loves.  Yet not growing up with loving Mom and Dad role models, of course he is going to migrate towards his comfort zone.......the woods and solitude in his own mind, which I imagine is where he spent much of his formative years.

Darby

[dezilynn]

I think Mike is lonely, but I don't think it is exactly by choice. I think it is more to do with the fact that he does not know how to love another person, due to the examples that have been set by his past. I think that he has a true love for the land that he has chosen to protect by becoming a warden. His father, Jack, has a passion for the wilderness as well, but has chosen to use it as a means of survival in a negative way rather than in the positive way that his son chose. Jack did not set a good example for his son as a father or a husband due to the trauma of being a war vet and dealing with this trauma by turning to alcohol.

The relationships this far are not strong again because as I mentioned earlier, circumstances have prevented Mike from learning how to love. Mike loves Sarah and would like for her to be in his life, but he also loves the land and the profession that he has chosen for himself. If he was capable of showing her that he loved her then I think she would be willing to make changes to her expectations, but Mike does not possess the ability to reach out to her unconditionally.

Thus far it is evident the Mike agrees with others that the land should be preserved and not sold out to some business that wishes to sell the land off to be used for more housing which will destroy the land which has already been damaged by man and machine. Also he shares the love of the land with his father, but he chooses to abide by and protect the laws of the land where his father does not.

As of right now, I do not know what to expect from the remainder of the book. I am looking forward to seeing how it ends it is very intriguing so far.

[SandyS]

Amanda-Louise, I couldn't have summarized this section any better.  Actually, it was helpful for me as I was feeling a bit distracted from the book.  After reading everyone's comments I thought I needed to go back and start over.  I am so glad I did.  The narrator's voice is coming through to me now - although I'm feeling he may be a bit of an unreliable narrator.  He may be a bit too jaded due to some of his upbringing and age.   We'll have to see. 

SandyS

PS  Hope you're back to your own computer!

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Amanda-Louise wrote:

I'm generally surprised by the writing.   Not being familiar with the genre, I was expecting sort of a gumshoe style, which I don't like.  I love the setting an I love the voice.  I found it quite funny the man walking around in chapter one with a beer in one hand and a hunting rifle in the other.  That made me laugh.

Was anyone else surprised to find the main character was only 24?  Up until that was revealed, I was imagining a sun-worn 40-something.

The imagery in the book is great.  I can fully see what's going on as the writing is so descriptive but in a subtle and concise way.

Chapter 2

Is that bar fight realistic?  It seemed like a scene out of a silly western movie farce.  However, much about the dad is revealed in this short chapter.

Chapter 3

I find it interesting how the story, thus far, is broken down into tidbits of information.  In the first chapter we meet and learn about Mike (the prologue shows us the father/son relationship).  In Chapter 2 we learn about Jack; chapter 3 we learn about the Wendigo land past/present.  I can't remember reading a book (non-fiction) so clearly broken down like this.  Doiron makes me think of Stephen King - particularly the characters:  how they are introduces and developed, the setting is also very King-ish.  Even the way the plot is beginning to unfold.  I know they are different genres, I"m more referring to writing style.

Chapter 4

Now a chapter about Mike's job.  The confrontation between Mike and the man with the boat had me so tense.  I can't imagine having to do that on a regular basis.

Chapter 5

As much as this chapter was used to introduce Kathy, the plot is taking over and the book is trotting right along with a nice flow.  I'm going to have to force myself to stop after Chapter 7!

Chapter 6

Funny thing how this father/son with basically no relationship are willing to risk their lives for each other.  Jack in a bar fight and Mike on his way to the jail.

Chapter 7

Oh!  I so hate to put this down.  I'm feeling much like Mike at the moment - What's going on??!!  The element of suspense is fantastic.  I love that I have no clue what's happening.  So often the reader can predicts how the story will unfold or end, but not this time!

Amanda (who had her contractor cut her internet line and is writing from a library computer so all mistakes are totally not my fault this time!)

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[chris227]

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TiffanyLynn wrote:

I think Mike is lost looking for guidance.  He thinks he wants to be a Game Warden, but I think it just wants to be the opposite of his father.  He doesn't know what he wants to be. 

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Tiffany I totally agree.  As someone out to protect the law and the animals and land he really is the conmplete opposite of his father.  I think though that being a game warden allows him to be part of the land and therefore closer to his father as well.