Filed from the riverbank
By July, the trails are dust.
Book Three of the Androscoggin After Dark series, When the River Runs, is officially here — just in time for ATV festival weekend in the North Country.
The timing could not be more perfect.
The engines are loud. The trail dust is flying. The river is running dark beside old rail beds, locked gates, river roads, town greens, and places locals know better than to stop after dark.
And this time, the danger does not begin in a motel room.
It begins on the trails.
Room 12 was never just a room.
In When the River Freezes, the river gave back a girl the town tried to forget.
In When the River Thaws, Room 9 opened.
Now, in When the River Runs, Room 12 comes back into the light.
When Derek Donovan vanishes near the Androscoggin, everyone wants to blame speed, arrogance, and one reckless ride too many. But when his ATV turns up caked in river mud, investigators find something hidden inside:
A cracked motel key tag marked Room 12.
And Room 12 was never just a room.
It was a stop.
Meet Claire Caron and Reid Boucher
Claire Caron knows the summer ATV crowd better than most: the noise, the money, the bad decisions, and the old ways through the North Country that do not always show up on official maps.
She knows the trails.
She knows the gates.
She knows the river roads.
She knows when mud is telling the truth.
Fish and Game Officer Reid Boucher knows the woods, the water, and the difference between protecting a woman and trying to control her.
Claire does not need saving.
Unfortunately for both of them, Reid keeps showing up anyway.
Their story is all heat, restraint, danger, sharp mouths, muddy boots, and the kind of slow-burn tension that happens when two people are very good at reading the land and very bad at pretending they do not notice each other.
The mystery gets bigger
When the River Runs is the book where the Androscoggin After Dark series opens wider.
The North Star Motel is still part of the story.
Room 9 still matters.
Room 12 matters even more.
But this time, the investigation moves beyond walls and doors and into something older: rail beds, logging cuts, river pull-offs, private gates, volunteer route cards, ATV corridors, and maps that leave out more than they admit.
Because some secrets do not stay in rooms.
Some secrets travel.
And in the North Country, there has always been more than one way through.
Now available
When the River Runs is available now.
Start with Book One, continue with Book Two, or ride straight into Book Three if you are ready for dusty trails, dark water, buried motel secrets, and a romance that knows exactly how close to stand without touching.
Small towns keep secrets.
Rivers keep the rest.
In the North Country, desire runs deep.
So do the bodies.
Book Three of Androscoggin After Dark
When the River Runs is available now
By July, the trails are dust — and Room 12 is waiting.
When Derek Donovan vanishes near the Androscoggin, everyone wants to call it one more reckless ride gone wrong. Then his ATV turns up caked in river mud, with a cracked motel key tag marked Room 12.
Claire Caron knows the trails, the gates, and the old ways through. Fish and Game Officer Reid Boucher knows the woods — and exactly how close to stand without touching her.
In the North Country, desire runs deep.
So do the bodies.