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It was the one weakness of a very well plotted book. It had to wrap up neatly, which clashed with the realism of the rest. Yes, one would have thought McDowell would have considered that Kitsy might betray him - he had plenty of experience of betrayal. He said he would stay around until he was sure she would recover, but he should have gone to ground somewhere else. It was not like him to put his life in someone else's hands.

I thought the ending was anticlimactic. I wish I would've read dialogue between Hiram and the cops, rather than "he was shot and is dead."

No, I never liked the end, I was thinking Hiram would win the case against him and reunite with his family

In real life, I wouldn't agree to anyone being shot while unarmed, but I thought it worked for the book. I like the idea that he did one last good thing (saving Kitsy) so you would think there might be a redemption, but suddenly he's dead. I thought it was inevitable that he would get caught when he saved Kitsy.

I wasn't shocked by the ending, but I was sad because his family needed closure. Hiram had changed so much since they saw him that seeing him as a more caring person would have been nice. I think that being shot while unarmed is a terrible way to die, but with the enemies that Hiram had it seemed unavoidable.

Yes Hiram McDowell's deserves that kind of death. I agree and justify that he deserves to be shot to death.

I agree that no one really deserves to die in that way, but in the context of the book it did seem inevitable. I can't help but wonder what the author's goal was in giving Hiram such an end.

I kind of wish he would have just gone back to prison. He actually committed a murder according to the court system that tried him and gave him a sentence. I think running away from what he did only showed that his ego (self-protection) was still alive and well. He did do a few kinds acts, but he still was the same character on the run looking to be shady by skirting justice. Shooting him while he has no weapon to defend himself then makes it feel like I am supposed to feel sorry for him. I just didn't. I felt like he should have served his time, but that makes for less of a dramatic ending, I suppose.

He didn't deserve to die. He wasn't that bad. I would of rather of seen him go back to prison.

I don't know about this. On the one side, it might feel like all his deeds are catching up to him but on the other side, it's sad that he didn't get time to live his new life.

I felt sad and was almost in tears as the end unfolded. But it left me into a state of contemplation to think about the story. So if not for personal reasons, the end was appropriate to the story.

If Hiram hadn't changed at all from the first part of the book I wouldn't have been upset that he was gunned down like that. Not that I think just because someone was a bad person they should meet that end. Just that it did make me sad at the end because towards the end of the book it made me really reconsider how I felt about Hiram. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been caught, but this part was a harsh punishment for him. Plus, for one person to decide to do that is making them his judge and executioner.

daydreaming reader wrote: ↑04 Oct 2018, 16:04 I don't believe he deserved being shot while unharmed, but that is assuming that he was not being aggressive. I think that fact that the sheriff shot the rabbit merely because he got a new gun should be considered. That scene makes me question whether the sheriff was doing his job or hunting for sport. I did eventually expect that Hiram would have been caught, but not necessarily killed, perhaps a few years after he had completely adopted his new identity.

You make a good point about the rabbit.

I always like when a bad guy gets what he deserves! But what about when he's such a main part of the story?

I saw the ending that Hiram got miles before the end actually came. I thought it was the perfect way to finish his arc because there was no way in which he would convince everyone that he was innocent (he wasn't).