Review by [jade] -- McDowell by William H. Coles
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Review by [jade] -- McDowell by William H. Coles
This book is not something you want to miss. Despite its simplistic title, McDowell is a collection of enthralling stories and an engrossing cast of characters. Once I picked up this book, it sparked an insatiable curiosity and I could not put it down. William H. Coles does an excellent job portraying the life of Hiram McDowell, a wealthy doctor with sociopathic tendencies, and his disjointed, flawed family. An unfortunate series of events tumble down on the family, causing crackling tensions between characters, horrifying acts of crime, and an eventual journey to find oneself. McDowell was the perfect combination of nerve-wracking twists and life-like characters that compel the reader to embrace the best and worst in humanity.
The characters in the novel are incredibly lifelike and represent the flaws of mankind perfectly. It is written so well that you sympathize with the worst of characters. At times, I even felt myself support the “antagonists” in the novel, even though there were no true antagonists per se. It is because they are flawed that the reader finds themselves exploring humanity through the same imperfect lens--you see the worst in people, the best in others, and everything in between. The exploration of oneself at the end was unexpected, especially with how the story began, but provided great character development for Hiram and his family.
What I enjoyed most was the fast-paced storytelling. There is so much going on that even if you have the attention span of a goldfish, you would not be able to peel your eyes away from the pages. The storyline is constantly evolving and is never short on surprising twists and turns. One event flows perfectly into the next in a well-planned plot that is effortlessly readable.
It is perhaps because the book is so fast-paced that I wish at times it would slow down a bit. There were relationships between characters that I didn’t fully understand, especially the relationship between Sophie and her girlfriend. While the reader doesn’t need to understand the details of their connection, it was not thoroughly explained why certain events occurred between them and that made it slightly confusing for me.
McDowell was an enthralling experience that perfectly shows how situations are not always as they seem. The image of a perfect family and successful career can easily be overturned into public humiliation and disastrous accusations. Reading this book was an experience similar to watching a scary movie (except without the horror, which is great because I harbor an extreme dislike for horror films). You just can’t stop looking and wondering what will happen next. I would recommend this book to adult readers who enjoy a good page-turner. Because this book includes several mature topics, I would not suggest this to sensitive readers. Furthermore, the book was professionally edited and I noticed only a few errors. All in all, I loved this book and rate it four out of four stars.
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McDowell
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