Review by kparikh -- McDowell by William H. Coles
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kparikh
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- Latest Review: McDowell by William H. Coles
Review by kparikh -- McDowell by William H. Coles
[Following is a volunteer review of "McDowell" by William H. Coles.]
McDowell by William H. Coles is a fictitious book following the life of a successful surgeon at the top of his field, namely Hiram McDowell. The book opens to him climbing Mount Everest with another man who later says that he can't go on. McDowell leaves him there and goes to the top, as he comes back down he encounters the man once again, and they are too weak to move. They ask him to send a rescue team, to which he responds that it will take too much time. Upon hearing that the man asks McDowell for help, and he refuses, leaving him for dead and climbing down. This speaks to his selfish and cold nature. As the story goes on he finds himself on the cabinet of the President. It is then that he hears about a tragedy that begins to send him into a downwards spiral. This is a story about his quest for redemption.
One thing that I loved about this book was how it opened. It hooked me with the first sentence, and by the end of that chapter, I was able to understand McDowell: his virtues and morals, and what he valued most. In other words, the author sets the stage beautifully. When I first started reading, it felt like I wasn't going to be able to finish the book, not because of how it was written-- it has been written beautifully-- but because of how much I despised McDowell. He was extremely misogynistic, rude, and crass. As I continued reading the book, his redemption astonished me. He lost everything and built himself up as a much better person.
The one thing I disliked about the book was the misogynistic views that McDowell had. Although these were gone by the end of the book, there are plenty of ways that you can make someone hate a character, and I don't think having them be rude to women, or generally, any group of people is the best way to do that. Having said that, I do think that it was an interesting way to tie the book into current events seeing all the protests for women's rights and more. Other than that, this book was an amazing read, and a page-turner too.
This is a suspenseful book, and though it doesn't fit into the mystery category, I think that people who like mysteries will enjoy this as well because it has some of the mystery tropes. This book is fit for all people in my opinion, although there is some light cussing involved so it could be classified as a mature read. Anyone who thinks of themself as an activist though, this will be a hard read at the beginning, because, as I said previously, of McDowell's misogynistic outlook towards women. This book had little to no errors, grammatical or otherwise.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. When writing this review, I kept coming back to his redemption, and how I went from absolutely hating this man to rooting for him. The author knows how to bring the emotions out of you, which I applaud. This book kept me interested until the very last page. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. This book was a teeth grinder in the beginning after reading the first 10 pages, but persevere, it will get better.
******
McDowell
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
McDowell by William H. Coles is a fictitious book following the life of a successful surgeon at the top of his field, namely Hiram McDowell. The book opens to him climbing Mount Everest with another man who later says that he can't go on. McDowell leaves him there and goes to the top, as he comes back down he encounters the man once again, and they are too weak to move. They ask him to send a rescue team, to which he responds that it will take too much time. Upon hearing that the man asks McDowell for help, and he refuses, leaving him for dead and climbing down. This speaks to his selfish and cold nature. As the story goes on he finds himself on the cabinet of the President. It is then that he hears about a tragedy that begins to send him into a downwards spiral. This is a story about his quest for redemption.
One thing that I loved about this book was how it opened. It hooked me with the first sentence, and by the end of that chapter, I was able to understand McDowell: his virtues and morals, and what he valued most. In other words, the author sets the stage beautifully. When I first started reading, it felt like I wasn't going to be able to finish the book, not because of how it was written-- it has been written beautifully-- but because of how much I despised McDowell. He was extremely misogynistic, rude, and crass. As I continued reading the book, his redemption astonished me. He lost everything and built himself up as a much better person.
The one thing I disliked about the book was the misogynistic views that McDowell had. Although these were gone by the end of the book, there are plenty of ways that you can make someone hate a character, and I don't think having them be rude to women, or generally, any group of people is the best way to do that. Having said that, I do think that it was an interesting way to tie the book into current events seeing all the protests for women's rights and more. Other than that, this book was an amazing read, and a page-turner too.
This is a suspenseful book, and though it doesn't fit into the mystery category, I think that people who like mysteries will enjoy this as well because it has some of the mystery tropes. This book is fit for all people in my opinion, although there is some light cussing involved so it could be classified as a mature read. Anyone who thinks of themself as an activist though, this will be a hard read at the beginning, because, as I said previously, of McDowell's misogynistic outlook towards women. This book had little to no errors, grammatical or otherwise.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. When writing this review, I kept coming back to his redemption, and how I went from absolutely hating this man to rooting for him. The author knows how to bring the emotions out of you, which I applaud. This book kept me interested until the very last page. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. This book was a teeth grinder in the beginning after reading the first 10 pages, but persevere, it will get better.
******
McDowell
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Latest Review: McDowell by William H. Coles
