Review by Ashley Peabody -- McDowell by William H. Coles

[Ashley Peabody]

[Following is a volunteer review of "McDowell" by William H. Coles.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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McDowell by William H. Coles was a thrilling story about redemption that I found to be incredibly insightful. The characters and their relationships to each other are painted so vividly that you feel like you're living out their stories emotionally. The book takes on quite a bit in terms of the main character's trajectory from a world famous, well-respected surgeon to a homeless vagabond writing his memoir as he travels across the U.S. What he learns from the people he meets along the way ultimately helps he make sense of where he went wrong, how he treated people in his past, and how he can begin to make amends.

This book is one part introspection into the human condition and one part adventure. As the main character's past starts to catch up with him, an epic manhunt across the United States begins. The duality the author accomplishes between internal introspection and a high stakes chase across the U.S. constantly keeps the reader on his or her toes.

In addition to this duality, the writing itself by the author quickly draws the reader in with its vivid descriptions of not only the destinations that the main character and those close to him travel, but in how they relate to one another. You find yourself equally rooting for and judging these deeply flawed characters. Their victories are your victories. Their defeats are your defeats.

While beautifully written, I was a bit disappointed that the author didn't delve deeply into the opening scene of the novel which sets the stage for the rest of the novel in terms of the main character's personality. Hiram McDowell leaving his hiking partner to die on what is presumably Mount Everest was mentioned in the first few pages and then almost never again. I think there was a bigger opportunity that was missed to dive further into Hiram McDowell's psyche based off of that incident. This would have made McDowell's redemption arc that much stronger.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would give it 3 out of 4 stars.

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McDowell
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