Review by Vivianne Nat -- Guardian of Deceit

[Van112]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Guardian of Deceit by William H. Coles is a complex and intriguing story following the life of Darwin Hastings, orphaned at the age of 17 and was sent to New York due to the sudden change in guardianship – from his aunt to his cousin, Luther – a famous football player. Darwin was filled with excitement to spend time with a famous personality especially a relative, but he learns that Luther has a different perspective when it comes to raising a child. Indeed, first impressions don’t always last. Under Luther’s care, he had to earn for his money by doing his errands and so he had to join him in his gambling activities. This is also a story of the people he met along the way as his life changed. On the plane to New York, he met Dr. Malverne, a doctor, who encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor like his father, and soon enough, Darwin also met his family. He met Sweeney Todd, a famous singer, who’s head-over-heels in-love with his cousin and developed a bond with her. He met his first love and experienced heartaches and so many more as the story unfolds. He learned how disheveled other people's lives are, not only his. So we wonder, what’s going to happen to Darwin? It’s time we pick up our books and find out.

I enjoyed reading this book because it is engaging and not monotonous. At first, I thought it’s going to be a bore to read, but the way the author had written the story made me cling onto it more. It is not the usual story that you encounter wherein it’s all about the protagonist. I appreciate that it also ventured out into detailing the story of the supporting characters, what’s behind their attitude and their actions. It seems like it has an intricate plot, with all the multifaceted characters and convoluted events in their lives, but if you really look into it and understand it, it all boils down to who to trust. It is easy to follow. With 66 chapters, each one tried to tie loose ends with the others.

I like Darwin's personality, being a naïve young man at the beginning, despite maturing along the way, he was able to maintain his predicament of being a soft hearted and accepting individual. The other characters also changed as the story went on. The book made me experience the emotions of the characters as I encountered them. I felt happy, heartbroken, frustrated, angered and so on. Honestly, it felt invigorating to experience such a roller coaster kind of emotions in a book. There is nothing to dislike from it.

I give this book a score of 4 out of 4 stars as I got engrossed with it the moment I started reading through its pages. I found some spelling mishaps which seem irrelevant because I enjoyed my time with the book and a quick round of proofreading would solve it. There were no major errors encountered so I can say that it is professionally edited. This is definitely worth my reading time.

I recommend this book to adult readers who are interested for a quick and gripping read. However, as this book contains drug use, gambling and so on, I can't recommend this to a younger audience but if chosen to, guidance is very much-needed. This also has graphic sexual scenes which could be found sensitive by some readers, hence, caution should be taken.

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Guardian of Deceit
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