2 out of 4 stars
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I give this book 2 out of 4 stars.
17 year old Darwin Hastings is an orphan who has been living with his elderly aunt. However due to health issues his aunt has been moved to a nursing home and Darwin must go and live with his cousin, Luther Pinnelli, a professional football player. Darwins main focus is getting into a good private school so that he can get into a good medical school. His new friend Dr. Malverne could be helpful with that. As Darwin drives up to Luther's mansion, he feels like everything will work out. Unfortunately, that feeling is short-lived as he is promptly led to his room by Mrs. Thomas, the house manager. His room is an old utility room with only a mattress on the floor although there are several other rooms in the house that he could have. After several days Luther returns home and Darwin is informed that he will be attending public school and that although money has been left in trust for his support, he will not be given an allowance. Darwin must work for his room and board and spending money. Luther believes that this will "make Darwin a man." And thus Darwin's adventure begins as he witnesses the shady sides of the people who are entrusted with raising him.
The premise of the story it good, unfortunately the book did not deliver. I had a difficult time completing this book. I had no real connection to any of the characters except Darwin. We got little glimpses into the other characters lives, but not a complete picture. Various aspects of the characters lives would be mentioned, but they wouldn't be fleshed out. For example, why was Sweeney estranged from her father. Therefore I could not connect with the characters and did not care about their outcome. There was no sense of excitement about what would happen next.
There was a great deal of descriptive language used, but it felt more like the author was trying to fill a word count than to enhance the storyline. The story seemed to skip around quite a bit. The author would advance the story a few years without much indication which led to some confusion. Some of the storylines seemed unnecessary and incomplete. There was no closure.
I am aware that the author has won a few awards, but this book did not deliver on it's promise for me.
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Guardian of Deceit
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