Review by Belinda93 -- McDowell by William H. Coles

[Belinda93]

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

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3 out of 4 stars

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In 1981, Hiram McDowell took his friend's oxygen supply and left him behind at the Himalayas in Nepal, to die.
In 2010, Sophie McDowell rescued a young woman who was being physically assaulted by a man in the streets of Chicago.


Hiram is the story of an ambitious and successful surgeon, President of the International College of Surgeons, President of the board of Mercy Foundation in Nepal and new Secretary of Health and Human Services. With an interest at reaching the summit of everything, Hiram spends more time building a successful business career, than he has does at building lasting relationships with his family, friends or colleagues. In the first five chapters of the novel, we get a picture of how he treats his wife, step children,colleagues and mistresses. He is ambitious, cold, calculated and selfish.
In the novel, we are also presented with Sophie McDowell. Although the novel, centers on Hiram's life, we see a lot of Sophie's life too, placed side by side in comparison with her father's life. She is kind, selfless, supportive, loves deeply and is generous. The writer used Sophie's character to distinguish between good behavior and morally, socially unacceptable ones.


The novel highlights important societal questions on issues such as euthanasia, the meaning of life, and the search for truth. One of the things that I like about this book, is that the author didn't just kill off characters, especially the major character, but made room for redemption. The themes of love, life, repentance, sacrifice and ambition are well portrayed.


The novel is interesting, with well written plots. The characters all connect to each other.
There are no spelling errors in the book. However, in some parts of the book, the tenses were mixed up, from the use of past tenses to the use of third person singular present tense. I feel it was not done intentionally, so I would recommend that the book be carefully read and edited again.


Although I enjoyed reading this novel, I rate it 3 out of 4 stars because I want it to be read and edited again. The novel portrays a well written fall from grace story, that is accompanied by repentance and finding of oneself. I recommend McDowell to anyone who enjoys books on morals.

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McDowell
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