Review by Bhaskins -- Guardian of Deceit

[Bhaskins]

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

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Guardian of Deceit by William H. Coles is a book that centers around Darwin, a kid who lost his parents and has been sent to live with his famous football playing cousin. Darwin moves into the mansion of Luther and is immediately unsure of how he is going to meet his goal of becoming a doctor. He begs to be placed in a private school, but Luther doesn’t want to pay for it. Darwin becomes friends with Luthor’s girlfriend, Sweeney and they share many sweet moments. Through his time living with his cousin and beyond he befriends some of the staff at the mansion and he learns many valuable skills that he can apply to make extra cash. He also discovers that sometimes people who are famous and appear to have their lives together often don’t. There is everything from romance to gambling and murder in this book and it has a little of something for everyone.

What I liked most is the development of the characters. We follow Darwin from high school through college and into his adult life. It’s nice to get a sense of the span of how things worked out for this big chunk of time. We saw Darwin struggle with high school, love interests, medical school, and managing life and his own happiness. He becomes close with the staff at his cousin’s house and it helps him develop a sense of what is most important in life. We find at the end that it’s not too late to start over and really go after the things that are most important in life. One of those things for Darwin was finding happiness and not settling for what makes the most sense.

What I disliked most was the ending. While the book went into a nice part of Darwin’s life and experiences, it felt like the end was very abrupt and it didn’t make sense. There were storylines that were not wrapped up in a way that makes me think that possibly the author is going to come out with another book, although nothing was indicating there was going to be more. There were also several errors that detract from the readability of the book. Each chapter heading was mislabeled with extra numbers and would read 1 CHAPTER 2 2 for Chapter 2. Often the title of the book or the author's name would be in mid-sentence as well.

This book is good for anyone who wants an easy to follow quick read. There are a few instances of sexual activity, domestic violence, and murder. This book wouldn't be good for anyone who doesn’t tolerate violence. While not overly graphic, it could be a hard read.

I give Guardian of Deceit 2 out of 4 stars. This book has the potential to be good. It could use another round of editing and I really think there should have been more of an ending. It didn’t feel like it was settled and that major themes in the book were not tied together. Overall it’s a quick and enjoyable read.

******
Guardian of Deceit
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords

[Samuel Windybank]

Thanks for reviewing this book. It sounds like it has a lot of redeeming features, but like you say another round of edits wouldn’t go amiss.

[azidy]

It's a shame the book wasn't professionally edited and that the mistakes interfered with the flow. The main character and some of the topics seem relatable, but I would probably avoid it at this state. Hopefully, the mistakes get corrected. Your review was very honest and I enjoyed reading it!

[Sou Hi]

Thanks for your review. What a pity this doesn't turn out to be a nice book, despite the interesting topic it explores.