McDowell by William H. Coles

Dr. Hiram McDowell is irascible, he’s arrogant, and he’s tough to love, except as a character, in William H. Coles’ riveting character portrait, McDowell.

A quintessential character who you love to hate, McDowell is indifferent to his wife (his third), his children, and his neighbors. He’s earned his pride as head of surgery in Denver, leading a foundation for the underprivileged in Nepal, and becoming a nominee for the U.S. President’s cabinet. However, with an almost superheroic degree of self-absorption, the novel challenges the reader to stick with a character who has so little to offer as a person.

It is a testament to Coles’ skill as a writer that McDowell is such a compelling character. Even in McDowell’s extraordinary self-regard, there is subtlety to his characterization, which plays out wonderfully in the second half of the book. A character like this can only end up in redemption or downfall, and here Coles give him both. After losing all of his money, McDowell then must reevaluate his life and what really matters.

Due to circumstances that pull this character portrait into the realm of thriller, McDowell must go on the run too, and he finds himself opening up to people in his new life on the road. Importantly, Coles handles this transformation without sentimentality, and without the fairytale quality of Scrooge seeing the light. Both halves of the novel are handled with deftness and subtlety.

By the end of McDowell, you’re actively rooting for a character you were actively rooting against, showcasing Coles’ talent for creating believable and wholly engrossing characters.