I must say I was intrigued by this book. The story is about a teenager named Darwin who comes to live under his celebrity Cousin's (Luther) guardianship. There are plenty of characters in the book and each character exhibits a different kind of characterization.

Darwin is way too matured for his age and finds his own way to make money when he is denied access to his trust fund. He sticks to his goal of becoming a doctor and works for it. He is smart and makes the best use of the resources that are available to him. Though his heart breaks twice, he finally finds his true love in Dominique.

Luther, on the other hand, is a gambler, abuser, drug addict, and a lot more. He fails to appreciate Sweeney’s love for him. The affair with Betsy though temporary doesn’t end well due to various reasons. He has wonderful people around him like Laszlo, Darwin, Eugene, Mrs. Thomas who take good care of him. He gets accused of drug use and murder, but finally finds his way back to his passion, which is football.

The Malverne family supports Darwin from the beginning. Dr. Malverne takes Darwin under his wing and mentors him. Helen and Coral, though sisters, have complete different mentalities. They always have a hard time finding their true love. Helen fails in many ways but finally settles in with her daughter Elizabeth which is not too bad for her.

The story is engaging but I felt there were too many bits and pieces which lacked connection. The story of Sweeney is left out. The mystery of Betsy’s murder, too, felt out of place to me. I felt that the author tried to cover too many things and could not justify them properly until the end. The characters that felt close to my heart were Darwin, Mrs. Thomas, Laszlo, and Granny. The story made me believe in second chances and working hard for new beginnings.

The author has a hold on the reader with the sudden turn of the events but they rather seemed irrelevant to me. I stayed connected to this book through Darwin and only Darwin. Most of the other characters appeared pointless to me. All in all, this book is a good read. I enjoyed reading it. I look forward to reading more of William H. Coles’ books.

You may read my other reviews at www.theclippednightingale.com ( )