Review: A Pleasant Surprise
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2014
Fair disclosure:  based on my other reviews at Amazon, I was asked by the author to review this book.My reading proved to be a pleasant surprise.  My 4-star rating is because the story is of a somewhat awkward length.  At 128 pages, it's long to be a novella and short to be a novel.  The plot also leaves loose ends to be resolved in further installments.  But even with these shortcomings, the narrative is strong and the characters for the most part well developed.  An internal detail which nibbled at my thoughts was an unexplained mine explosion in an era where explosives hadn't yet been invented.  Other than that, I was engaged by the narrative and the ambivalence and youth of the central character.  I think James Gawley has some potential as a novelist, and I'll look into his other work on Amazon.