Book Reviews

Going to Nineveh by Trevor McCall

This review is also in Goodreads and Amazon's sites.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3585794427?book_show_action=false&from_rev...
This is an E-book for Kindle and Amazon didn't accept it into the PR of WdC.

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I like what flows from this author's pen. Not every writer would dare to delve into the dark corners of human psyche, especially that of women and in our "me-too" times. The story stages a repeated karma between fathers and sons with the women in their lives playing the roles of cruel punishers. Yet, the fathers, first Jonah's father then Jonah himself as a father to Micah, take it on the chin from their wayward, not-quite-there wives. Their reasoning and the theme of the book have to do with love, mainly the "love endures" clause.

Aside from the hardship of love, secondary themes surface such as racial injustice and the suffering of the offspring in dysfunctional families.

The main character Jonah is the suffering teen stuck between the two parents, whose father can qualify for sainthood. Then, in his adult years Jonah becomes a replica of his father but his story ends in a saner way. Saying more on the ending would spoil the story. I liked how the author used the back and forth method of presenting Jonah's story with switching between the teen Jonah and the adult one. Also, the trip Jonah and his son took, and letting Micah read Jonah's journal became the unifying element for the story. Teen Jonah's relationship with the other three teens was believable and entertaining. For me, adult Jonah was more astute than her father. As they say, Live and Learn.

Why these fathers chose those women as mothers for their children was the unexplained psychological puzzle for me. While reading the story, I sort of wished the author should address that area, too. For example, why was Jonah's father taking all that from Jonah's mother? Did it have anything to do with his own childhood or maybe his self-flagellation for something or other that he thought he was guilty of?

The scenes were nicely organized and scripted, and the story was gripping, however being weighty, and I really liked the writing and the daring of this author with his subject matter.