McGowan's Return

The McGowan Series #3

by Rob Smith

McGowan's Return is a suspense novel which derives its energy from the convergence of three sets of characters and events. The pace of the story quickens when a Lakewood Detective realizes a connection between the murders of three women, a fact that had remained elusive because the killings were separated by years. The result, however, is always the same. In each case, a woman has been strangled, and left in Cleveland's Edgewater Park. Detective Darnell Wilson recognizes the pattern and poses the possibility that a single person may be responsible for all three murders. If he is right, a Lakewood resident will soon be found dead in the trunk of her car just inside the Cleveland city limits. His supervisor, Boyd Wakeman, believes that Wilson is correct, but the department's budget is to investigate crimes, not to anticipate them. At the same time, they cannot help but suspect that on September 10th the Cleveland police will be in position to catch a killer and solve some open cases. Of course, the cost of this solution is the death of another woman. Davis McGowan has come out of retirement to serve a downtown church. This temporary assignment means that he will be commuting from Huron, Ohio to Cleveland's Public Square. Little does he know that he will cross paths with a serial killer.

270 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 2011

About the author

Rob Smith lives and writes on Ohio's north coast. He enjoys sailing, and when not working on his novels, he is refurbishing an 1850’s house which was built by a ship’s carpenter turned lighthouse keeper. In addition to his prose, he is also known for his poetry. In 2006 he won the Robert Frost Poetry Award from the Frost Foundation in Lawrence, MA. He holds an undergraduate degree from Westminster College in Pennsylvania and master and doctoral degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary.

To learn more about the author, visit his website at: SmithWrite.net

Reviews

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book on several levels. The main characters are believable and the mystery angle held my interest. I also enjoyed the Ohio history regarding the Western Reserve and the settling of Ohio (as I am a Buckeye native). I can also relate to the name of the main character. My only drawback is that at the end, the set-up of the crime to be solved was not quite solved in a way that explained some of the earlier ideas regarding the crime that was being solved. I realize that sometimes crimes don't go according to a formula, but it seemed as if the reason it didn't go according to plan were never attempted to be explained.

[Lindsay Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book. The plot was good and tied in well at the end. However, there was an over-use of the exclamation point where there should not have been. It distracted me quite a bit, but I still enjoyed the story.

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were certain things I liked such as Mr. Burton Zacharias, former Merchant Marine aboard the Booker T. Washington, but once a Merchant Marine, always a Merchant Marine. A charming hero with an unquenchable spirit and a gift for being in the right place at the right time.
I wasn't really taken with the rest, found it boring to follow the main character, Davis McGowan, a senior pastor temporarily come out of retirement, through his days. I don't think I'd be interested in following my Rabbi through his days either. The book is mostly populated by senior citizens, a group I have somewhat unexpectedly (does one ever really expect to get old?) found myself a member of. So I found myself reluctantly interested in the pastor's relationship with his wife, what they talked about on their dates, how they felt about things. In many ways the book is really about Cleveland. I'm not familiar with the city and might have enjoyed the story more if I had been.

[Nancy Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third suspense-filled novel that stars Davis McGowan. Davis is coming out of retirement, if only briefly, to his original calling as a pastor; not only that, he is returning to his home town of Cleveland, Ohio, which is also the home of a serial killer. In this latest installment of the "McGowan Chronicles", Davis will cross paths with this man, who seems like the "boy next door". Smith's matter-of-fact descriptions of this man (and his actions) is what makes the novel so compelling, so creepy.

Although this is the third novel about McGowan, it is a stand-alone novel. The other two ("McGowan's Call" and "McGowan's Retreat") do not have to be read in the order they were written, but they do show the progression of McGowan's life. This book, as well as his other novels, is worth checking out. A must read by an independent press!

[Rob Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

McGowan's Return