The Actor

by Douglas Gardham

It is 1991 when Ethan Jones finally wins the role of his dreams in an upcoming, big screen movie. With the envelope holding the script clutched in his hand, he arrives at his California apartment where he can hardly wait to tell his live-in girlfriend the exciting news. But when he finds the door unexpectedly ajar, he has no idea that in just a few seconds, the life he has fought so hard to obtain will be shattered. Eight years earlier, Ethan is attending university in Ottawa, Canada. One evening after seriously contemplating suicide, he finds his way into a club where he meets Mila Monahan, a beautiful acting student who saves him from himself. After he watches Mila rehearse a university play, Ethan catches the acting bug and decides to pursue his own creative passions, causing a collision with his more secure ideals. But when Mila suddenly disappears, Ethan vows he will never stop chasing the dream she inspired in him believing in a world entirely different from the one he is living in.

The Actor is a gripping tale of rejection, hardship, tragedy, and overwhelming joy as one man embarks on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery learning to portray anything he can imagine.

Eight years earlier, Ethan is attending university in Ottawa, Canada. One evening after seriously contemplating suicide, he finds his way into a club where he meets Mila Monahan, a beautiful acting student who saves him from himself. After he watches Mila rehearse a university play, Ethan catches the acting bug and decides to pursue his own creative passions, causing a collision with his more secure ideals. But when Mila suddenly disappears, Ethan vows he will never stop chasing the dream she inspired in him believing in a world entirely different from the one he is living in.

The Actor is a gripping tale of rejection, hardship, tragedy, and overwhelming joy as one man embarks on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery learning to portray anything he can imagine.

Genres: Fiction

406 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2013

Reviews

[Charlie Elf · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book,The Actor by Douglas Gardham, because the story sounded interesting and it was put together by a Canadian. However, by the time I got a few pages in I was already questioning who would publish such a poorly written book. When I checked I discovered that this book was self-published, that a company pays Chapters to sell self-published books and even to promote them. This would not be a problem if the self-published book was even marginally well written but it was not.

This has to be one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. It is juvenile, predictable, the dialogue is terrible and childish, the characters superficial and unbelievable with no reasons for their actions or words, and the supposed transitions from chapter to chapter are choppy and stilted. And there were obvious mistakes and inconsistencies in locations and actions. There's a glaring lack of substance to the characters and the plot and it is just plain sloppy and lazy work. The only reason I forced myself to read this book to the end was so that I could give it a chance and to review it fairly.

I realize that there are, no doubt, some wonderful books out there waiting to be discovered by a willing publishing company. And I also realize that many of these books won't see the light of day because publishing companies have their own agendas. So it doesn't surprise me that self-publishing has become a business in itself and a lucrative one by the looks of it. The problem with this is that books like The Actor get published and sold when they shouldn't be and unsuspecting readers such as myself spend money on a terribly written book which could have been spent on good writing. And on a good writer.

I do not recommend this book at all and will definitely be more careful when I am looking for new reads at Chapters.

[Cynthia-nadirah Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased the Ebook version of "The Actor" and read it on my Samsung tablet in 3 days, beginning Saturday night and ending Monday night. It is totally mesmerizing in terms of the plot shifts between fantasy and reality. The writing is masterful and the author conveys many philosophical truths about what it takes to succeed in life through his intriguing character, Ethan Jones. I felt I had connected the dots - picked up on all the clues - and could predict the ending, which I wrote out. I was thrown for a loop and completely snagged! Gardham keeps the reader in suspense throughout the entire novel and guessing to the end. Even then, the plot twist is "Unbelievable." The novel kept reminding me of "Shutter Island." Ethan Jones' character so resembles that of Leonardo Di Caprio. This book is an exciting read as a suspense/psychological thriller but also as an insightful commentary on 'the Mind' and how it deals with trauma for its own survival. Two thumbs up to Mr. Douglas Gardham who is a master of the craft of storytelling and creative writing. I am totally inspired to pursue my own writng dreams!

[Mark Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

In review of the ‘The Actor’ by Mark Montgomery

Right from the opening prologue the action catches your attention and keeps you wanting more. With great descriptions and unexpected twists and turns, The Actor is very entertaining. The main character, Ethan, survives many near-death challenges and life-changing events to get to his dream of becoming a world famous actor. He had to sacrifice so many things to do it one might wonder whether it was worth it. This is a must read for anyone who has ever dreamed about making it big or going after any life-long goal. It is also refreshing to get a feel for the Canadian life where Ethan got his start.

Rating 5 stars.

[Kate Pino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met the author at a Barnes & Noble promoting his newer book, and talking with him is what really interested me in his writing. He had mentioned that there was a possible movie deal in store for this book, and I can definitely see this story on the big screen. In fact, I feel as though it would be better adapted that way.

I enjoyed the story, I'd mostly figured it out through little details sprinkled throughout the book and wasn't surprised by the ending, but the journey was still entertaining. I found that I wanted more of the little details throughout the book; whereas the beginning half had more clues and general oddities - without providing spoilers - I found that they became less and less as the main plot fleshed out.

Overall the book had me interested, it was a quick read, and I'll admit that the first few chapters were a bit tough to get through, but if you push through that you'll get a good story. For a first novel I think the concept was great, but the writing was a bit shaky. I expect good things to come from the author, so I'd stay tuned. I'll definitely pick up his more recent book.

[Nick Gaudet · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this book has a bit of history for me. I met the author at a local Chapters store, and he really sold me on his book. Douglas is a real sweetheart. Because there are a lot of good things about this novel, so let's dish those out first, shall we?

The world-building in this book is fantastic. It's criminal that he's not writing some epic fantasy series, because his way with words is outstanding. The imagery he cast in words were bright and vivid in my mind as I read them, and the set pieces felt as real as watching them on a screen.

There were a few characters in the book that I actually quite cared for. Christa, for one, was definitely fun to know through the novel. She sought a modelling career and had a genuinely good heart.

The plot is also extremely planned, that much I can say after finishing the book. He had everything planned out from the get go and executed on everything he wanted right from the start, regardless of the quality of the execution, which I will go into later.

Alright, even though that only seems like three points, those two are CRUCIAL to a good novel, and Douglas got those down very well, especially the first point. Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to get into the negatives. There's going to be some spoilers, so readers beware.


I really don't care for Ethan. Or, at least, I didn't until I finished the novel.
One thing I really hated throughout the entire book was that everything was about Ethan. When people talked to him, it was always about him. He almost always had everything from everyone, and everyone loved him (except for Christa's ex). He always told others that "he would make it to the movies" and that "they should remember him" like he's some kind of fucking messiah. I know people like Ethan, and I don't like people similar to Ethan. But a lot of that is excused once the ending is revealed. I'll get into that later.

The plot has some pacing issues, but not so much that I really want to delve into it. A lot of this book screams self-published, such as little mistakes, like a line that went something like: "You got fucking shot at?" he demanded. Like, I know what he was trying to say, but demanded definitely wasn't the right word. This really wasn't a big deal, but there were a lot of these small little mistakes that could've been prevented if this would've been revised maybe a few more times. I remember a section of the page at one point having different spacing between the lines than the rest of the entire book. Does it impede on my enjoyment of the book? Absolutely not, but they're just kinda dumb little mistakes.

Throughout the book, there are timelines revealed at each chapter. Either sometimes in the 80s as "Real time" or sometimes in the 90s, when Ethan goes to LA, as "Ethan's Timeline." I didn't know what to make of this, but the closer I got to the end the closer I got to figuring out the ending. Halfway through the book, I thought to myself: "Wow, that'd be so lame if this was just aaaalllll a dream."

AND. IT. WAS.

Sort of.

Turns out, Ethan going to LA and all his miseries and achievements were all figment of his diluted mind. Ethan was in a fucking mental ward this WHOLE time, following the death of his friend and lover Mila, the girl who made him pursue acting in the first place, killed by his friend Robbie who fabricated a note making Ethan think that she had run off. Why did he kill her? Because he loved Ethan and wanted his undying attention.

WHAT?

This made me so mad. But then again, it explained so much of the book. Why everything went right for Ethan. Why everyone loved him. Because all the characters in the book were actually employees and patients of the ward. So, in the end, this explains probably one of my biggest complaints with the book. But does it excuse it? Meh, maybe.
I'm sure reading through this book again, I would probably find even more clues than I can remember foreshadowing the big twist at the end. But do I want to reread this book? No, not really, because Ethan's character really irked me off. But then again, it would be fascinating to see all the events play out because they had all been strung out so perfectly by the author that in the end, I can't be mad at the ending at all. It's genius, but I'm still not totally happy with it.


All in all and despite all that I said, I would recommend this book. Reading this supports a genuinely awesome guy and indie authors alike, and it was very entertaining at times. The story definitely had me hooked, and I'm really interested in picking up the "second" book, since the author told me that although it's a standalone, it's linked to The Author. So, my rating for this is really hard to call. At times it's a 2. At times it's a 4. Hell, I even thought it deserved to be a 5 at some points. So I'm giving it a 3. Ask me again tomorrow and I might change it, who knows.


Wait, before I go (and spoilers), can I just address the fact that Ethan did PORN and had literally no backfire because of it? There were multiple chapters and a whole set of characters introduced to build up this conflict in Ethan's head as to whether or not he should star in porn to pay the bills. He then did, and NOTHING came out of it. What the fuck. It was literally only mentioned once or twice after he filmed it, and it was literally just that. A mention. His agent told him that the people at Columbia wanted all his works rereleased and he casually mentions that he was in porn and that he doesn't want that to surface. His agent assures him that it will, but "bad publicity beats no publicity". So why even include that whole scene? Him being in porn doesn't even build his character because it almost seems like he just forgets about it. He feels bad about it the first day, but it doesn't affect his relationship with Christa in any way or even just his own head. He feels bad after a day and then kinda just forgets about it.

Alright. I'm going to stop before my rating changes again.

Buy The Actor.

[Sheri McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked on the Ethan character. As his story progressed, I kept wondering who had been responsible for the murders. Of course, I was blown away by the ending. It was definitely unexpected. Well done!

[Dave Sandiford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I once read that all novels are about geography. Gardham’s main character is on a bender of melting mind maps.
Hard to put this one down. Well crafted Doug.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Douglas Gardham at the Brampton chapters and he successfully intrigued me enough to want to read his book. But.... I didn't want to buy it without being sure so I requested that the library buy it so I could read it. And that worked out great! Now others can read it and enjoy it too! I thought it was an interesting read. Mr. Gardham said that someone had bought or was buying the movie rights and I agree this would make a good movie. I'm always on the hunt for a good "mystery" or "suspense" book that's not overly violent and about serial killers and I think this one fit the bill for me :) (Although there is some violence).
Well done on your first publication Mr. Gardham! Let me know if you read this and if you remember me from chapters - lol - Brampton library patrons thank you ;)y

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved and hated this book at the same time. The plot is always moving along and the writing, for the most part was really good. I couldn't put it down. Although it was predictable, it wasn't at the same time. There were some parts that were frustratingly large holes in the story line, and although it all comes together, I had a sour taste already. The book makes about as much sense as my review.
I will not read more from this author.

[Lindsay Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Douglas did a great job creating characters with strong personalities blended with mystery and intrigue. Just when you think you’ve figured out the plot new elements are unveiled. This book also quietly guides readers towards self-reflection, to think about their own passions and pursuing what is truly self-fulfilling. Definitely an enjoyable read.

[Jaroslaw Czerwice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Actor is a great book. I have read it with pleasure, it is written with great detail. The story build up is great (I like the time jumps) and although halfway through the book one starts thinking to get a feeling of who the suspect is, the novel takes a twist and the outcome is a complete surprise.
I am looking forward to the new novel Doug is working on.

[Sheila Horne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I quickly browsed through about two hundred pages and sometimes found the timelines confusing, I enjoyed reading The Actor. Everytime I thought I knew where the story was going, Douglas Gardham threw in another twist. I loved the ending. Usually by the time I get to the middle of a book I know how it's going to end. Not this time. A wonderful surprise.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a former colleague, I was very eager to read this. The story had many twists and turns that kept me guessing at first, eventually I was able to guess what the ending would hold. Overall, a great first novel!

[Betty-anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading an article in the Globe and Mail about this author I just had to meet him and I a so glad I did. Buying his book and reading it was also a good thing to do as it kept me captivated and fascinated throughout. Always nice to find a book you can't wait to devour at night!

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

One man's journey of self discovery in an uncertain world. A thrilling plot twist concludes the tale.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and interesting storyline !

[Scott Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

One has to go into this knowing that it is a self-published title by a first time novelist. Parts of it lack clarity and the whole thing could have been tightened but it's very readable.

I'm curious as to why it is set in the 80s/90s. I don't believe anything in the plot requires that timeframe. It could just be for atmosphere. We do spend a lot of time with characters on phones and listening to answering machines. We also get a lot of descriptions of horrible fashions.