For all is Vanity: A dark psychological drama

by Robert Cowan

Jack Laurence is an ordinary man with a good job and a family he loves…Until he isn’t.
Left with only a diary to share his innermost thoughts, Jack gradually loses touch with a reality he feels has abandoned him. He surrenders to a new life of drink, drugs and murderous revenge with nihilistic humour, but he finds himself overwhelmed by his minds companions. These demons and guides fight for control, each with their own agenda, yet somehow linked to a mysterious young girl whose fate seems intertwined with Jack's own.
Switching between diary and novel, ‘For all is Vanity’ is a story of a man teetering on the edge of madness in his quest for new meaning.

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2016

About the author

I live in a small town in Scotland, with my wife Carol, Son Keith, daughter Fern and cat, Finn.
After years of making music and song writing I decided to try my hand and writing a novel. The success of my first, ‘The Search for Ethan’, led to ‘Daydreams and Devils, ‘For all is Vanity, ‘Firm, and ‘The Dirt and the Stars.

I saw a show on TV on the glory days of vinyl. In it there was a quote along the lines of "walking down the street with an album sleeve under your arm was a statement, it said everything about you." Taking that for a walk, here are my top ten "statements", starting with books.

Books
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson
Desolation angels - Jack Kerouac
Ask the Dust - John Fante
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Trainspotting - Irvin Welsh
Reqiem for a dream - Hubert Selby Jr
Glue - Irvine Welsh
Junky - William Burroughs
Factotum - Charles Bukowski

Albums
Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
Live 1969 Live - Velvet Underground
Berlin - Lou Reed
Revolver - The Beatles
London Calling - The Clash
Never Mind The Bollocks - The Sex Pistols
Sweetheart of the Rodeo - The Byrds
Quadrophenia - The Who
LA Woman - The Doors
Pet Sounds - The Beach boys

Films
The Searchers
The Godfather
Performance
Ghandi
Apocalypse Now
East of Eden
Pulp Fiction
Enter The Dragon
Withnail and I
Goodfellas

Reviews

[Ryan Bracha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Cowan's third novel, For All is Vanity, is a total shift in both style and substance from his debut novel The Search for Ethan that I enjoyed immensely, and it works a treat for him.

We begin the story through the audience that is Jack Laurence's diary. He shares his innermost thoughts with a playful humour which displays a heartfelt love for his wife and son, before tragedy strikes. From here on in he plummets from grace and into a grief-stricken circle of alcohol, drugs, violence and ultimately murder without any apparent glimmer of redemption.

I know from Robert Cowan's previous work that he writes with a dark humour that comes through the tragedy that he paints with his words and this is no different. The Jack character comes across as a dopey, loving husband and dad in his diary entries, and it endears you to him and his life, which only adds to the sickening effect of his rapid descent into madness and into some drink and drug fuelled bizarre mission of misplaced morality.

The introduction of the backstory about halfway through adds meat to the relentlessly harrowing bones of the tale, and brings it around to make sense of this tragically unfortunate antihero's plight.

I wanted to give five stars for this brave and imaginative piece of work, but I found as Jack became more and more screwed up that I was increasingly having to go back and check who was who and what was what, but this could indeed be my stupid fault and not that of who is an extremely talented and promising author. Four and a half sexy little stars it is. Well done, Mr Cowan.

[Darren Sant · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’re all living day-to-day, taking everything for granted. Then one day, usually on some dull Tuesday afternoon, comes the news that changes your hum drum life forever. It’s the diagnosis of cancer or the unexpected death of a relative, a sibling, a lover.
It’s walking along with a head full of the daily minutiae and suddenly you fall and it’s a broken ankle and weeks of struggle.

A series of terrible events changes Jack Laurence’s life forever and he must learn how to cope with them and find the light on the other side, but will he? He descends into the darkness of addiction, madness and hatred. Seeking revenge upon those that do wrong in the world.

Robert Cowan has excelled himself here. This book has a raw, visceral emotional brilliance that captivated me throughout. As expected with Robert’s sometimes playful style it’s not lacking humour but it’s as dark as a pint of Guinness. The story is told in two styles and that’s all I’m prepared to reveal here but this gives more power when things start to go wrong for Jack. Stunning, powerful, brilliant. Five blood drenched stars.

[Mark Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For All is Vanity by Robert Cowan - Review
With ‘For All is Vanity’, we see Robert Cowan maturing as a writer. With two solid novels under his belt, Cowan has chosen to remove himself from any potential comfort zone and to stretch his literary legs with gusto.

‘Vanity’ is by far Cowan’s most creative and experimental piece to date. A novel that makes you shift in unease at the main protagonist at points, but also feel the deepest sympathy for the mad bugger at others. Cowan has utilised a lovely narrative that switches between straight-up novel prose and some too-real diary entries.

Brave, compelling, skilful and a bold step in a new, more powerful direction, ‘Vanity’ reveals Cowan as a creative force to be reckoned with on the Indie scene and sets him apart from the formulaic breed of writers too often found there and in traditional publishing.

[Brendan Gisby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unless we are very, very lucky, all of us are bound to experience tragedy at least once during our lifetimes. A loved one falling seriously ill, the death of a partner, the loss of a child. But what if a person suffered all those tragedies in a short space of time? And what if the multiple tragedies were accompanied by a host of other catastrophes – severe depression, job loss, alcohol dependency? Well, as Shakespeare once put it, that way madness lies. Which is the premise of “For All is Vanity”. Jack Laurence’s descent into madness is rapid, unrelenting and complete. So complete, in fact, that this reader was left wondering whether the ending actually happened or was a product of Jack’s febrile, twisted mind. Now that is quite an accomplishment by the author, as is my admission that the book is not a comfortable read. Well done, Mr Cowan!

[Bill Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read and enjoyed two previous books by this talented author and this is a further excellent book. I loved the diary style of writing, which I found a very original way to tell the story of Jack and the disintegration of his life. What made the book so great was the way the author handled the transformation of an ordinary family man beset by bad luck and tragedy into a schizophrenic killer. I found his descent into madness perfectly believable and loved that there was then a glimmer of light for Jack in the shape of the girl upstairs. This dark, gritty story is very well written and I would not be surprised to soon see it on a bestsellers list. Strongly recommended!

[Shervin Jamali · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. What a gut wrenching tale, dark, violent, unique. Cowan's writing style is magnificent, his first act written in diary format that slowly transitions from a first person narrative to a third person one. I anticipated this to be off-putting, but in fact, it's seamless and simply works beautifully. This is not a story for the fainthearted; it will assault you and I mean that in a good way. The protagonist reminded me of Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver," and that is intended as the ultimate compliment for this great writer. Highly recommended, but fair warning: graphic violence and profanity abound.

[Phil Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

review to follow shortly

[A Oldham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book. Challenging, powerful and darkly entertaining.

[Paul Brazill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack is a nice, normal guy with a nice, normal family who records the events of his day to day life in a diary. Then tragedy strikes and Jack’s life spirals violently out of control.

Robert Cowan’s For All Is Vanity is a gem. Heartbreaking, funny and violent, For All Is Vanity is a gripping look at what happens when a good man who loses it all.

Highly recommended.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkly brilliant.

[JesRed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interested from the reviews on this author, intrigued really is more accurate. That intrigued turned quickly into a can't put down page turner of a descent from human to something so utterly far removed in ways you can't imagine. I ate this book alive! The writing itself is captivating, flows, the story is unnerving and believable. Don't pass this by. Summer read, loose yourself read, entertaining. Without spoiler, follow the descent alongside the dark captive, Robert Cowan brings you with!