Compass in the Blood

by William E. Coles Jr.

When the prison warden's wife, Katherine Soffel, helped her inmate lover and his brother escape from prison, they were killed and she was put in jail to live the rest of her life in humiliation, yet a century later, a young writer goes in search of Katherine's diary in the hopes of finding out the whole story in an attempt to clear her name.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

William E. Coles is the author of many books and articles on the teaching or writing and literature, and he has published three young adults novels. He teaches at the University of Pittsburgh.

Reviews

[Aidan Wrenn-Walz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compass in the Blood was a good novel. The beginning was slow, and for awhile it seemed as if the plot was going nowhere. Eventually, though, all of the climatical events hit at once. After that point, I kept coming back!

I thought the ending was unsatisfactory but otherwise this book was a good read. This book was in many ways a mystery and I enjoyed it.

[Inas G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, this book was not that bad actually. It's quite interesting and appropriate for a Sophomore.I think the Author did a decent job at grabbing the readers attention. If you're into crime, sort of mystery, you might like this. Although, If you're into action books, the ending might be a little disappointing.

[Raymond P · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel "The Compass in the Blood" by William E. Coles Jr. is about a college freshman, "Dee Armstrong," who is helping Harry Bromfield investigate the real-life scandal of Katherine Soffel, a warden's wife who apparently helped bad prisoners escape. Dee is trying to help Harry search for Katherine's lost diary, which will uncover many secrets, and she finds herself being manipulated in a conspiracy involving Katherine's successor.
The overall theme of this story seems to be around self-realization and sort of handling a double cross, especially since they go back into family history, and the fact that there are many points in the story of characters being betrayed. For example, when Dee finds out that Harry never cared about any of the stuff that they were trying to solve about the truth of Katherine Soffel, because his data sheets were wrong. ( around Chapter 17-ish, pages 214-220, can't recall the exact page).
The author uses different language techniques in this novel by using a sort of emotion-based writing. which is actually seen the most in chapter 18, after the previous chapter's events, but otherwise throughout the whole story, there is a good pattern of character development. When Dee has to deal with Harry's feelings about the situation.
I do think that the author does express some stuff in this novel, such as what we previously went over, loyalty and betrayal, and Facts vs. Fiction. I'm going to put the previous stuff into a little more context, like Harry was using Dee for personal gains. And this is widely shown towards the end of the book; it's just a big theme towards the end
My opinion of this novel is sort of middle-ground because it does get pretty boring/stale to read sometimes, not saying that it is badly written, it's just not my thing. I would highly recommend this book to people who are into a story that kinda just goes into different areas/topics, like one moment they're here, then one moment they're there. It is very fast-paced. The book is also in a more emotionally-based writing format, so I would highly recommend that to people who are into that kinda stuff.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost gave this two stars for the abysmal ending but couldn't commit. The book itself, as a work of fiction, is quite poor. The plot's predictable, the characters one-dimensional. I did find the information on the Soffel case interesting, however, and wish Cole has written a more conventional historical account of the Soffel case, perhaps with some new information/new treatments on what might have actually motivated Kate. In the end, the Cole had a disjointed mish-mash of history lesson and poorly written novel with a touch if heavy-handed literary analysis thrown in. My chief complaint, though, might be how Cole completely missed the boat with his female villain, treating her character with the same venom and misogyny as the press did to Kate Soffel. Bad job in moving depictions of women forward, Cole. Bad job. Would definitely read more about Kate Soffel's case tho!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely during the pre-widespread cell phone useage era.
i enjoyed the depth of research both the author and the characters engaged in. overall, the story was quaint, had a few unexplained moods or reactions of characters that served more as red herrings than assisted the plot, and could be for upper middle to lower high school range.
there is a Cougar in the story but she doesn't get to have too much direct cougar action with any of the male characters. nothing graphic, anyway.

[Deanna Mlynarczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start, but picks up quickly. Expected more twists in the plot, and was frustrated by the ending.