Reviewed by Dan

TITLE:    Purpose

AUTHOR:     Andrew Q. Gordon

PUBLISHER:  DSP Publications

LENGTH:     245 Pages

BLURB:

Forty years ago the Spirit of Vengeance—a Purpose—took William Morgan as its host, demanding he avenge the innocent by killing the guilty. Since then Will has retreated behind Gar, a façade he uses to avoid dealing with what he’s become. Cold, impassive, and devoid of emotion, Gar goes about his life alone—until his tidy, orderly world is upended when he meets Ryan, a broken young man cast out by his family. Spurred to action for reasons he can’t understand, Gar saves Ryan from death and finds himself confronted by his humanity.

Spending time with Ryan helps Will claw out from under Gar’s shadow. He recognizes Ryan is the key to his reclaiming his humanity and facing his past. As Will struggles to control the Purpose, Ryan challenges him to rethink everything he knew about himself and the spirit that possesses him. In the process, he pushes Will to do something he hasn’t done in decades: care.

REVIEW:

I’m going to start by saying this book is one of the more creative ones I’ve read in quite some time. I really enjoyed the world building that Mr. Gordon did, and the characters were very believable. One is left wishing that the Spirit of Vengeance really did exist, particularly in our ever increasingly violent world.

Back in the 1970’s William Morgan III was a pre-law student in Pennsylvania. He had met the man of his dreams, David, and everything was going great. Then Will was “invaded” by some sort of Spirit which forces him to seek vengeance for innocents who are murdered.   Shortly thereafter, David was killed for pocket change and the groceries in his hand while on his way home.   In his grief, Will gave in to the spirit and began to do its bidding.  Over time, he even began to call himself Gar, partially in response to the centuries of memories he has gained from the people who “hosted” the being before him and partially at the horror of what he is doing.  He pretty much forgot he was ever the nice guy named Will. He closed himself off to the world, becoming a cold blooded killing machine. But all that is about to change. On a train he sees a young man, wallowing in misery and sadness. The young man has been cast out by his family for being gay. Not Gar’s problem. But why do his eyes remind Gar so much of David’s?

Will Ryan save Will?  Can Gar take a back burner?  And why does Ryan seem so different from all the other humans around Gar/Will?

This book kept me flipping pages right up to the end. I highly recommend you give it a try if you’re looking for something that is very different from the pack.  I’m not sure there is a sequel coming, but there could very easily be. The end isn’t a cliff hanger, but it does leave it open to further adventures.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

DSP Publications

Amazon