Maybe this is a shallow perspective, but I generally like to have a character to root for in novels. If it's not someone I like, at least make it someone who I can get behind. In Patrick Coleman's debut novel The Churchgoer, no character stepped up or stood out. They are all rather unlikeable, if not despicable. As a result, despite a decent, even endearing beginning, as the story progressed I became less and less interested in where it was all going.
Mark Haines had been a successful pastor, but alcoholism and a crisis of faith drove him away from the church and from his family. He's now deeply cynical and mostly aimless. He buys dinner for a young lady, with whom he has a weird mix of romantic and fatherly attraction. Later on, as he searches for her, he reenters his former world of evangelical church culture as well as his former drug and alcohol culture.
The Churchgoer is a mystery, a slice-of-life of Southern California, and a personal redemption story. It's not particularly enjoyable, and, as I said, the efforts at suspense are diminished by the unlikeable characters. I just didn't care about them or the story by the time I was done.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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