D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Mature teen to new adult fiction readers will find in The Guardian of Deceit a compelling story exploring seventeen-year-old Darwin’s journey as he leaves his dying aunt and guardian to go live with an unknown cousin; a new custodian who is both rich and a famous sports figure. Luther harbors some serious personality defects, however, which make him anything but the perfect guardian, and through Darwin solidifies his desire to become a doctor and pursues his dream, Luther seems determined to thwart this goal.

As obstacles mount – not the least of which are involvements in drugs, money, and lures to a lifestyle that seem to counteract any dreams for something bigger – Darwin finds himself in a downward spiral where his dream seems ever more elusive.

From Sweeney Pale’s relationship to Luther and Darwin and the messy circumstances which arise from attraction to the choices and conflicts faced by young adults on the cusp of adulthood with the possibilities and pitfalls starkly laid out before them in a maze of challenging uncertainties, The Guardian of Deceit weaves a story that is complicated at times by characters who not only come and go from Darwin’s world, but who bring with them their own challenges and angst. Readers looking for simpler, more linear productions may feel confused or challenged by the wealth of characters and directions proffered by a mercurial story line, but the result is actually more reflective of the vast changes young adulthood often introduces to those in this age group.

In true form for those on the cusp of adulthood, Darwin makes both good and bad decisions for some of the right and wrong reasons, and readers are swept into a whirlwind of circumstances often out of his control.

New adult and mature young adult readers will find The Guardian of Deceit an involving story of sex, family interactions, social circumstances, and personal ambition that follows a young man’s evolution as he conversely rockets towards success and encounters many failures and conundrums along the way.