Reviews
Original & Unsettling
​
​
​
- Amazon review for The Tunisian Combination
A powerful & shocking reflection on how to live today
​
Sometimes crude, sometimes shocking, this story seems to ask important questions in a novel way: how do we find meaning in a world of limitless abundance. While the settings are lavish and as exotic, the core thesis applies universally in a world of social media and 1-day delivery. Throughout my read, I found myself reflecting, “How am I avoiding the petty schemes of the protagonist” which I took to be metaphors for the many ways we people, not struggling for survival, distract ourselves as a coping mechanism.
This author is truly insightful and I hope he writes again.
​
​
- Amazon review for The Tunisian Combination
Great start - looking to see how it develops
I enjoyed McGowan's debut. I think there is a lot more to come from this writer. Having personally spent some time in the Middle East expat community, McGowan captures the listlessness and fundamental boredom experienced by many of the white collar community working in the region, and the desire for real, not artificial adventure, which in this case inspires our characters to formulate an amateurish get-rich-quick scheme.
Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong with the plot, but as the learned Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke once said: "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy." Such is the case with our group of misfits from Dubai. McGowan then splits the group and we're left following the principal character's escape attempts. We're left in the middle of a hostile desert, I'd love to know what happens next.
​
​
- Amazon review for The Tunisian Combination
Rare gem of a business novel, thriller, and satire
​
Really enjoyed this. GM is a gifted writer and the story is both entertaining and in its own way, topical : the dark side of capitalism in Africa and the amorality of it all. Despite the preposterous subject matter and comic exaggerations, the novel feels oddly "realistic" -- the author must have first-hand knowledge of doing business in these regions. Highly recommended.
​
-- Amazon review for The Tale of Ashton Billings - Jung Kim