Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite

The Spirit of Want is a work of literary dramatic fiction penned by author William H. Coles. This sweeping work of life, love, passion, money, deceit, and romance focuses primarily on the life of Lucy MacMeil, a defense lawyer who seems at first to have it all. When she marries surgeon Luke Osborne, the busy couple have a daughter and begin their life together, but Lucy’s head is turned by a charismatic evangelist whom she is defending on abuse charges. Lucy abandons her whole life just to be with the Reverend, and it’s then that secrets and truths unravel her new passionate fantasy life.

Want is a great theme for fiction, and this work achieves a realistic sense of what untamed want and greed can do when a person is always looking for the grass to be greener on the other side. The prose is superbly crafted to construct the atmosphere of the different people Lucy encounters in her life, and the narration gives little away about the truth of each one until it’s too late. This makes for a compelling page-turner that has you physically reacting to the decisions made, and though you may not like Lucy as a central figure, she is certainly realistically formed and leaping off the page. Author William H. Coles has crafted an intelligent read on many levels that has a lot to say about human nature, the power of money, forgiveness and family ties, making The Spirit of Want an all-round enjoyable dramatic novel. 5/5 Stars