The Rise and Fall of Eric Hamilton

Jeremy M. Gates
iUniverse (2007)
ISBN 9780595449460
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (1/08)


“The Rise and Fall of Eric Hamilton” is a fictional memoir of Eric Hamilton, award-winning architect. It is an amazing story of the courage and the cost of fulfilling a dream.  Jeremy M. Gates has chosen a unique approach to tell Eric’s story.  He uses first person narrative, blending the dialog of an interview with a journalist within the dialog which relates the story itself.
 
Eric Hamilton has agreed to do an interview with a young reporter, Christen Larson, of the Architectural Insider. Eric has a public persona with a reputation for being stubborn, inflexible, unyielding, and excessive in his demands on employees, and contractors.  It is Hamilton’s plan to use this interview to explain to the architectural community the background behind his passion, success and what a man with by a dream can achieve.  
 
Gates has created memorable characters and a moving story that incorporates romance, the challenge of following one’s passion to attain personal achievement goals, and background information in the importance of the architect in the construction industry. Jeremy also demonstrates an amazing insight into the cost and heartache a man driven by passion can experience in his personal relationships with family and friends.
 
Jeremy’s writing stirred strong emotions in me, as I empathized with Eric. I felt the unjustness of strong parental influence, with its stifling effect on Eric and his dream of becoming an architect. I resented the constant peer pressure of well-meaning friends. I felt anger at the abuse of Eric’s employer, John Prescott. And I felt disappointment as I watched Eric grasp at fame, the exhilaration of receiving awards, and success in business, at a tremendous cost in the heartache that followed. At times I was so engrossed in the story I forgot I was reading fiction as Eric revealed his personal integrity and genuine compassion.

The dramatic, climatic culmination of Eric’s story was filled with pathos, concern and surprises. The finale of the book is a tribute to following dreams--hard work, achievement, innovation, and teamwork, and is a model of accomplished journalism as a result of Christen’s remarkable interview with Eric Hamilton. 
 
Jeremy M. Gates is a gifted author with a strong story and an important message in “The Rise and Fall of Eric Hamilton.”  

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