Seasons is the first-person account of a chaotic year in the life of Danny O’Brien, a fictional marketing executive for a pharmaceutical company. Like the seasons of Earth, his life is full of highs and lows as he prepares to roll out a new drug while coping with the joys and pains of family and friendships.
Danny is an intelligent character whose good intentions sometimes conflict with his emotions, to the point that his wife and friends have to drag him back to a peaceful center. Unresolved differences with his father and distaste for two coworkers keep him off balance. It is therefore easy for the reader to identify with him. His marriage is solid, his kids are doing okay, and his soccer buddies, particularly Nigel Pilkington and Joe Casten, are supportive when ominous clouds form over his life.
Author Tim McGee is a fine narrator. His obvious grounding in the corporate world works to this novel’s advantage, although a conflict over marketing ethics was too complex for me to follow. His characters are interesting, and the dramatic course of his story is compelling. There is a strong spiritual element to the story that develops gracefully and movingly, thanks to Joe Casten’s role as raisonneur.
None of these qualities are strong enough to overcome the offensive language permeating this book. Had I known to expect this disappointment, I wouldn’t have purchased it. I hope that in future novels Tim McGee will exercise his talents to work around the ugly words that so many modern writers use as crutches. This book proves that he is capable of doing much better.
