Two parallel narratives don't come together until the very end, but both follow interesting characters facing the biggest challenges of their lives. Ethan is a financial whiz kid on Wall Street who has no qualms about the computer code he wrote that allows his employer to pile up more and more money at the expense of the less fortunate, until he loses his job and his girl and becomes one of the less fortunate himself. Across the country in Nevada, Jessica is a military drone pilot who takes the fall for a commanding officer's mistake. Being forcibly separated from the service she loves sends her into her own emotional tailspin.

What the two have in a common, besides the somewhat contrived aspect revealed toward the end of the book, is that both gave their all to an entity that did not appreciate or nurture their humanity, and each has to find their own way back to being at peace with themselves. ( )

This book is a very well written character study. Oftentimes there are books that you know the author has simply written to fulfill a certain page limit- seems like 300 pages is the magic number. Usually I finish those books and think "well that last 50 or 60 pages were useless". And West is West is just the opposite of that scenario - I would have been happy to have continued reading another 100 pages of this book. I think the added length would have aided the plot which gets lost a bit in the excellent character development. However, the look at both big banking and military drone activity was well done- I just would have liked a bit more. Very good book- would recommend. ( )

And West is West is an interesting, serious, well-written, thought-provoking novel. 2 main characters facing separate troubling situations in their lives are followed in their respective searches for meaning and redemption.

Jessica, the more sympathetic character of the 2, was a 'drone pilot' who was involved in a strike that didn't turn out perfectly, ends up getting separated from the service, and walks out of a medical facility where she's being evaluated to lose herself and the rest of the world. Ethan is a financial 'quant' whiz who loses his job due to what he thinks was sabotage by his boss, at the same time his complicated romantic life becomes much sadder and more complicated.

Although it sometimes feels like you're reading 2 individual novels, intertwined, the characters do intersect (you get some hints along the way). I thought the writing was excellent, the stories were well crafted, the characters were developed nicely (although 2/3 of them I didn't really care for....), the dialogue was fine and the conclusion was satisfactory.

All told, it's a fine novel about how people respond to big changes in their lives. Nicely done, not upbeat by any means but definitely worthwhile reading. ( )