Wielding a Writer's Quill against Tyranny

The idea that the pen is mightier than the sword has always been compelling. But heroic popular portrayals of those who would wield their writing tools as weapons can sometimes be as one-dimensional as any other form of hero-worship. However, Paul M.M. Cooper's impressive debut novel, River of Ink, offers a subtler and more complex portrait of a literary warrior, a man beset by doubts, cowardice and dubious motives, even as he forges ahead with a dangerous writing projects.