When We Were Married - Volume 1 The Long Fall

The characters are riveting. The story moves at a great pace. The descriptions are vivid what more can you ask For? It's a great book.

I read this book continuously over a couple of days, staying up late to finish it, and found it a compelling book. The main characters are complex people and like any good narrative story how you view the characters changes. Unlike many such tales of a couple splitting apart, the author goes into enough depth that you actually start understanding the human feelings at the center of this, this is not the evil spouse leaves the good spouse, the good spouse is devastated then gets their life back together, it is a lot more complex then that, there are nuances, wheels within wheels, that keep you guessing and at least in my case made my change my opinions about the people. I think maybe because I have been married for 23 years and have had my ups and downs and elements of the story remind me of my own life, in many ways it haunted me, made me think about my own feelings and emotions and as a result dug me in deeper. Some might find the characters a bit larger then life and maybe some of the background drama could be too much for one person, but keep in mind this is basically a variation on the adult romance novel genre and they always have larger then life characters and situations. On the other hand, the situations themselves are believable enough that if maybe on the other side of common situations, they make for one heck of a read. The surrounding characters are interesting, too, and like the main character, there are tons of gray in them, while many of them are decent people, they all have very human traits and frailty, and there is also the element that in the interests of doing the right thing people forget about the harm doing so can cause others or that when faced with difficult choices, sometimes the right choice isn't necessarily the purest one. The only hard part is after finishing this book if your experience is the same as mine, you want to be able to race ahead and find out what happens to the characters but of course this is a work in progress, we have 3 more books to get through before we know what happens. Mr. Steele's writing is excellent, it isn't overly wordy and the dialog is both jarring at times and realistic, the anger and love and confusion expressed in the words paints a vivid picture of people in turmoil.Defining this book simply based on its category would be like defining a Raymond Chandler story as just another mystery and dismissing it as such without reading it would be a major mistake.

A gripping tale of high energy inter-personal relations

I have read Mr. Steele's first book in his series, and eagerly await reading the balance. There is a rich texture to his work, and he fills characters out with descriptions that seem to put them exactly in the situations he intends them to be. There is a complexity to his story telling, yet the characters are simple people with everyday, simple needs and aspirations. Their stories are akin to those we see every day, and are very much like people we know. Unfaithful spouses, neglect in marriage, mid-life crisis, rebellious children, not to mention the topics that are in the major reviews. I found the interpersonal dynamics much more compelling than the work environment of William Maitland, protagonist of Mr. Steele's work. It is a "can't put down" piece, and one finds oneself hurrying to finish a page to turn to the next, yet savoring each new and different dynamic to its end. As an avid reader, I have found Mr. Steele to be quite accomplished (I believe this to be his first work, but might be mistaken) and well worthy of both time and money. Just FYI, I read Stuart Woods, Lee Child, Kellerman, the Alex Cross series, John Sanford, and many others of that genre. I think Mr. Steele is on his way to fitting nicely into that circle. As stated, I do look forward to the series of his "When We Were Married" books. WR

If you have a mac or an IPad, don't waste your money. While the story is grand (I read it elsewhere), the implementation is horrible. On both systems, when the text is two columns, they sometimes overlap making it impossible to read. When reading it in landscape mode (the only that looks like a piece of paper), the right margin sometimes disappears and you lose words/letters. In both implementation, the table of contents is limited to chapter one, page one. All in all, a horrible implementation. DD

I've read this story and it's one of the most compelling tales I have read in recent times. It's quite the adult tale and, as such, always aproaches any situation acordingly. The writing style is superb, and all the plot twists populating the pages will keep you reading until you complete the last page. Characters very well portrayed and a plot that interested me from begining to end. I highly recommend this book. You won't regret it.

W.W.W.M. is a GREAT read! Story line is very real & true to life. Suspense, murder, love, sex, violence, romance, and a GREAT STORY. It has dark places and high places and in between places and runs you thru all kinds of emotions. Super well written. Simply could not stop reading it once I got started. michael77080

I have read some of this author's earlier work and it is almost always exceptional. There is a high degree of appropriate emotion in all of Daniel's work, together with a solid story line and a sizzling sense of expectation - you don't know what's going to happen next but you really DO want to know. He grips your emotions tighter than a violins E-string and you can't wait to turn the page, yet there is a depth to the characters he creates which puts you in the room watching events unfold. All in all Mr. Steele is a rare find. N

Love the book! Can't wait when volume 3 will be available. 5 stars.

Excellent story line, plot and character development. Ive read this 4x now and each time I dont want to stop till its done. I cant wait for volume 3 and 4.

**Warning this review uses language that some might find inappropriate, but I wish to give an indication of that used in the book.** I'm conflicted about how to rate this book, because there are some aspects of it that I really like. Steele is obviously a talented writer and shows a broad and varied knowledge that makes for an interesting assortment of characters. However, there are also some aspects of if that practically curled my toes and they aren't briefly explained. I think this book comes across as very male. There isn't anything wrong with that. The author, primary protagonist and narrator are male so it shouldn't be at all surprising that, despite being a romance of sorts, it is also very macho. But as a female reader there were times I felt alienated by the writing. For example, almost every description of a woman starts with a description of her tits, twitching ass, and whether or not she was pretty and/or fuckable. I'm left wondering if this isn't one of those differences between men and women situations. While I read these descriptions as fairly objectifying, I accept the possibility that a man might simply see them as descriptions of beautiful women. While there aren't very many actual sex scenes, at times W.W.W.M. reads like Ron Jeremy's script closet. Seriously, every cliche male sexual fantasy I could think of find its way into these pages in some way. There's the big breasted nympho blond who can't get enough, cruise ship director, the barely (or not quite) legal girl crawling into your bed, the stepdaughter, older woman, younger woman, woman in uniform, boss' mistress, office subordinate, friend's wife, girlfriend's slutty best friend (or at least friend), divorcee, rapes, gang bangs, orgies, and more women begging to be taken in every conceivable way with no expected emotional return than I could count. The sex scenes themselves are crude. No one in this novel makes love, or even just has sex. Everyone fucks porno style. It's coarse even when the characters are meant to be bonding on a deep emotional level. But like I said, while people talk about sex constantly there isn't that much of it, so I was able to take 400 or so pages before even my rather mild inner feminist started to take umbrage. Up to this point I would have given the book an easy 4 stars, but the book is so long and I was eventually worn down. Despite all of this the book isn't really about sex. It plays a large part in causing the turmoil that sets the scene in motion though and does have a legitimate place in the novel. What I really did like about W.W.W.M. was the depiction of Bill as a good man who strives to do the right thing. He really breaks the mold of the powerful alpha male. He starts the book as a short, fat, balding middle aged man. He is king in his working life and when the day is done he truly enjoys going home to his wife and children. There are none of the common inferences that such dedication is a chore and given the chance he would gladly ease out from under the burden of fidelity. I liked this about him. I also enjoyed the message that there is always a price for doing the right thing. This is something that get forgotten and if you forget that there is a price for something you also forget to appreciate the person who paid it. I think When We Were Married is a worthy read. It's written for adults and I think Men will probably enjoy it more than women. But there is a good story here and isn't that what really matters?

A well written and enjoyable read as any novel written by novelist's such as James Patterson, Tom Clancy, Dean R. Koontz, and Clive Cussler. I look forward to parts 3 and 4.

Mr. Steele's writing is excellent this book is like a movie. I so love the characters there so real I read part 1 4 times on my iPhone I love part 1 as much as part 2 :) If you want to read about a guy resing from the ash's like a phoenix this is the book for you

I originally read this story on a web site where it was posted a section at a time every 5-6 weeks for over a year. I quickly became addicted to it and quicly found myself anticipating the latest chapter, rereading it until I almost had it memorized. It is the story of a marriage that falls apart and the family that is destroyed by it. This book depicts real life and there is no feel good ending. But it is a must read. Mendon

A wonderful tale with many interesting stories within! This is a great novel with terrific characters in addition to the main protagonist. I found this story to be like '1001 Arabian Nights' with all of the peripheral characters with their own interesting stories to tell. Be warned, though, this is a book that will keep you up reading long after common sense has told you to put it down and go to bed.

I not a reader. I don't read a lot of books. I could not stop reading this book. Great plot line and riveting characters. I highly recommend this book to others.

This is one of those "can not put it down until you've finished" books. I'm looking forward to the other books in this series.

Hard to back away from the screen, just a couple more pages, the next thing you know its really late and your still not asleep. Well worth the investment of your time.

While probably not a story for younger readers, WWWM Part 1 is the story of the destruction of a marriage and the emotional trauma that accompanies a divorce. As you read the story, you find that neither the husband nor wife are entirely faultless and that both are to blame for letting things get to the point of no return. Bill Maitland is a powerful assistant DA who is married to his job and his wife Debbie is a beautiful spoiled woman whio has always gotten her way and resents his devotion to his job at her expense. As these two fight their way through the breakup of 18 years together, we see that they are both hurt badly and even they won't admit it, still have feelings for each other. Mr Steele has done an excellent job making the characters come to life to the point where you actually think you know them. At various times in the story I've found myself angry and frustrated with them, disappointed at them, happy, and nearly every other emotion there is. If you want a great yarn about how two people handle (or don't handle) the breakup of their marriage and the emotional wastelend as they try to recover and get on with their lives, you should read this book. One work of caution, however: This is the first of a series of four, and there is no positive ending in Part 1 where everything is resolved nice and neat. Part 2 will pick up where Part 1 left off.

Reminds me of my DA. Never thought of him as the Angel of Death, but the shoe did fit.

Most all the characters have flaws and foibles--much like the rest of us. I have loved the story and read it four times while awaiting Volume Two.