Every story begins with a writer, but it finds its meaning in the people who read it.
The reflections shared here come from readers who have spent time in the pages of Robert Lee Dugan III’s work, from the hills and small towns of Appalachia to the unforgettable characters who call them home. Their words offer a glimpse into the journeys, emotions, and conversations these stories have inspired.
Whether you’ve followed Robert’s work from the beginning or are discovering it for the first time, these reader responses provide a window into the experiences waiting within the pages.
Every story continues long after the final page is turned. If you’ve enjoyed one of Robert Lee Dugan III’s books, consider leaving a Margin Note to share your thoughts with future readers.
Sobering portrait of life in a small WV town
Robert Dugan’s book could be the diary of many Berkeley Springs’ young people: partying in the McDonald’s parking lot. Dare-devil driving down the dual highway. Even some of the specific events ring a bell, such as the hostage-taking at the Hancock motel sone years ago. Those of you not from our neck of the woods will surely recognize similar experiences from their high school days.
But it’s not all a happy memory story, as he describes how a group of friends parties there way through adolescence, then grows apart as some of them turn to pills, then heroin, or just descend into a spiral of bad jobs, bad choices. Our narrator is the lucky one that makes it through, relatively unscathed to first graduate from college, and then return to his hometown to be a teacher.
Those of us from Berkeley Springs will recognize some of the characters, I’m sure. But you’ll also recognize the bigger picture of how generations of poverty and addiction lead to despair.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.14.2020
Robert Dugan’s book could be the diary of many Berkeley Springs’ young people: partying in the McDonald’s parking lot. Dare-devil driving down the dual highway. Even some of the specific events ring a bell, such as the hostage-taking at the Hancock motel sone years ago. Those of you not from our neck of the woods will surely recognize similar experiences from their high school days.
But it’s not all a happy memory story, as he describes how a group of friends parties there way through adolescence, then grows apart as some of them turn to pills, then heroin, or just descend into a spiral of bad jobs, bad choices. Our narrator is the lucky one that makes it through, relatively unscathed to first graduate from college, and then return to his hometown to be a teacher.
Those of us from Berkeley Springs will recognize some of the characters, I’m sure. But you’ll also recognize the bigger picture of how generations of poverty and addiction lead to despair.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.14.2020
It’s REAL. It’s RAW. It’s SIMPLE.
I read this book as a suggestion from a friend. It’s not my usual, not mainstream, maybe abnormal for most but golly it’s REAL. It’s RAW. It’s SIMPLE. It’s true… Maybe not EXACTLY every word maybe some stories are stretched, and maybe they aren’t…
But for the reader you immediately have a soft spot for the quiet intellectual kid who just needs a friend and you follow those friendships into his adulthood. But the STORY is more than that. The story is the simple, plain, honest truth of how someone you know, love, and deeply care about can make choices which greatly impact their life all without you realizing it, but in hindsight you accept that you were blind to it-and maybe you know, deep down, that blindness is or was by choice?
I could have easily read this book in 1-2 sittings but stretched it out from whatever date I posted my last review (about a week)… I found myself thinking about the boys throughout the day and wondering what adventure they were getting into next. Tonight I finally hit the stride of “just one more chapter” and with tears in my eyes in the last few chapters I didn’t care what the clock said – 10:15 is over an hour past bedtime, but I have no regrets.
TW: the real, raw, and simple of this book directly faces and comments on the use of substances at various ages and deals very bluntly with the aftermath of those choices, but if you’re in a space to read a story that confronts the opioid epidemic in a real world retelling, this one is for you. And I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
2.9.2024
I read this book as a suggestion from a friend. It’s not my usual, not mainstream, maybe abnormal for most but golly it’s REAL. It’s RAW. It’s SIMPLE. It’s true… Maybe not EXACTLY every word maybe some stories are stretched, and maybe they aren’t…
But for the reader you immediately have a soft spot for the quiet intellectual kid who just needs a friend and you follow those friendships into his adulthood. But the STORY is more than that. The story is the simple, plain, honest truth of how someone you know, love, and deeply care about can make choices which greatly impact their life all without you realizing it, but in hindsight you accept that you were blind to it-and maybe you know, deep down, that blindness is or was by choice?
I could have easily read this book in 1-2 sittings but stretched it out from whatever date I posted my last review (about a week)… I found myself thinking about the boys throughout the day and wondering what adventure they were getting into next. Tonight I finally hit the stride of “just one more chapter” and with tears in my eyes in the last few chapters I didn’t care what the clock said – 10:15 is over an hour past bedtime, but I have no regrets.
TW: the real, raw, and simple of this book directly faces and comments on the use of substances at various ages and deals very bluntly with the aftermath of those choices, but if you’re in a space to read a story that confronts the opioid epidemic in a real world retelling, this one is for you. And I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
2.9.2024
Authentic
Wonderful read, written in an authentic voice. I feel that I know each of the characters. Highly recommend.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.8.2020
Wonderful read, written in an authentic voice. I feel that I know each of the characters. Highly recommend.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.8.2020
Great read
I received this book today and could not put it down. Totally engrossing. Rich characters and beautifully written. Highly recommended!
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.11.2020
I received this book today and could not put it down. Totally engrossing. Rich characters and beautifully written. Highly recommended!
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.11.2020
Enjoyed very much
Very well written! I felt connected to the characters and shared in their joy and sadness! Look forward to more writing from this author.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
7.24.2020
Very well written! I felt connected to the characters and shared in their joy and sadness! Look forward to more writing from this author.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
7.24.2020
So good
This is such a good book. The story telling was written really well, and although the humor isn’t for everyone, it was much appreciated by me. A roller coaster of emotions. Definitely recommend.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
1.27.2021
This is such a good book. The story telling was written really well, and although the humor isn’t for everyone, it was much appreciated by me. A roller coaster of emotions. Definitely recommend.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
1.27.2021
People turn to addiction because they are in pain.
After the death of Daniel’s father, Mike and he became a tight duo because of the shared interests that they had. On their sixteenth birthday, what started as a toast to new beginnings with their first taste of alcohol soon spiraled out of control. They found themselves in a whirlwind of vices and a life of parties, fun and never getting old. But this life would soon catch up to them and they need to distance themselves before it’s too late.
A Stranger Among Us is a novel by Robert Dugan III about the West Virginia Opioid Crisis.
This story is definitely a crazy rollercoaster of a ride as well as heartbreaking because we find people in circumstances that could have been avoided.
Taking into account that the subject covered is very sensitive, the author has done a great job of creating a story that is as close to the truth as he possibly capable of.
The characters are vibrant and complicated because of their history of choices but all of us have been (/are) young and sometimes we do not realize how much one decision can impact our entire future.
The ending was definitely expected to done extent but it was also sad.
This is a heavy book, but it’s also an eye opener to those if us who haven’t experienced anything like this and have been sheltered from it growing up.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
6.21.2020
After the death of Daniel’s father, Mike and he became a tight duo because of the shared interests that they had. On their sixteenth birthday, what started as a toast to new beginnings with their first taste of alcohol soon spiraled out of control. They found themselves in a whirlwind of vices and a life of parties, fun and never getting old. But this life would soon catch up to them and they need to distance themselves before it’s too late.
A Stranger Among Us is a novel by Robert Dugan III about the West Virginia Opioid Crisis.
This story is definitely a crazy rollercoaster of a ride as well as heartbreaking because we find people in circumstances that could have been avoided.
Taking into account that the subject covered is very sensitive, the author has done a great job of creating a story that is as close to the truth as he possibly capable of.
The characters are vibrant and complicated because of their history of choices but all of us have been (/are) young and sometimes we do not realize how much one decision can impact our entire future.
The ending was definitely expected to done extent but it was also sad.
This is a heavy book, but it’s also an eye opener to those if us who haven’t experienced anything like this and have been sheltered from it growing up.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
6.21.2020
Wonderful book, beautifully written. A story that should be read and shared by all, and one that is not often talked about.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
7.1.2024
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
7.1.2024
Written with a lot of heart, this moving coming-of-age tale depicts the boyhood experiences of Michael and his best friends Daniel and Steven. Set in small town West Virginia the story demonstrates the friend group’s slow progression from hilarious, risk-taking boyhood antics to a divergent set of life outcomes resulting from their various family backgrounds, psychological makeups, and personal decisions.
The novel is explicitly raising awareness of the opioid crisis and the generational cycle of alcohol and drug abuse, but it delivers its message in an honest and transparent fashion. Drugs are bad, sure, but they’re also a hell of a lot of fun. No anti-drug message is complete without that essential concession.
The depiction of male bonding and humor felt authentic, and even the most problematic characters were crafted with sympathy. If the subject matter is at all of interest to you, I’d highly recommend this book.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
6.22.2022
The novel is explicitly raising awareness of the opioid crisis and the generational cycle of alcohol and drug abuse, but it delivers its message in an honest and transparent fashion. Drugs are bad, sure, but they’re also a hell of a lot of fun. No anti-drug message is complete without that essential concession.
The depiction of male bonding and humor felt authentic, and even the most problematic characters were crafted with sympathy. If the subject matter is at all of interest to you, I’d highly recommend this book.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
6.22.2022
This is one hell of a ride. The emotional drag race that this book took me on was just astounding. I couldn’t put it down. I *MAY* have done that “just one more chapter” thing and stayed up way too late finishing it.
As someone who lives in a similar demographic, the book got me. I saw everyone’s life unfolding, and still the story made me cry, laugh, and hoot aloud. The storytelling was perfect. At times, I felt like I was listening to my own family telling stories around the dining table-definitely a West Virginia storyteller!
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.10.2020
As someone who lives in a similar demographic, the book got me. I saw everyone’s life unfolding, and still the story made me cry, laugh, and hoot aloud. The storytelling was perfect. At times, I felt like I was listening to my own family telling stories around the dining table-definitely a West Virginia storyteller!
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.10.2020
As an avid reader, who normally doesn’t enjoy books written from the male perspective, I couldn’t put this book down. An authentic coming of age novel, with a bluntly honest representation of struggles and choices teenagers can go through. Definitely would recommend to any teenager or YA novel reader. Well done.
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.13.2020
Reader Review of A Stranger Among Us
5.13.2020