Cole has the ability to craft a sentence using figurative language that reveals how his character feels. For example, when unidentified people return in darkness to Goat Island, Howie assumes it is the same tormentors who stripped and abandoned them.

His plan of escape calls for swiping their canoe when they are looking for Laura and him so they can escape the island and reverse their tormentors' fortunes. However, Howie discovers there are two canoes guarded by sentries. Howie thinks to himself, "his beautiful plan was coming apart like wet paper." This simple simile using water as part of its component clearly reveals how ineffective Howie feels about himself and his actions. This reinforces the empathy one may feel for Cole's protagonist, in that one wants Howie to succeed not only in escaping, but also in feeling better about himself.

Other descriptive and figurative language reveals...