Davis McGowan could not have anticipated how his career would isolate him in his private life. After ordination, he finds himself an alien in a world of human need. This fictional account of a young pastor's rise and fall is based on the secret reality faced by the ordinary people who have sensed a "call" to one of the helping professions. Never quite accepted as a local, he navigates the path of conscience through the pitfalls of personal loneliness.

McGowan's Call is a collection of short stories and a novella that chronicles Davis' path from the river town of Hatteras, Ohio to the suburbs of Dayton.

This work of fiction provides a rare insight to pastoral ministry outside the scandals that regularly make headlines. It is an honest exposé of the real crisis that afflicts those who live in the public eye.

Rob Smith is the author of two novels including Night Voices. Ann Joslin of Sandusky Bay Journal describes Night Voices as "an exciting novel of adventure."

In McGowan's Call, this talented writer explores the inner landscape of those who find themselves inserted in the personal crises of others.

Rob Smith's short stories have appeared nationally in Writer's Journal and other literary magazines. In 2006, he received the Robert Frost Poetry Award for his poem "Catbird". He currently resides on Ohio's north coast and sails the waters of Lake Erie on a sloop that he and his wife are restoring.