What It Costs to Be the Only One Who Cares: The Loneliness of Jonathan Smyth
- haleyn4
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Justice rarely comes with applause.For Jonathan Smyth, it comes with silence, distance, and a trail of burned bridges.
In The Case of the Screaming Tunnel, author Frank F. Fiore doesn’t write about a man trying to be a hero. He writes about a man who can’t stop digging, even when the world has already moved on. And when he uncovers the truth?
He doesn’t celebrate.He simply walks away—alone.
The Only Man Still Asking Questions
By the time Smyth steps into town, most people have already decided what they want to believe.The ghost story is safer.The version they’ve told themselves? Easier.
But Smyth isn’t built that way.
He’s the man who:
Stays long after the others leave
Doesn’t flinch at the legend
Keeps chasing the last detail when the rest of the town begs him to stop
And it costs him.Every time.
Fiore Writes a Character Built for Isolation
Frank F. Fiore doesn’t surround Smyth with sidekicks or fanfare.He surrounds him with doubt, resistance, and silence.
Because that’s what it takes to do what Smyth does.
He doesn’t ask for trust—he earns it, one hard conversation at a time.And once the case breaks open?He knows the truth he uncovered will leave him more alone than when he arrived.
Why Readers Connect With Him
Smyth doesn’t have grand speeches.He doesn’t force resolutions.
But he has a code.And even when it isolates him—even when the town hates him for what he found—he never breaks it.
That’s what makes him magnetic.And that’s what makes him dangerous.
Conclusion: The Price of Truth Is Isolation—And Smyth Pays It Without Complaint
Jonathan Smyth Cowboy Sleuth is about more than solving a murder.It’s about what it means to be the only person in a place who refuses to play along.
Frank F. Fiore doesn’t give us a hero to cheer for.He gives us a man we recognize—the one who cares too much, too long, and too deeply to ever let it go.
📚 Pick up the novel and follow the man who solves the case—and carries the weight alone.🔗 Read The Case of the Screaming Tunnel today