Rebecca's Reads :: Condemned :: Mark Rowan

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Condemned: The Transformation of a Violent Gang Leader

Mark Rowan
Monarch Books (2008)
ISBN 9780825461668
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (3/09)

“Condemned: The Transformation of a Violent Gang Leader,” is the autobiographical story of Mark Rowan.  Rowan was a violent, drug-addicted criminal with no conscience whatsoever.  He was in and out of the prison system or running from the law his whole life until he “came to Christ and is now leading hundreds of others to faith in him.”  He is “an associate pastor of an Assemblies of God church in Weston-super-Mare” and is also “in the process of setting up a Christian-run drug rehabilitation unit.” (from the back cover)

The book begins with Rowan recalling memories of his home life as a child starting at the age of four years old.  Unfortunately his childhood was not a pleasant one and was filled with abuse and poverty.  To make matters worse, his real father, and male role model, led a life full of crime.  A troublemaker in his younger years, Rowan evolved into complete rebellion by the time he became a teenager and things only escalated from there. 

I found his stories of a life of crime and drug abuse to be very interesting.  It is amazing to me the things that people will do to procure drugs and the powerful stronghold that this addiction has on them.  The complete disregard for other human beings and their property is very disturbing.  Also quite intriguing is the description of Rowan’s stints in prison and the events that occur behind the prison walls, particularly the ingenuity of the inmates in the way that they smuggle drugs inside.  With what Rowan described happening there, I can definitely see why so many prisoners are repeat offenders. 

About eighty percent of “Condemned” details crimes that Rowan committed and his life experiences before he found God.  The remaining twenty percent focuses on when he first went to church and his resulting remarkable transformation.  I think that Rowan’s story would be inspirational to those currently leading a life of crime, those incarcerated, those suffering from drug addiction, and family members of the above named.  It shows that no matter how far gone a person is that there truly is hope for change. 

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