If, however, you're expecting a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of Morrison's music, of its textures, its surfaces – how and why it sounds the way it does – then you've probably come to the wrong place." O'Brien concluded his review by writing: "For all its flaws, No Surrender is a strong, absorbing biography, and never less than well written. It's just that it could potentially have been far, far better." John Beck of "The Press Democrat" observed that the biography "paints him [Morrison] as a mercurial genius at best and a cantankerous lout on a bad day". In their 2008 book "Northern Ireland After the Troubles", Colin Coulter and Michael Murray referenced the biography and stated it puts forth "the view that Morrison's persona has been shaped by a specifically Ulster Protestant sensibility". Bernard Perusse of "The Gazette" described the earlier biography "Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now" as "more superficial but more positive" than Rogan's book. Kevin Courtney reviewed the book for "The Irish Times", and observed: "For fans of Van Morrison's music, No Surrender might seem somewhat blasphemous, focusing not so much on Van the artist, but on Van the not-very-nice man. But Rogan also pays tribute to Morrison's pure, untainted artistry, and details the development – and subsequent decline – of Morrison's muse over the past 40 years or so. For the serious Van-ologist, Rogan's painstaking research yields an abundance of detail about Morrison's early years". Graeme Green of the "Daily Express" noted that Rogan "concentrates far more on Van the man than it does on his music, with the singer largely portrayed as difficult, selfish and aloof". He noted that Morrison would turn 60 the year the book was published, and commented "When the singer celebrates his landmark birthday this year, it's a safe bet Rogan's name won't be on the invite list." Nick Krewen gave the book a negative review in "The Toronto Star". Krewen critiqued what he saw as the thesis to Rogan's book, commenting: "Here is the premise of "Van Morrison: No Surrender": Because the Belfast-born Morrison was raised in Ulster ... and subjected to violent religious prejudice, the musician embodies a symbolic metaphor of Northern Ireland's defiant nature. That's it." Krewen noted that "the book does capture Van the Man's evolution into an electrifying showman during his Monarchs and Them years."