Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Iceland, Stonehenge, London, Paris….

To the casual observer, it looks like a dream trip. For Tate O’Reilly, it’s anything but. He’s a man on a mission to rectify a critical mistake, and there’s nothing to hold him back—certainly not friends or family. For Tate, it all comes down to one simple thing—he must fix what he has broken. 

What he doesn’t count on is meeting Gabriel Carillo. Gabriel is kind, mysterious, and seems to be on his own mission to ensure their paths keep crossing. But Tate’s hiding an awfully big secret—one he’s certain even Gabriel can’t forgive. 

Does a man’s past have to determine his future? In the middle of cities filled with history, Tate is going to find out.

Book Review

People deal with tragedy in many different ways. ‘The Worst Bad Thing’ is the story of Tate, a chemistry teacher who has caused enormous suffering, even though he never intended to, and now tries to deal with the guilt in the only way he knows how. This novel comes in two tiers, two parts that unfold in parallel. One layer consists of flashbacks written in past tense – they reveal the accident he caused and what happened afterward up to the point where Tate leaves for his trip. They are short, and show only the essential pieces of the puzzle needed for understanding the full background and why he feels responsible. The second layer is about Tate's trip and his meeting Gabe. It is written in present tense and focuses on Tate's feelings of guilt and why he is making the trip to Europe. This combination of styles is done very well and was an effective mix for me to get into Tate’s mind bit by bit without too much back story being dumped at once.

Tate has gone through hell, and he blames himself for what happened. As bad as it seems initially - the book begins with a flashback to the day he caused the chemistry class accident that ends up killing a sixteen-year-old student and scarring three others, it gets worse. There are parts of the story that are only gradually revealed, and his real plan for "paying" for what he did only emerges at the very end. Tate grows and changes during the story due to his discussions with Gabe, but it is tough going for him and slow. The psychology behind what he feels and how he deals with it - or doesn't deal with it - are accurate and presented well, making it a deeply character-driven story.

Gabe is a man Tate meets on his flight to Iceland, the first stop on his trip. He goes from a mere seat-companion to someone who takes the journey with Tate – in more than the physical sense. Gabe is very secretive about his job in “private security”, and finding out more about him as the story developed was part of the fun for me. There are a few secondary characters, but they only really come into play in the last third of the book. Gabe's friend Emory is particularly important - he is crucial to finding out what is going on in Tate's head. The various locations Tate visits also deserve mentioning as their descriptions made the story come alive for me. The sights, sounds, smells, the food Tate tries and enjoys, all combine into a very enjoyable picture – one that is a huge contrast to the simmering mystery and darkness inside him.

If you like character-driven stories with an excellent sense of mystery that explodes into impending doom toward the end, if you can deal with an emotional roller coaster where the psychology behind a man’s way of dealing with guilt plays a significant role, and if you’re looking for a read full of sadness, guilt, mental trauma, and an encouraging message of hope, then you will probably like this book as much as I did. I never expected the ending to be as perfect as it ended up being!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 123 pages/43474 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	23-March-2016
Price	$5.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/the-worst-bad-thing-by-je-birk-3937-b