How Bad Things Can Get – a Review

How bad can things get? Well, the things in this book get really, really bad. They get so bad that you most likely won’t want to read this one after dark.

The first few pages of this book put several questions in my curious mind. An eight-year-old girl was being chased through some kind of structure. Why was she being chased? Why was she being told she has to die? And she was being told that she can save them. Who are them? And how can her dying save them? Something really strange is going on.

Then the scene switches to talking about Ruth going on a cruise with her boyfriend and a bunch of other people. They are going to an island and they are told their time there will be filled with fun and games. And it does start out that way. But there is something going on in the background that isn’t being told, something that even those in charge of the activities don’t know. I didn’t even realize what was going on and how desperately dark and violent it was.

Ruth, who wants her background kept secret, who doesn’t want anyone else to know what she escaped when she was a child, senses that something is wrong. She even sees that something is wrong and reports it, but she is told that everything is okay and not to worry.

The games or challenges played all have huge monetary prizes, so what could be wrong? Everyone is just having fun and making a lot of money while doing it. They can pay off cars, houses, credit card expenses and have fun while doing so. But each game comes with its own life-threatening risks. And Ruth doesn’t have a good feeling about any of it although she tries to tell herself that it is her imagination. Perdition isn’t around anymore. Or is it?

Slowly the layers begin to peel away. People begin to show who they really are and what they are capable of. The truth about situations is revealed. And the truth about what is going on with this island is finally shown in the final game to be played on their last night. Will anyone be lucky enough to escape what has been planned?

I will say that any book written by Darcy Coates is bound to be great and hard to put down. She is an excellent writer. If you like books that capture your attention to the point where you can hardly think of anything besides what you’re reading, then you will love this book. You’ll love any book by this author. But you will definitely love this book. If you would like to purchase this book for your own reading pleasure, I’ve provided an Amazon link below.

Amazon Link: How Bad Things Can Get

Favorite Sentences:
The anger felt like molten metal trickling down her throat and burning every scrap of exposed flesh it touched.

Accidents, structural faults, embezzlements, and deaths seemed to gather around the island like flies around a carcass.

This is a dark facet of humanity; whenever a peaceful flock grows large enough, wolves begin to sneak between the tender bodies.

Her lips peeled back to reveal a grimace of blackened teeth.

She’d guarded her secrets, hidden her scars, severed any ties to her past.

New Word Learned:
conflate – o fuse into one entity; merge

patina – a film or incrustation, usually green, produced by oxidation on the surface of old bronze and often esteemed as being of ornamental value

vagary – a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea, desire, or action

About the Author:

Darcy Coates is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen horror and suspense novels.

She lives in the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cat, and a collection of chickens. Her home is surrounded by rolling wilderness on all sides, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

You can hear about her next book by joining her newsletter: www.darcycoates.com/updates