It's a Hell of a Thing

Book excerpt: Billy River has hit rock bottom. Ten years earlier, he achieved his dream of fighting in Madison Square Garden, but the great Hector Gomez turned his dream into trauma, disfiguring Billy's face and leaving him with a disabling brain injury. Downing double shots of Jack in a smoky bar and shadowboxing with his failed life, Billy shares the story of his shattered life with a dancer and the bouncer. Billy has lost his identity, his wife is about to divorce him, his son despises him, and God seems like an impotent voyeur watching his suffering. Billy fears he is becoming his father, the man he called the "wrath of God," and that he will end up like his sister, who committed suicide. With the help of his two unlikely companions, Billy fights to save his family, discover a God capable of blowing the roof off his heart, and come to terms with his childhood traumas. His son's disappearance and near-death experience is a turning point for Billy and his friends as they face choices and events that could lead to Billy's self-destruction or renewal through forgiveness.