The Brightest Place in the World: A Novel

This is a self-reflecting story based upon the true events of the PEPCON disaster. The book starts with the death of Andrew, who dies in the WEPCO nuclear explosion. He is a close friend to Russell, a father to Maddie, an employee to Simon, and a lover to Emma; Andrew dies in the WEPCO nuclear explosion. Russell sees the smoke coming from the nuclear plant while driving home and worries about the safety of his wife, Emma, and Andrew’s wife and daughter. Inside Andrew’s house to meet him after work, Emma feels the explosion. Simon drives away from the plant to escape the final explosion; he sees Andrew running in his rearview mirror, but Simon doesn’t stop to save him. After the explosion, Maddie jumps out of the office window and runs home, unaware of what has happened to her father. The story then follows the four characters as they each grapple with Andrew’s death.

I would recommend this book because of its originality and depth in character development. This book was able to effectively portray the depth of effect that one person’s death could have so many people. The character development was very thorough and constant. There are a few intimate scenes in the book, so I would recommend this for ages 16 and up.

This is a good self-reflective story about people dealing with the death of a close friend, father, husband, lover, and employee; however, it requires a mature audience.