There Will be Stars

Author: Billy Coffey

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Coffey probes deeper into the darker part of the lives of the citizens of Mattingly. His new book will leave you questioning whether or not your own daily routine is really just a routine!

One night, Bobby Barnes is riding through the mountain roads behind Mattingly with his twin boys Matthew and Mark. As usual, he is drunk and every night he and the boys take a drive, but he is not worried because there is never anyone else out on these roads.  Suddenly, headlights appear around the corner and he can’t get his truck out of the way.  There is the sound of screeching metal and he tries to grab one of his sons before the other is thrown out of the window.  The last thing Bobby remembers before everything goes black is there will be stars.

The next day starts the same as the previous, or so it seems to Bobby. He can’t put his finger on it, but it feels like he has done everything before.  He knows where people will be on the drive to the gas station and he knows who he will have to talk to at the gas station.  But when he doesn’t whistle at Laura Beth as he drives by, she suddenly takes off her sunglasses and starts yelling at him and coming out in traffic to his truck.  Scared, he drives off to the gas station.  Eventually, things start falling into place and Bobby begins to realize that he is living the same day over and over, always with the same ending.  To his surprise, he finds that there are others stuck in the same loop and they believe that this is heaven.  But is it really?

First off, thank you Billy Coffey for writing another fantastic novel!. Second, thank you for writing Bobby Barnes’s story.  He has been a constant character through several of the books.  He is also one of the first citizens of Mattingly that Billy introduced to his readers.  In his first novel, Snow Day, there is a chapter dedicated to Bobby Barnes and how he went from being one of the most respected citizens of the town who decided to help with missionary work in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, which led to his downward spiral and eventually becoming the town drunk.  In true Coffey fashion, even in There Will be Stars, you will need to read that one chapter in Snow Day to get the rest of the story.  Unfortunately, the prettier picture that is painted for Kayla and the boys in Snow Day doesn’t quite work out that way.  Lots of new findings are brought to light.

Coffey continues to write with such prose that it is hard to ever turn the book away. He is not afraid to write about the darker parts of today’s world.  With each book he tackles something new and this one is no exception.  Readers will be shocked to learn about Laura Beth’s unfortunate heaven with regard to what she wakes up to and continual ending.  Readers will also be shocked to find out who has been stuck in the loop the longest and who actually sends those messages from God.

Aside from being a great suspense/thriller, this book also has great redemption qualities. Finding the truth of your life and changing what you need to in order to make amends is always a great part of his stories.  If you never have read a book by Billy Coffey, you really need to start now.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.