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If Today The Sun Should Set On All My Hopes and Cares…
Rick is divorced, has a drinking problem, and works as a janitor at his local high school.
During one of his shifts, he makes a shocking and disturbing discovery in the girl's bathroom that sucks him into the lives of two of the students.
Despite his best efforts, he finds that he may be powerless to prevent the two from heading down a path of destruction for themselves and others, especially when he can barely keep himself and his disintegrating relationships together.
During one of his shifts, he makes a shocking and disturbing discovery in the girl's bathroom that sucks him into the lives of two of the students.
Despite his best efforts, he finds that he may be powerless to prevent the two from heading down a path of destruction for themselves and others, especially when he can barely keep himself and his disintegrating relationships together.
Kindle Edition
Published December 4, 2024
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Ben Arzate
35 books136 followersBen Arzate writes and lives life. Sometimes he forgets to do the latter.
Contact: benarz13(at)gmail(dot)com
Contact: benarz13(at)gmail(dot)com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 9, 2024
4/4 ⭐️
1/1 🔫
Rick is a janitor at a high school and he’s also an alcoholic. He has to drink to function and doesn’t exactly like his job but continues to do it for the simple fact that it keeps him in a routine.
He stumbles upon a terrible sight one day when going into the girls bathroom. He eventually figures out who was the culprit. But once he does he starts snowballing into a dark decent right into a mental breakdown.
Knowing the information of who but not feeling like he can do anything is killing him on the inside and his drinking begins to escalate. Will Rick be able to stop something bad from happening or will he be able to help the girl who is in trouble?
The story was a really sad one. I enjoyed the authors writing and will be reading more from them.
1/1 🔫
Rick is a janitor at a high school and he’s also an alcoholic. He has to drink to function and doesn’t exactly like his job but continues to do it for the simple fact that it keeps him in a routine.
He stumbles upon a terrible sight one day when going into the girls bathroom. He eventually figures out who was the culprit. But once he does he starts snowballing into a dark decent right into a mental breakdown.
Knowing the information of who but not feeling like he can do anything is killing him on the inside and his drinking begins to escalate. Will Rick be able to stop something bad from happening or will he be able to help the girl who is in trouble?
The story was a really sad one. I enjoyed the authors writing and will be reading more from them.
December 24, 2024
Read this on Christmas Eve. I'm not much for festivities, otherwise picking up this one to read would have been a big mistake: the story is bleak, brutally honest, and absolutely realistic. It's not depressing - unless life itself is depressing. One can easily empathize with every little detail: the akratic main character, whose flaws feel too familiar; the school, the cops, the families, the abuse, the incel - there's so much of daily life crammed in this short tale, it's impossible to leave one undisturbed: sadly, there's something here for everyone.
January 23, 2025
Really enjoyed this read. A really depressing, bleak story following a school janitor who just wants to help others even though he can’t help himself. A pretty realistic story of what happens when you know something bad is coming, and not matter how much you try, you just can’t stop it.
December 13, 2024
𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭? 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬' 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭.
I saw this book in a horror group yesterday and grabbed it on KU. I had no idea how much it would affect me and ending up having one of those cleansing, cathartic cries that sometimes you just need.
On the surface, this book is about a janitor named Rick who works in a public high school, one of the unseen who quietly cleans up the messes of other people but is powerless to clean up his own. He is divorced, desperately loves his little girl, but the siren song of alcohol has him firmly in his grip. He often wonders why it feels like he's living the same day over and over again, spending time playing video games and smoking with his one friend, then going home to eat a barely edible microwaved meal and drink until it's time to go to bed again.
Everything changes when he walks into the girls' restroom at school and makes a shocking discovery. The administration does the bare minimum and exerts no effort into an investigation, so Rick feels the burden shift to him. Soon he finds himself caught up in the lives of two students and feels the crushing weight of knowing but is powerless to actually do anything.
I connected with this book in a way that I can't really explain. I've worked with high school kids all of my adult life, and there is something about being a witness to so much pain that I can't do anything to ease that has done something to my soul over the years. This book to me was almost allegorical in nature; the prose often poetic and philosophical in nature. I highlighted so many passages, but I'll close with this final one. Get this book right now. It will make you feel something. Available on KU and in paperback.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.
I saw this book in a horror group yesterday and grabbed it on KU. I had no idea how much it would affect me and ending up having one of those cleansing, cathartic cries that sometimes you just need.
On the surface, this book is about a janitor named Rick who works in a public high school, one of the unseen who quietly cleans up the messes of other people but is powerless to clean up his own. He is divorced, desperately loves his little girl, but the siren song of alcohol has him firmly in his grip. He often wonders why it feels like he's living the same day over and over again, spending time playing video games and smoking with his one friend, then going home to eat a barely edible microwaved meal and drink until it's time to go to bed again.
Everything changes when he walks into the girls' restroom at school and makes a shocking discovery. The administration does the bare minimum and exerts no effort into an investigation, so Rick feels the burden shift to him. Soon he finds himself caught up in the lives of two students and feels the crushing weight of knowing but is powerless to actually do anything.
I connected with this book in a way that I can't really explain. I've worked with high school kids all of my adult life, and there is something about being a witness to so much pain that I can't do anything to ease that has done something to my soul over the years. This book to me was almost allegorical in nature; the prose often poetic and philosophical in nature. I highlighted so many passages, but I'll close with this final one. Get this book right now. It will make you feel something. Available on KU and in paperback.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.
July 18, 2025
Fantastic!
Loved it. Looking forward to reading more of Arzate's work. Highly recommended!
Loved it. Looking forward to reading more of Arzate's work. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews