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Heaven or Hell
"Following years of living in an alcoholic fog, Joe becomes an upstanding member of society—but only after he experiences a trip through Hell itself.
Teresa creates her own Hell in current day Los Angeles where she struggles with her past while trying to raise her teenage son.
Am I in Heaven or Hell, Angel wonders, as she floats restlessly from cloud to cloud, finding herself in constant pursuit of an earthly Teresa and not knowing why.
Heaven or Hell is a story of tragedy, loss, and a triumphant life-changing resurrection when the lives of Joe, Teresa, and Angel collide in this world and beyond.
“… A fascinating take on the afterlife we all will face.…”
—G. Miki Hayden, New York Times--lauded Edgar winner
“Excellent handling of a dysfunctional family actually coming full circle…”
—Victoria Christopher-Murray, author of Truth Be Told,
Sinners & Saints, and many other titles
“Roni Teson is a gifted storyteller who brings to life a hardened alcoholic with the same grace and honesty she applies in writing about an angel…”
—Karen Coccioli, Author of The Yellow Braid
“This was absolutely phenomenal! I cried and figured the end would be heartbreaking, but I ended up smiling as I read it…”
—Diana Cox, www.novelproofreading.com
You can visit Roni on the web at
www.roniteson.com"
Teresa creates her own Hell in current day Los Angeles where she struggles with her past while trying to raise her teenage son.
Am I in Heaven or Hell, Angel wonders, as she floats restlessly from cloud to cloud, finding herself in constant pursuit of an earthly Teresa and not knowing why.
Heaven or Hell is a story of tragedy, loss, and a triumphant life-changing resurrection when the lives of Joe, Teresa, and Angel collide in this world and beyond.
“… A fascinating take on the afterlife we all will face.…”
—G. Miki Hayden, New York Times--lauded Edgar winner
“Excellent handling of a dysfunctional family actually coming full circle…”
—Victoria Christopher-Murray, author of Truth Be Told,
Sinners & Saints, and many other titles
“Roni Teson is a gifted storyteller who brings to life a hardened alcoholic with the same grace and honesty she applies in writing about an angel…”
—Karen Coccioli, Author of The Yellow Braid
“This was absolutely phenomenal! I cried and figured the end would be heartbreaking, but I ended up smiling as I read it…”
—Diana Cox, www.novelproofreading.com
You can visit Roni on the web at
www.roniteson.com"
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 2, 2012
9 people want to read
About the author
Roni Teson
3 books5 followersRoni Teson’s dream to become an author was realized after she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. She spent the better part of her treatment developing and fine-tuning her first novel, Heaven or Hell, which received an award at the 2013 Reader’s Favorite International Book Awards and the 2012-2013 Los Angeles Book Festival.
A consummate believer in the declaration that all things happen for a reason, when Roni went into complete remission her passion to write intensified along with her imagination. Her writing that was once a part of her recovery became an integral part of her daily life.
In Twist, Roni Teson’s most recent novel, she has crafted a suspenseful tale of love, betrayal and intrigue with a cast of characters who will leap off the pages and stay in your heart long after the last page has been turned.
Today, Roni lives in Southern California where she writes, reads, enjoys living by the ocean and gives back by raising money for cancer research and prevention.
A consummate believer in the declaration that all things happen for a reason, when Roni went into complete remission her passion to write intensified along with her imagination. Her writing that was once a part of her recovery became an integral part of her daily life.
In Twist, Roni Teson’s most recent novel, she has crafted a suspenseful tale of love, betrayal and intrigue with a cast of characters who will leap off the pages and stay in your heart long after the last page has been turned.
Today, Roni lives in Southern California where she writes, reads, enjoys living by the ocean and gives back by raising money for cancer research and prevention.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2013
This review was first posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings
on December 11, 2012.
To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. It's an interesting story, but I don't think that I went into this quite expecting to read about this particular story.
The story focuses on a family that's been broken apart by alcohol abuse and death. Teresa and her sister Angela were in a car accident that killed Angela and injured Teresa. Joe, who was already in the throes of alcoholism due to his wife's cancer, became even more distant, and eventually ended up homeless. Marion, the girls' mother, died shortly after Angela did. So, Teresa was left all alone, save for her Aunt Jessie.
Teresa does relatively well for herself, opening up her own business. But her marriage fails and she is left to raise her son alone.
Teresa is a character who I felt had major control issues. Her quirk is cleaning, for one. She often cleans when she's stressed or upset. There's nothing wrong with that but she seems to take it to a level of obsession, re-cleaning her store after asking one of her employees to do it, and then cleaning smudges off her car handle when she gets in and out. It was just a really odd quirk. And the control seeps over into other areas of her life, and when it does, anger pops up at really unexpected times. There are a few instances in the book where Teresa wants to slap her son JJ for things he says or does, but these aren't really bad things, like trying to joke around with his grandpa. The anger and wanting to slap him felt really sudden and just out of place for her character.
Contrasted with Teresa's anger, there's Joe's seemingly infinite patience in trying to resolve his situation and make things better with his girls. Joe is portrayed as the ultimate saint who has helped many people suffering on the streets with alcohol and drug problems like he once did. I was disappointed in the fact that Joe's incidences of helping were so overplayed in the book. It felt like he was let off the hook for abandoning his family since he did all of these other great deeds, and I just don't think that's right. In this sense I can truly see where Teresa's anger is warranted because I felt the same thing as a reader. I think he got off too easily. Yes, he did apologize and he did try to make things right, but it just felt like too little too late.
The one thing that I think could have been improved about Joe's character was the name. As far as I can understand, though I may have misinterpreted, the character's given name is Juan. At some point through his experiences, he starts to go by Joe, but some people continuously refer to him as Juan. All throughout the book people kept saying things like "Joe, or Juan or whatever you call yourself now..." I think it would have made things a lot easier if there had been some sort of definitive statement like "I used to go by Juan, but now I go by Joe since I've changed my ways" and then just had everyone call him Joe after that. The other characters not knowing how to address him made these scenes flounder a bit.
The story definitely has elements that will make you think . There are scenes where Joe is going through his own personal hell complete with being stuck in a pit and floundered after by zombie like creatures that are grasping at him through the muck. You're left to wonder, was any of that real, or was it just some sort of detoxing hallucination? There's also the contrast to this hell, with Angela's character being stuck in limbo in the clouds after she refuses to leave Teresa when she dies. Angela's character is sweet, but also very mature after having been stuck in limbo after so long.
The story definitely prompts thought on what really happens when people pass away. The author gives the impression that the next chapter after life on earth, whatever that may entail, is closer to us then we all might think, rather than being miles and miles away.
There are religious elements to the book but they are kept simple and don't go into any great detail, which I truly appreciated.
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
on December 11, 2012.
To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. It's an interesting story, but I don't think that I went into this quite expecting to read about this particular story.
The story focuses on a family that's been broken apart by alcohol abuse and death. Teresa and her sister Angela were in a car accident that killed Angela and injured Teresa. Joe, who was already in the throes of alcoholism due to his wife's cancer, became even more distant, and eventually ended up homeless. Marion, the girls' mother, died shortly after Angela did. So, Teresa was left all alone, save for her Aunt Jessie.
Teresa does relatively well for herself, opening up her own business. But her marriage fails and she is left to raise her son alone.
Teresa is a character who I felt had major control issues. Her quirk is cleaning, for one. She often cleans when she's stressed or upset. There's nothing wrong with that but she seems to take it to a level of obsession, re-cleaning her store after asking one of her employees to do it, and then cleaning smudges off her car handle when she gets in and out. It was just a really odd quirk. And the control seeps over into other areas of her life, and when it does, anger pops up at really unexpected times. There are a few instances in the book where Teresa wants to slap her son JJ for things he says or does, but these aren't really bad things, like trying to joke around with his grandpa. The anger and wanting to slap him felt really sudden and just out of place for her character.
Contrasted with Teresa's anger, there's Joe's seemingly infinite patience in trying to resolve his situation and make things better with his girls. Joe is portrayed as the ultimate saint who has helped many people suffering on the streets with alcohol and drug problems like he once did. I was disappointed in the fact that Joe's incidences of helping were so overplayed in the book. It felt like he was let off the hook for abandoning his family since he did all of these other great deeds, and I just don't think that's right. In this sense I can truly see where Teresa's anger is warranted because I felt the same thing as a reader. I think he got off too easily. Yes, he did apologize and he did try to make things right, but it just felt like too little too late.
The one thing that I think could have been improved about Joe's character was the name. As far as I can understand, though I may have misinterpreted, the character's given name is Juan. At some point through his experiences, he starts to go by Joe, but some people continuously refer to him as Juan. All throughout the book people kept saying things like "Joe, or Juan or whatever you call yourself now..." I think it would have made things a lot easier if there had been some sort of definitive statement like "I used to go by Juan, but now I go by Joe since I've changed my ways" and then just had everyone call him Joe after that. The other characters not knowing how to address him made these scenes flounder a bit.
The story definitely has elements that will make you think . There are scenes where Joe is going through his own personal hell complete with being stuck in a pit and floundered after by zombie like creatures that are grasping at him through the muck. You're left to wonder, was any of that real, or was it just some sort of detoxing hallucination? There's also the contrast to this hell, with Angela's character being stuck in limbo in the clouds after she refuses to leave Teresa when she dies. Angela's character is sweet, but also very mature after having been stuck in limbo after so long.
The story definitely prompts thought on what really happens when people pass away. The author gives the impression that the next chapter after life on earth, whatever that may entail, is closer to us then we all might think, rather than being miles and miles away.
There are religious elements to the book but they are kept simple and don't go into any great detail, which I truly appreciated.
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
March 24, 2016
Here is a must have story for every home with normal people. The theme is well researched and the author portrays a very nice view of life and death. Roni relates a fictitious story and turns it into a possibility for many. This is a hard subject made easy by the author who writes in a form that many people will connect with.Joe is a recovered alcoholic and has only a few days left before he dies. His chosen life has wrought havoc on his body. Now he is in the advanced stages of cirrhosis with no way out. For many years he has hidden behind alcohol to relieve the pain he feels due to losing his youngest daughter in a car accident and, just a few weeks later, his beloved wife to cancer. What is worse is that he left his only daughter to fend for herself from that point on. For many years he has tried to quit and kept falling short. Meanwhile, his daughter went on with her life, but never found closure concerning her father 19s disappearance. Now, at the end of his life, he wants to make things better with his daughters and late wife. But would they let him? I enjoyed this great tale and the characters portrayed in this book. It is a very good book to have handy when someone dies and questions are asked. Though the book is the personal opinion of the author, all who have gone through a family death need to hear that their departed loved ones are all right and that there is an afterlife. This is a very nice work for readers from young adults to adults.
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February 15, 2016I have always been interested in this subject; I love how Roni described the "limbo" and the transition, as well as the feeling of weight being lifted from the living.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews