Review of That Fateful Day

[Favour Amarachi Mgbeoji]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "That Fateful Day" by Torin Reid.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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That Fateful Day is a historical fiction novel written by Torin Reid. It consists of seven chapters that follow three fictional characters, Roger Phillips, Meena Sukram, and Donna Lee Davis, as they go through the very real and horrific events of 9/11.

The book begins on September 11th, 2001, as we are introduced to Roger, who is currently having issues with his longtime girlfriend, Abbey. Meena is married to her emotionally distanced husband, Ishmir. We are also introduced to Donna, who is divorced with two kids. We get to follow each character as they prepare and head to work, not knowing that they are about to participate in one of the worst tragedies in human history. It is revealed that they all work at the World Trade Center. At 8:44 am, our protagonists are going about their daily work, only to be struck by disaster. How will they deal with the chaos that ensues? Will they live to tell their stories? Find out in this gripping book.

There is so much I love about this book. I loved the characters. They may be fictional, but they are so relatable that they might as well be real. Each of them is flawed but not inherently bad by any means. I loved their interactions with their friends and their significant others. The book was well written, with a lot of attention given to transportation details within the area of the incident. I loved how gripping the book was. It feels like the reader is present as the events unfold, as the author paints the scene while plying on a layer of suspense. The book also tells the story from multiple points of view, similar to movies like "Vantage Point" or series like "24". I liked how each character's story subtly intersected with each other at different points in the book. Overall, it was quite an impressive book. It had my heart racing almost the entire time I read it.

My least favorite part of the book has to be Meena's decision to go up and meet Jonathan. I found her decision silly and ridiculously irresponsible. However, ultimately, it didn't affect the thrill of the book.

I found only one error in the book. The book was professionally edited. Therefore, I rate this book five out of five stars. I found the book thrilling and engaging. I was satisfied with the book, and as a result, I could not rate it any lower. I recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction books and readers of fictional disaster novels.

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That Fateful Day
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