Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go (Circle of Heck #1) by Dale E. Basye

When siblings Milton and Marlo Fauster die in a giant marshmallow sculpture explosion, their souls descend into Heck, the netherworld where the souls of bad kids go for rehabilitation and punishment. Marlo is an experienced shoplifter, but Milton is a Boy Scout and straight-A student and believes he was sent there by mistake.

In Heck, children go to a school run by Bea “Elsa” Bubb, Principal of Darkness, and take classes such as home economics taught by Lizzie Borden and P.E. with Blackbeard the Pirate. The cafeteria in Heck serves atrocious food and houses a sappy singing purple dinosaur who hugs children against their will. Events take a turn for the worse for Milton when Damian, the bully responsible for the fatal marshmallow explosion, dies and goes to Heck. Milton and Marlo, along with their new friend Virgil determine to escape from Heck and return to the world of the living.

The premise of the book is creative and leads one to believe that the story will be interesting and worth the time. Unfortunately, the book fails to be either. Filled with too many puns, the story drags on leaving the reader to wonder if perhaps they are experiencing Heck in a way the author did not intend.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard