The Final Blackout

Blesi, Abigail

Publication

The Final Blackout

Blesi, Abigail

Description

The Final Blackout is a short story collection that weaves together the experiences of seemingly unrelated people as a single event changes their lives. Roughly based around the my own experiences working at a bingo hall during high school and college, this collection starts off with a bang as the central bingo hall is blown up by a bomber who has previously bombed four other bingo halls. Drawing on first- and third-person accounts of people connected to the bingo hall through happenstance, employment, previous tragedy, or an evening of playing bingo, the stories seek to explore when obsession turns deadly and how each person can influence someone, whether positively or negatively. At the center of it all lies the bomber herself and the author who has chased her for over half of his lifetime. Other stories follow a player that has finally hit a jackpot; a young woman who has just received devastating news; a young worker that is waiting for a phone call that could change her life; an older worker waking up in the hospital after the bombing; and a man shattered by the death of his wife.