A Better Place

Pati Navalta Poblete's world is shattered when her 23-year-old son, Robby, is violently killed. She blames God, gun violence and the town where he was born and died, even herself. Two years later, she shares how Robby's death was transformative for her and many others -- including their family and friends, and even the first journalist on the scene.

The Bay Area native takes the reader on a raw, heartbreaking journey from the scene of the crime, to a Buddhist monastery in Northern California, to Asia where she travels for work, to Robby's favorite beach in Hawaii to mark the first anniversary of his death -- everywhere she goes trying to make sense of what has happened. Along the way, she offers glimpses into her and Robby's lives, underscoring what makes his loss so tragic and why every loss such as his matters.