by Donald Hays
A football coach discovers his wife's betrayal and begins planning his retaliation. Across town, a poet breaks free from his hospital room as news reports show bombs falling on Baghdad. A mother struggles with the aftermath of losing her son in a car crash. An elderly man watches his wife fade away while remembering the woman he loved before her. These characters stand at crossroads where their next choices will determine whether they find peace or destroy themselves. Each story follows people who must decide how far they will go when faced with infidelity, mental illness, grief, and regret. Their decisions lead them down paths toward revenge, escape, acceptance, or deeper isolation. Hays examines what drives ordinary people to extraordinary actions when life strips away their illusions.
Genres: fiction, drama, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Period: 21st-century
Paperback · M P Publishing Limited
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness