But First You Need a Plan (LEAPFROG GLOBAL FICTION PRIZE WINNER)

As the Irvings head into their second decade of marriage, they’ve mostly abandoned their dreams and are committed to just getting by. There are children to love, jobs to do, and secrets to keep. But on a warm night in October, a falling woman changes everything.

When Cassie Irving discovers that her husband Danny is missing, she assumes he has left her for good. But within hours he’s on the local news: a gunshot victim, hospitalized after a violent incident on the roof of an apartment building—one that has left a woman dead, her body found on the sidewalk below. Danny, a little too conveniently, has no memory of the incident or the mysterious dead woman. The best way for the family to move on is to embrace silence and Danny’s plans for a golden future, but Cassie is haunted by the falling woman and a lingering suspicion that Danny is somehow responsible for her death.

As details from Danny’s past begin to emerge, Cassie sets out on a journey of discovery, reexamining her own choices while she untangles her husband’s years of secrets: youthful mistakes, missing persons, an ill-gotten artifact linked to misfortune—they all lead inevitably to a rooftop on a tragic October night. While Danny tries to patch over the past, Cassie races to avert the consequences of his good intentions, fearing that she will soon be forced to choose between silence and truth.