But First You Need a Plan

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 also left a woman dead, her body found on the sidewalk below. No weapon is recovered from the scene and the identity of the shooter is unknown. Danny, a little too conveniently, has no memory of the incident and denies knowing the mysterious dead woman, a young doctor from out of town. Cassie's suspicions that Danny is lying only intensify when she speaks to his best friend, whose behavior is evasive and strange.

The best way to move on is to embrace silence and Danny's plans for a golden future, but Cassie is haunted by the falling woman and the unimaginable secrets that explain how Danny came to be on a rooftop with her late at night. There are whispers of a curse, loose ends that Danny dismisses too easily, and a lingering unease that he is somehow responsible for the woman's death. But hazy memories about the apartment building lead Cassie to question her own bad decisions. Is it possible that she is the reason Danny went onto the roof that night?

Cassie sets out on a journey of self-reflection and discovery that leads her ever closer to the truth. Dark and strange secrets from Danny's past begin to emerge. Youthful mistakes, missing persons, years worth of lies, and an ill-gotten artifact linked to misfortune--they all lead eventually to a rooftop on a tragic October night. Desperate to keep his past buried, Danny works out a foolhardy scheme that entangles his family in the unfinished business of a grieving activist and a powerful magnate looking for revenge. As Cassie races to undo the consequences of Danny's good intentions, she finds herself forced to choose between giving him another chance and exposing the truth that could ruin him.