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Summary

Semi-Finalist in the 2021 Publishers Weekly/BookLife Prize Fiction Contest in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror category!

"Knight has crafted a disturbing, horrifying, and eloquently written novel that expertly captures the sensations of desperation, fear, and confusion."--2021 BookLife Prize Fiction Contest.

If you had the chance to bring back a lost loved one, but the cost was the death of an innocent person at your own hand, would you do it?

In the year and a half since Jack Clausen lost his five-year-old daughter, RosaMarie, his life has fallen apart. His marriage is failing, he’s been fired from his job, and his drinking is problematic. Sitting in a local bar on a typical weekday, Jack encounters an old woman who issues a dire warning: “You must be on time and pay your debt.” Later that night in a drunken stupor, Jack ignores three phone calls from his teenage son, Bryson. After learning Bryson was calling him for help but then died from an overdose, Jack decides he cannot live with the guilt and pain of losing two children.

Depressed and despondent, Jack steps off a platform into an oncoming commuter train. At the moment before impact, someone grabs him from behind and pulls him away from danger. His rescuer is a small person with unusual features who offers Jack a way to bring his daughter and son back, but there is a high price to pay. When Jack agrees to the deal but then refuses to pay his debt, events spiral out of control, leading to series of different realities, each worse than the one he originally tampered with.