The New York Times bestselling author of CARRY THE ONE presents a new and long-awaited novel exploring what happens when untested people are put to a hard test, and in its aftermath, find themselves in a newly uncertain world. Cate, a set designer in her early 40s, lives and works in Chicago's theatre community. Only a few blocks away, but in a parallel universe we find Nathan and Irene - casual sociopaths, drug addicts, and small-time criminals. Their world and Cate's intersect the day she comes into Neale's kitchen to find these strangers assaulting her friend. Forced to take fast, spontaneous action, Cate does something she's never even considered. She now also knows the violence she is capable of and overnight, their world has changed.