Whiskey & Ribbons

Following Every Kiss a War, a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor and the Iowa Short Fiction Awards, Cross-Smith reveals life's pleasures, treasures, and inevitable pain in a debut novel. Eamon is a passionately committed police officer shot in the line of duty, leaving behind a loving family that includes wife Evi, unborn son Noah, and adoptive brother Dalton. Upon Eamon's death, Dalton moves in with Evi to help raise Noah. Dalton and Evi grow closer, and a relationship blossoms as they discover more about themselves. The novel is told from the perspective of all three adult characters, moving fluidly between past and present as Eamon speaks before his murder about anticipating fatherhood, Evi speaks months later during a freak blizzard that has trapped her and Dalton, and Dalton ponders the direction of his life. What if? That's the question Evi and Dalton often ask while trying to come to terms with the fact that Eamon is dead. Cross-Smith offers a humanity when some characters could be condemned for their actions and intersperses bits of poetry that make even death tragically beautiful.