Viaticum

When Annika Torrey is diagnosed with cancer, she has no one in her life she can turn to. Divorced and estranged from her fundamentalist family, she sells her life insurance policy for cash, hoping to live out her final days in peace. But then Annika is given a rare second chance. Meanwhile, struggling real-estate agent Matt Campbell is drowning in debt. Desperate to save his career and marriage, he lets an old friend invest his money, but the big payout he's promised never materializes. Suspecting fraud, his search for answers leads him to the mysterious Annika, and soon both characters are trapped in a web of deception and desire, their hopes for redemption threatened by the contract that binds them. Viaticum is a taut psychological drama about two people fighting to maintain their dignity in a world that objectifies them. Thematically rich and morally-fraught, this intelligent and finely-crafted novel is timely and relevant.