Bystanders

"A bold, riveting mash-up of Hitchcockian suspense and campfire-tale chills." —Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, A Visit From the Goon Squad Legacies of violence and tragedy haunt these thirteen stunning stories from Tara Laskowski, author of Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and One Night Gone. A woman who becomes obsessed with her co-worker's murderer; an investigative reporter with a nose for scandal finds his own life suddenly unraveling; eerie sights in a video baby monitor haunt a new mother. When the unexpected happens, these bystanders—who are not always innocent—come face to face with their own choices and fates. Bound together by danger, fear, paranoia, and the bumps we all hear in the night, these potent stories illuminate the darker side of the human condition. From a vicious newspaper strike that rocks a small Pennsylvania community to an unpredictable road trip in the vast desert of the American West, Bystanders explores the ways in which terror and uncertainty both consumes and invigorate us—and yet reveal our strengths, hopes, and passions.