The Alternate Route

by Sarah Crosby

In the immediate aftermath of her death, a woman narrates her travels through time, space and confusion. Unable to remember anything before the moment of death, she makes the best of the little information she can glean from a spirit kind of being, who annoys her, but on whom she must rely.

Unfortunately, the annoying spirit, whom she calls Minder, is determined to involve her in several living people’s lives, much to her frustration. She doesn’t remember them, doesn’t believe she knew them, and finds their human dramas of little personal interest. That is, until she discovers what remains of a person's body, hidden in a broken down shed. The identities of both the victim and the killer are mysteries that intrigue her, even as she struggles with the mystery of her own purpose.

Then, in a blinding moment, she is forced to confront information she’s been seeking, but now wishes she didn’t know.

Her story and those of the still-living people she has met intersect to lead all of them through hard reckoning and toward meaning.

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 11, 2023