The Duration

"Fromm's haunting tale of adults testing the bonds of youthful friendships is full of hard-won wit and unexpected humor." --Jim Ruland, author of Forest of Fortune

It's been 100 years since tragedy struck the rolling woods around Fleur-de-Lys, one of dozens of Gilded Age estates dotting the western Massachusetts town of Gable. In Gable, they both begrudge and venerate their past, and even now that health spas and corporate yoga retreats have replaced the mansions of a bygone era, the ghosts of yesteryear linger. Growing up there means navigating those ghosts, and the even more pernicious pitfalls of adolescence, until you're lucky enough to find your footing. Unless you're not.

In The Duration, Boston attorney Pete Johansson finds himself reuniting in Gable with his troubled childhood pal Chickie, who has returned to the wintry town of their youth determined to solve past mysteries and right the wrongs he can't seem to shake. Despite--or because of--his best intentions, Pete is drawn reluctantly into Chick's reckless orbit, straining a bedrock friendship and putting them both at risk.

Dave Fromm is an attorney and the author of the memoir Expatriate Games: My Season of Misadventures in Czech Semi-Pro Basketball (Skyhorse 2008). He lives with his wife and children in western Massachusetts. This is his first novel.