We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

This is a deeply moving story that leaves me feeling and thinking intensely about, "there but for fortune go I". The author takes us back to the beginning of a criminal life unfolding, the tragedy behind a horrific mistake that sends a fifteen year old boy to prison. The consequences that ensue for the many, a girlfriend, a best friend, even future generations fill a back story that is both engaging and disturbing. This is a story about the incredible complexity of human life, impacted by events and other people with their emotions, actions, choices, pain and hope that sends the reader both to a place of sorrow and also to experience a level of compassion that is significant and uplifting.