Beyond the Threshold

Beyond the Threshold continues the story begun in A Hero Dreams, the award-winning novel by Mark Ristau that this sophomore effort follows. Its protagonist, Ricky Williamson, has grown into a composed adult with a steady job at a corporation. He works in a cramped cubicle that sits just steps from the executive offices, and few of his colleagues would guess what he carries.

A childhood event at a summer camp in Maine, which took place a quarter century earlier, still churns beneath his calm exterior. Ricky's resentment has hardened into a determination for revenge. He has spent many hours at the shooting range honing his aim and has gathered a full supply of weapons, so only the right moment remains to be chosen.

One day, while walking near a lake in his own neighborhood, Ricky comes upon a young boy drifting along the grassy shoreline. When the child wakes, their eyes meet. The boy looks almost exactly like Ricky did at ten years old, an impossibility that unsettles everything Ricky thought he knew. The novel asks what happens when parallel universes intersect, whether people are bound by their circumstances, or whether they can rise above their past and choose another direction.