“Wolf’s dynamic, multifaceted characters come vividly alive through their distinct speaking voices, and their struggle to come to terms with not only their guilt but the senselessness of the universe is deeply affecting.” — Booklist (starred review)

Everybody in the small town of Goldsburg, Virginia, likes Chris Goodman, which makes it especially shocking when he’s murdered. Here, in a stunning multi-voiced narrative — including the perspective of the fifteen-year-old killer — and based on a true and terrible crime that occurred when the author was in high school, Allan Wolf sets out to answer the first question that comes to mind in moments of unthinkable tragedy: How could a thing like this happen?