In his second short, short story collection, Greg Roensch takes us to the raw and nervy edges of life. We might find ourselves running from a heist gone wrong, preparing for a championship fight, or having our guts ripped out by something from our nightmares.

In settings both familiar and fantastic - from a café writing group to an experimental military lab, from the jungles of the Philippines during WWII to a cave after the apocalypse - these stories depict outsiders and misfits, losers and dreamers, all trying to get ahead ... or just fighting for survival.

These are tales of bad luck, bad decisions, tragedies, and betrayals, set in different times and locales, and even different realities. Yet through humor and pathos, Roensch's stories explore our shared humanity and remind us what it means to struggle, strive, aspire, and live.