The Plunge

Playwright Raicek debuts with a seductive literary thriller about a writer picking up the pieces after an accident kills her fiancé. Two weeks before Liv and Graham’s wedding date, news breaks during a cocktail reception hosted by Graham’s company that he has been accused of bullying his subordinates, and he’s promptly fired. He and Liv leave the party, held on the Northern California coast, and he roughs her up, then drives drunk with her in the car. They go over a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway and only Liv survives. After the accident, she moves back to New York and runs into a married neighbor, Damon, at a party, along with his charming friend, Isobel, who Liv suspects is Damon’s lover. The pair invite Liv into their circle, calling her their “stray.” Damon takes Liv on walks and to museums, and they start hooking up, unbeknownst to Isabel. Meanwhile, Liv is pulled back to the night of the accident in California when she receives a photo of her and Graham leaving the party from an unknown phone number, causing her to wonder if it’s from a journalist intent on digging up more of the story. The plot is propulsive, and Raicek keeps the reader guessing at the characters’ true intentions. It’s a diverting tale. Agent: Margaret Riley King, WME. (Apr.)