Unraveling of Michael Galler: A Novel

For fans of nuanced, slow-build narratives, a psychological family drama about a teenager whose entanglement in an intense, complex new relationship exacerbates his obsession over his greatest fear.

After observing multiple terminal effects of varying illnesses of those close to him that he perceives as cancer, Michael Galler gains a heightened cognizance of the physical threats that can grow unknowingly inside a person. As a result, he dedicates himself to healthily fortifying his body against any comparable assault.

While growing up with his loving, widowed father and the younger brother he feels compelled to protect, Michael is able to balance the pressures of his young life—academic achievement, high school athletic competition, and even training for the Boston Marathon. But as he moves toward college life, he develops a promising relationship with a girl who too easily fills the gaps of his motherless upbringing—and his long-held fear of what he now thinks of as capital-C Cancer begins to take over. Everything he experiences, he experiences through the filter of trying to outrun a disease he thinks is pursuing him.

A dramatic coming-of-age tale with a dark psychological twist, The Unraveling of Michael Galler explores the motives of a teenage boy so overwhelmed by an obsessive fear that he loses his grip on reality.