I explained in the FAQ that you do not need to have read The Hunter’s Tale in order to understand or enjoy Lives We Might Have Lived. But, if it’s helpful, here’s a summary of the first book in this “series.”

The Hunter’s Tale takes place around 2008 in the small rural community of Badger Creek, WI (fictional). The main character is Leif Jensen, an Afghanistan veteran in his late twenties who is drifting through life without much motivation.

Jan Huang, a middle-aged Vietnamese woman, moves in next door. The two strike up a friendship and open up to each other in ways that quickly bond them. Over time, Leif learns that Jan has moved to Badger Creek to be closer to her niece. Years earlier, Jan was estranged by her parents, so her move is secret.

Jan’s niece is a high schooler named Lily. She was orphaned at a young age after her father was murdered while hunting and her mother perished in a car accident. Since then, she has been raised by her grandparents in Badger Creek. Leif, after learning all of this, manages to reconnect Lily and Jan.

A once-in-a-lifetime deer – The Thirty Pointer – is sighted near the land where Leif hunts, and it becomes an object of obsession for him. He eventually learns that the deer sometimes visits Jan’s sheltered backyard, where she will feed it. The two have a falling out over this.

While driving at night, Lily hits The Thirty Pointer with her truck and then mercy kills it on the side of the road. A mysterious, menacing man – unnamed in The Hunter’s Tale but later to be revealed to be Holden Freitag – happens by and claims the deer for himself so he can take credit for slaying it. Leif finds a distraught Lily and goes with her back to her grandparents and asks Jan to meet them there. The meeting repairs much of the damage in all of their relationships.

I thought that was all the story I had to tell. I was wrong.