Dr Lanning, Catherine Stannard and Patrick Hawton are thrown together by a motorway tragedy. Dr Lanning is treating Catherine and Patrick for PTSD, the loss of their loved ones, their different approaches to feeling and dealing with survivor guilt. Through shared therapy sessions, Catherine and Patrick form a bond, allowing them to relinquish their previous lives and inhibitions. Dr Lanning sees an opportunity to study them, using them to rebuild his reputation. In doing so, he creates an environment where Catherine and Patrick begin to lose sight of their new realities.

Daniel David Gothard has a CertHE and Masters degree in creative writing from Ruskin College, Oxford and Bath Spa University. He has been published in numerous anthologies and literary journals in the UK and abroad. In 2009 Gothard was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Writer of the Year Bursary.
A first novel - "Friendship and Afterwards" (Yolk Publishing) - was published in 2014 to critical acclaim and a People's Book Prize nomination. "Simon says" (Urbane Publications 2015) was a WH Smith's bestseller. Gothard's third novel - "Reunited" (Urbane Publications 2016) - was a Blackwell's Bookshops featured novel. Both "Simon says" and "Reunited" were nominated for RNA awards. The author was an arts and culture correspondent for After Nyne magazine. A commissioned short story - "Curtains and Lights" - was published in The Oxford Times (2017).