Every Lie We Told
The Downward Spiral
M.J. Ortmeier
T.S. Eliot wrote his poem The Waste Land in the aftermath of a war so brutal it reshaped not just nations but the human psyche. Even those who never stepped foot in the trenches felt the devastation as it unfolded in newsreels and headlines. The whole world had cracked, leaving them to piece together from memory the fragments of the life they once knew.
Mark and Jen inhabit that same emotional landscape, where reality shatters fantasy. They’re trying to hold together what’s already been broken—teetering on the brink—but gravity has taken over. All it takes is one shove.
Part III, The Downward Spiral, takes its name from the Nine Inch Nails album, Mark’s favorite since college.
Every Lie We Told. Available 12/1/25
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