title: Pathways
author: Lawenda, Jeff
description: SECURING HAPPINESS is far from a given, and the pathway to it often winding and vulnerable to ambush. Pathways delves into the lives of six ordinary New Yorkers as diverse as the city itself. While unknown to one another, they all share a sense of loss and-intentionally or not-embark on a journey to find elusive contentment. Each protagonist also shares a connection to historic Madison Square Park, the six-acre sanctuary located in Manhattan's Flatiron district. The park and New York are more than locations in Pathways. They are key characters, revealed in depth.
  
  Within two novellas and four short stories, readers will meet and become engaged with Michael - a young man obsessed with Melinda, an older woman; Steven - a television executive and victim of the Great Recession; Gina - a nurse in an Alzheimer's unit with attachment issues; Terry - a former New York Yankee pitcher who could have been a Hall of Famer; Jimmy - a criminal lawyer who visits Jake, his estranged dying father and retired NYPD detective; and Chella - a translator who arrives in New York from Colombia to hide from the Cali Cartel and begin a new life.
   These disparate New Yorkers suffer from emotional wounds inflicted by past events. While attempting to survive-in perhaps the world's most challenging city-they are confronted by a choice: to remain in a damaged state or to turn the corner and move on. Powerful forces, including colorful secondary characters, influence their decisions and are at the heart of each journey.