"The crackle of dead leaves beneath my feet and the wisp of warm air caressing my face like an invisible hand will forever linger in my mind. Suddenly, as I was walking, I simply fell to the ground, lifeless."
This could easily be the ending of a novel, but in Despair Avenue it's only the beginning. With his death, the protagonist finds himself trapped on a kind of threshold between life and death. His journey leads him to his former place of residence and visits to family members. It's only then he realizes how much they've changed and the great danger they're in.