One for the Road is an intense and deeply human novel about regret, emotional distance, and the need to truly be seen.
Garrick Vale is a death row inmate.
Adrian Cole is the psychologist assigned to accompany him through his final days.
What begins as a professional conversation slowly becomes something far more personal: two seemingly different men begin to recognize the same invisible wounds within each other.
As Garrick struggles with the weight of his mistakes and the fear of being remembered only for the worst part of his life, Adrian is forced to look inward and confront years spent emotionally absent from the people he loves.
One for the Road is not a novel about innocence.
It does not seek excuses.
It does not seek absolution.
It is a story about presence, memory, and how quietly a person can drift away from themselves without even realizing it.
With a restrained, introspective, and emotionally authentic style, Alessandro Ascanio explores the weight of unspoken words, postponed phone calls, and relationships slowly worn down by distance.
A novel for readers who love deep, intimate stories that remain with them long after the final page.