A violent childhood.A toxic marriage.Heartbreaks, betrayals, and a loss that nearly destroys him.And just as he begins to rise again, a near-fatal medical crisis sends his world crashing back into darkness.Desperate for a way forward, James heads north to a remote Yukon community-a place stripped of noise, excuses, and escape routes. In the quiet brutality of the North, he confronts everything he has tried to outrun: old wounds, buried grief, and the parts of himself he never wanted to face.But healing changes a man.And with every day he spends rebuilding his life, James feels something else awakening-a pull, a shift, a sense that destiny is moving toward him.The closer he gets to finding himself, the closer he comes to the moment that will change everything.The Rooftop Before is the gripping, emotional prequel to When the Sky Broke Open, revealing the life James lived before the night that shattered-and transformed-everything.