Far up the mountain an avalanche hurtles down the slope and smashes through the cabin window. It sweeps a woman, curled in drugged sleep, off her bed and plows her into the wall. She dies instantly. Five writers arrive at an isolated cabin in the Rocky Mountains. What do poets know about avalanches, guns, bears and knives? Very little. But they do know about sex, drugs and alcohol. They are about to reveal the motives that brought them to this writers' retreat and the disastrous consequences. Meet spirited Emily at her free-poetry stand; Russell, the cowboyprofessor who must publish a blockbuster to secure his career; Olivia, the diligent lawyer who steals her mother's poignant words; rugged Edgar, the construction worker looking for human connection; and disaffected Sarah, the host, searching for her latest diversion. There are many ways for them to pay in this amazing, insightful, wry novel. None involves money! All Others Must Pay takes us into the hearts and psyches of five complex characters using their own raw, fledgling poems. They come alive as flawed, fascinating people.