Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Living on the Edge
After eight years of marriage, Stephen Rojack and his wife Deborah are separated. As you might imagine, the dude is pretty bummed out. At the moment, he's hanging out on his friend's roof after a party, contemplating suicide. Fun stuff. Luckily, he decides against it, instead rushing over to Deborah's apartment. With that, the stage is set… and our wildcard main character is on the move.
Rising Action
Murder Mystery Hour
Ruta, Deborah's maid, lets Rojack into the apartment. The former couple argues with each other… until suddenly Rojack strangles Deborah, killing her. Naturally, he immediately gets up and sleeps with Ruta. Then Rojack gets a bright idea: He returns to the bedroom and tosses Deborah's body out the window, making it seem like a suicide. After another quick session with Ruta, Rojack rushes downstairs and calls the police. Things are officially tense—and weird.
Climax
Born to Run
The police are actually waiting because Deborah's fall caused a multi-car accident. After meeting Detective Roberts, Rojack sees Cherry, a saucy blonde who's chilling with two Mafiosos. The police are suspicious of Rojack's involvement in Deborah's death, but he manages to dodge the charges.
Of course, the first thing Rojack does after this is visit Cherry at work—she sings at a night club—and to make a long story short, they hook up and fall in "love." To their shock, however, their little honeymoon is interrupted by Shago Martin, Cherry's ex-boyfriend. After thoroughly beating the snot out of Shago, Rojack leaves the apartment to meet Barney Kelly, Deborah's father and one of the wealthiest men in the country.
Falling Action
Meet the Parent
Rojack arrives at Barney Kelly's hotel room. He sees a few familiar faces: Deirdre (Deborah's daughter from another marriage), Ruta, and Eddie Ganucci, one of the mobsters who was with Cherry.
Eventually, Kelly reveals that he was attracted to his daughter (a.k.a. Deborah) and they had even kissed once. This infuriates Rojack, who admits to the murder but stands up to Kelly. Somehow, however, Kelly convinces Rojack to go outside on the terrace and take a perilous walk along the guardrail. Rojack actually gets all the way around without falling, and he celebrates his little victory by hitting Kelly in the face and running away. It's probably safe to say he's done interacting with Deborah's family at this point.
Resolution
Westward Bound
Rojack returns to a shocking sight: Cherry has been murdered, presumably by one of Shago's associates. Rojack meets with Roberts one more time, finally settling his "innocence" before leaving town. He drives to Las Vegas, clearly still insane (he even imagines talking to Cherry on the phone), before heading south to Guatemala for who knows what.