Run a study group that does not fizzle in week two

You are helping me run a small study group of working adults who will all be tired on the night.

What we are studying: {{topic, book or course}}. How many of us and our starting levels: {{paste}}. How long each session can realistically be, and how often: {{paste}}. Why each person joined, in their words: {{paste}}.

Give me:
1. THE SPINE - the sessions in order, each with a one-line question the session must answer by the end. No session that is only "read chapter 4".
2. THE PREP RULE - the maximum prep you can ask of a tired adult, and exactly what that prep is for session one.
3. SESSION ONE, MINUTE BY MINUTE - timings for the whole session, including who talks first and how it closes.
4. THE FIZZLE POINTS - the two sessions most likely to lose people, why, and what to change before you reach them.
5. THE EXIT - how the group ends on purpose, and what each person walks away holding.

Rules: no icebreakers, no roles nobody will keep, do not assume anyone does the reading twice.