{"product_id":"city-of-brick-and-shadow-9781440592898","title":"City of Brick and Shadow","description":"Intimate, mysterious, magical...as accomplished and compelling as anything I've read in recent years. --\u003cb\u003eT.C. Boyle\u003c\/b\u003e, award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Harder They Come\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBeautifully conceived and beautifully written...rendered with a strong, confident voice that is so rare in a first novel. --\u003cb\u003ePercival Everett\u003c\/b\u003e, award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eAssumption\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlready struggling to keep their tiny congregation afloat, two Mormon missionaries stationed in the dangerous Latin American neighborhood of Vila Barbosa suspect the worst when Marco Aurelio, a man they recently baptized, disappears from a crowded street market. When the neighborhood's corrupt police force shows no interest, Elder Toronto and Elder Schwartz decide to investigate Marco Aurelio's disappearance themselves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBreaking mission rule after mission rule, the elders doggedly pursue any clues that might lead them to their friend. As they interview the people who knew him--his short-tempered, bodybuilding brother; his gun-toting ex-wife; his mercurial former business partner--a tangled portrait emerges of an enigmatic con artist in over his head. At the edges of the investigation lurks a shadowy, mythical figure known only as the Argentine, a man who poses an increasingly dire threat to the two young missionaries as they plunge recklessly forward. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTim Wirkus' \u003ci\u003eCity of Brick and Shadow\u003c\/i\u003e is a fantastically fun ride, recasting the classic buddy-cop dynamic in a pair of hapless young missionaries; a gripping and unconventional mystery along the lines of \u003ci\u003eThe Yiddish Policemen's Union\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eMotherless Brooklyn\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Gallery Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/02\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781440592898\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.90d","brand":"Tim Wirkus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43124433354933,"sku":"9781440592898","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_7f33d0c2-e02c-4702-8876-ef1e5cceb9e6.jpg?v=1694552081","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/city-of-brick-and-shadow-9781440592898","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}