{"product_id":"book-bso0","title":"The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn Cold Blood\u003c\/i\u003e meets Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s \u003ci\u003eRandom Family\u003c\/i\u003e:  A harrowing, profoundly personal investigation of the causes, effects,  and communal toll of a deeply troubling crime—the brutal murder of three  young children by their parents in the border city of Brownsville,  Texas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn March 11, 2003, in Brownsville, Texas—one of America’s  poorest cities—John Allen Rubio and Angela Camacho murdered their three  young children. The apartment building in which the brutal crimes took  place was already rundown, and in their aftermath a consensus developed  in the community that it should be destroyed. It was a place, neighbors  felt, that was plagued by spiritual cancer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In 2008, journalist Laura Tillman covered the story for the \u003ci\u003eBrownsville Herald\u003c\/i\u003e.  The questions it raised haunted her, particularly one asked by the sole  member of the city’s Heritage Council to oppose demolition: is there  any such thing as an evil building? Her investigation took her far  beyond that question, revealing the nature of the toll that the crime  exacted on a city already wracked with poverty. It sprawled into a  six-year inquiry into the larger significance of such acts, ones so  difficult to imagine or explain that their perpetrators are often  dismissed as monsters alien to humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e With meticulous  attention and stunning compassion, Tillman surveyed those surrounding  the crimes, speaking with the lawyers who tried the case, the family’s  neighbors and relatives and teachers, even one of the murderers: John  Allen Rubio himself, whom she corresponded with for years and ultimately  met in person. The result is a brilliant exploration of some of our  age’s most important social issues, from poverty to mental illness to  the death penalty, and a beautiful, profound meditation on the truly  human forces that drive them. It is disturbing, insightful, and  mesmerizing in equal measure.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49347500081456,"sku":"BDbso0","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/114835-bso0-Square.jpg?v=1734206536","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-bso0","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}