{"product_id":"book-btsg","title":"Lions","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the winner of the  Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, an elegiac and lyrical novel about a  young couple whose love-and everything they know to be true-is  threatened by the arrival of an unwelcome stranger in their collapsing  eastern Colorado town\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBonnie Nadzam-author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning debut \u003ci\u003eLamb\u003c\/i\u003e-returns  with this scorching, haunting portrait of a rural community in a  \"living ghost town\" on the brink of collapse, and the individuals who  are confronted with either chasing their dreams or-against all  reason-staying where they are.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLions is set on the high plains of  Colorado, a nearly deserted place, steeped in local legends and sparse  in population. Built to be a glorious western \"city upon a hill,\" it was  never fit for farming, mining, trading, or any of the illusory sources  of wealth its pioneers imagined. The Walkers have been settled on its  barren terrain for generations-a simple family in a town otherwise still  taken in by stories of bigger, better, brighter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen a  traveling stranger appears one day, his unsettling presence sets off a  chain reaction that will change the fates of everyone he encounters. It  begins with the patriarch John Walker as he succumbs to a heart attack.  His devastated son Gordon is forced to choose between leaving for  college with his girlfriend, Leigh, and staying with his family to look  after their floundering welding shop and, it is believed, to continue  carrying out a mysterious task bequeathed to all Walker men. While Leigh  is desperate to make a better life in the world beyond the desolation  of Lions, Gordon is strangely hesitant to leave it behind. As more  families abandon the town, he is faced with what seems to be a  reasonable choice and the burden of betraying his own heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA story of awakening, \u003ci\u003eLions\u003c\/i\u003e  is an exquisite novel that explores ambition and an American obsession  with self-improvement, the responsibilities we have to ourselves and  each other, and the everyday illusions that pass for a life worth  living.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49295068725552,"sku":"BDbtsg","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49295068758320,"sku":"ZEbtsg","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49295068791088,"sku":"ZMbtsg","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/btsg-Square-cover.jpg?v=1775802133","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-btsg","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}