The Shape of the Ruins: A Novel

A sweeping tale of conspiracy theories, assassinations, and twisted obsessions — the much anticipated masterpiece from Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

The Shape of the Ruins is a masterly story of conspiracy, political obsession, and literary investigation. A man is arrested at a museum in Colombia for attempting to steal the bullet-ridden suit of an assassin. The incident barely makes the news though the political murder this assassin committed years before set off riots that ushered in a decade of bloody civil war in the country — "La Violencia" — a time that still echos throughout Colombia. Soon this theft takes on greater meaning as it becomes a thread in a widening web of popular obsessions with conspiracy theories and the truth; and it haunts the people who feel that only they know the real truth behind these killings.

This novel explores the darkest moments of a country's past and brings to life the hidden characters who have unknowingly shaped its modern landscape. A compulsive read, beautiful and profound and eerily relevant to our times, The Shape of the Ruins is the tour-de-force story by a master at uncovering the incisive wounds of our political memory.