{"product_id":"9781473393745","title":"The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories","description":"\"The Mysterious Stranger\" is a very odd story. Satan (or, at least his minion nephew, a surrogate dark angel as presented here) is more or less the hero; humankind and religion come in for a deserved blistering drubbing for the race's cruelty, ignorance and hypocrisy. The story takes place in Austria in 1590; it's told from the viewpoint of a boy (actually a grown man reminiscing), who along with his friends are dazzled by and befriended by Satan; they come to realize that Satan is more an observer and agent than a purposely malicious being - sort of the way predators are in the wild. It is only man who preaches morality and in the same breath commits malicious, sadistic cruelty with relish.","brand":"Read Books Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47141567267056,"sku":"9781473393745","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781473393745_p0.jpg?v=1763601718","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781473393745","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}