{"product_id":"9781617750496","title":"Heart of the Old Country","description":"\u003cb\u003eA young man stumbles into danger in his Brooklyn neighborhood in this “inspired” crime novel that is “part coming-of-age story, part thriller” (\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In working-class Bay Ridge, Michael drives for a car service and gives lifts to his father, a former sanitation worker and current small-time bookie. He has a friend with a heroin habit, and a longtime girlfriend who expects they’ll get married one of these days. Michael spends most of his time on the familiar streets where he grew up, but now he’s crossing the bridge into Manhattan for some college classes—where he meets a seductive female classmate who seems to come from a whole different world.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e He is pulled in two directions, but it seems like he has time to figure it all out—until he finds himself in the periphery of a murder that will change his destiny forever . . .\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Sweet, sardonic and by turns hilarious and tragic . . . Powerfully describes the bonds between Michael and his father . . . The novel’s greatest achievement is its tender depiction of Michael as a would-be tough guy, trying to follow his father’s dictum of ‘Give them nothing,’ while undergoing a painful education in the real world.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Reads like an inspired cross between Richard Price’s \u003ci\u003eBloodbrothers\u003c\/i\u003e and Ross Macdonald’s \u003ci\u003eThe Chill\u003c\/i\u003e.” —\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Akashic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47170932375792,"sku":"9781617750496","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781617750496_p0.jpg?v=1769904743","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781617750496","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}