The Boy Who Came in Pieces

When a young American is shot and left to die in the Mexican desert, it takes a giant, a Yaqui healer, and another man’s dream to reassemble his life. 

As a “budding botanist,” 24-year-old graduate student Jasper Aguilar faces a brutal trauma that shatters his sense of self and his connection to the world around him. He must now navigate a deeply personal journey of healing against the backdrop of the rugged Arizona-Mexico borderlands. As Jasper regains clarity about the brutal assault in the northern Sonoran Desert from which he emerged as one of the lucky ones, he must sort through memories of his own abandonment as a child, explore questions of personal heritage and identity, and rely on the strength of relationships new and old to make decisions about his future.

With its deep immersion in physical and cultural geography, indigenous characters, and powerful blending of the environmental sciences and syncretic spirituality (Mexican-Catholic and Yaqui), The Boy Who Came in Pieces will appeal to readers who appreciate contemporary literary fiction set in the American Southwest. It is the first book in an in-progress trilogy; the second book is completed. Each book builds on the previous one, with escalating stakes and deepening journeys for the primary characters.