Internationally acclaimed author William Boyle returns to the Brooklyn he has made his own where the lives of lost souls intersect in the early 1990s - with death the only possible result.

Donnie Parascandolo is a disgraced ex-cop with blood on his hands who supplemented his policeman's income as an enforcer for a crime family--until he pushed the boundaries a little too far and was driven off the police force. He and his ex-wife Donna Rotante are still reeling from the shocking suicide of their teenage son.

Ava Bifulco, a widow whose daily grind is her whole life, struggles with her son Nick, a grubby high school teacher who still lives with his mother and dreams of a shortcut to success. Nick is sure that, if he can tell Donnie's story, he can take an easy ride to Hollywood fame and riches.

Mikey Baldini, purposeless and drifting, is a college dropout who's returned to the old neighborhood. Angry over the death of his gambler father, Mikey turns to the local mob boss to pay off his old man's debts and make money for himself to escape his ghosts.

Uniting them are the dead: Mikey's murdered father and Donnie and Donna's poor son, Gabe. These characters cross paths in unexpected ways, guided by coincidence and the pull of blood. CITY OF MARGINS is noir at its best, pieced together in broken glass.