"Griffin Watts is 13 years old in 1974 New York, a city which, at the brink of financial collapse, seems to crumble around him at roughly the same rate as his family. Desperate to forge a connection to his father, Griffin gets co-opted into his illicit and dangerous architectural salvage business, which allows him to discover the centuries old sculptures (gargoyles) carved into buildings all over the city by immigrant artisans. As his father's obsession with preserving the landmark buildings around him descends into mania, Griffin has to learn how to build himself into the person he wants to become--and let go of what he cannot keep"--