Description: "An old woman, riddled with dementia, walks off into the woods in the middle of the night. A light in the wood draws her to a campfire with two strange, dangerous men, one young and one old, who are there plotting a crime of as-yet-indeterminate purpose. The two men have a job to do. They are hunting something precious but have only been told: you'll know it when you see it. When they arrive at the place, an abandoned church cellar in the burned-out countryside, they find an answer they never could have predicted. Now, the job feels dubious, one that'll surely bring them to ruin. Yet if they're to go against orders, no step can be undone, and nothing can be taken back. In spare, imagistic prose, Lay Your Armor Down reduces the epic to its most elemental. It charts the course of several broken people, all outrunning danger's dark fingers, and all brought together for one last chance at redemption"--
Review Quotes: "Michael Farris Smith's stories are constructed with the kind of patience and artistry that would be used when making a patchwork quilt. Never too on the nose, his characters leave you yearning to discover what makes them tick. LAY YOUR ARMOR DOWN is the kind of 'edge of your seat' and 'can't put it down' stuff that keeps us reading instead of scrolling."--Charlie Starr, lead singer for Blackberry Smoke