Backside. The 56th Man, #6

Homophobic Ari Ciminon (The 56th Man) almost meets his match when he searches for a young man who has run off with the Thebans, a group of gay bicyclists for whom fitness is paramount.  Joey Haider, the son of an official at the Iraqi Consulate, eludes his bodyguard in Richmond.  Called in to translate for the guard, Ari quickly becomes embroiled in the search for the boy.  This puts him in far more peril than he had anticipated, including a run-in with MS-13.  This is not helped by his open antagonism towards the gay community.  Even when it appears he will not make a dime for his efforts, his hunt is relentless.  It takes him to places he would have once avoided like the plague: a gay hostel, a gay club and a house in an unlikely hamlet tucked away in the Virginia backwoods where the Thebans are targeted for execution.  All the while he is shadowed by the mysterious Peter Pan, who might or might be a guardian angel.  Ultimately, though, his most dangerous adversary turns out to be his own bad back.