Inherit the Wind is a classic work of American theatre, based on the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in defense of a schoolteacher accused of teaching the theory of evolution. The accused was a slight, frightened man who had deliberately broken the law. His trial was a Roman circus. The chief gladiators were two great legal giants of the century. Like two bull elephants locked in mortal combat, they bellowed and roared imprecations and abuse. The spectators sat uneasily in the sweltering heat with murder in their hearts, barely able to restrain themselves. At stake was the freedom of every American. One of the most moving and meaningful plays of our generation.

Abide with Me is a luminous and long-awaited novel by the bestselling author Elizabeth Strout. Returning readers to the archetypal, lovely landscape of northern New England, the story unfolds in the late 1950s in the small town of West Annett, Maine.

Here, Reverend Tyler Caskey struggles to regain his calling, his family, and his happiness in the wake of profound loss. The community he serves charismatically must come to terms with its own strengths and failings—faith and hypocrisy, loyalty and abandonment—when a dark secret is revealed.

Tyler has come to love West Annett, "just up the road" from where he was born. The short, brilliant summers and the sharp, piercing winters fill him with awe—as does his congregation, full of good people who seek his guidance and listen earnestly as he preaches. But after suffering a terrible loss, Tyler finds it hard to return to himself as he once was. He hasn't had The Feeling—that God is all around him, in the beauty of the world—for quite some time.

He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, and to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake of the family's tragedy.

A congregation that had once been patient and kind during Tyler's grief now questions his leadership and propriety. In the kitchens, classrooms, offices, and stores of the village, anger and gossip have started to swirl. And in Tyler's darkest hour, a startling discovery will test his congregation's humanity—and his own will to endure the kinds of trials that sooner or later test us all.

In prose incandescent and artful, Elizabeth Strout draws readers into the details of ordinary life in a way that makes it extraordinary. All is considered—life, love, God, and community—within these pages, and all is made new by this writer's boundless compassion and graceful prose.

Grotesque delves into the dark and hidden precincts of Japanese society, unraveling the lives of Tokyo prostitutes Yuriko and Kazue, who have been brutally murdered. Their deaths leave a trail of unanswered questions about their identities, their murderer, and the paths that led them to this tragic end.

The narrative unfolds ingeniously, mediated coolly by Yuriko’s older sister, taking us back to their time in a prestigious girls’ high school. Here, a strict social hierarchy determined their fates, and we follow their struggles against the rigid societal conventions.

This novel is not just a psychological investigation into the female psyche but also a work of noir fiction that confirms Natsuo Kirino’s electrifying talents. The narrative sheds light on the pressures facing Japanese women, the allure of dark desires, and the vicious ambitions that drive them.

In Chris Bohjalian's astonishing novel, nothing is what it at first seems. Not the bucolic Vermont back roads college sophomore Laurel Estabrook likes to bike. Not the savage assault she suffers toward the end of one of her rides. And certainly not Bobbie Crocker, the elderly man with a history of mental illness whom Laurel comes to know through her work at a Burlington homeless shelter in the years subsequent to the attack.

In his moments of lucidity, the gentle, likable Bobbie alludes to his earlier life as a successful photographer. Laurel finds it hard to believe that this destitute, unstable man could once have chronicled the lives of musicians and celebrities, but a box of photographs and negatives discovered among Bobbie's meager possessions after his death lends credence to his tale.

How could such an accomplished man have fallen on such hard times? Becoming obsessed with uncovering Bobbie's past, Laurel studies his photographs, tracking down every lead they provide into the mystery of his life before homelessness—including links to the rich neighborhoods of her own Long Island childhood and to the earlier world of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, with its larger-than-life characters, elusive desires, and haunting sorrows.

In a narrative of dazzling invention, literary ingenuity, and psychological complexity, Bohjalian engages issues of homelessness and mental illness by evoking the humanity that inhabits the core of both. At the same time, his tale is fast-paced and riveting—The Double Bind combines the suspense of a thriller with the emotional depths of the most intimate drama.

The breathtaking surprises of its final pages will leave readers stunned, overwhelmed by the poignancy of life's fleeting truths, as caught in Bobbie Crocker's photographs and in Laurel Estabrook's painful pursuit of Bobbie's past—and her own.

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act—suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills. And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun—and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life—but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

Light has always been confident in his ability to out-think everyone, but L's protégés are proving to be more of a challenge than he anticipated. The more Light mentally maneuvers, the tighter the net around him becomes. And now Near and Mello are working to break the task force apart and expose Kira from within!

Light has always held up under pressure in the past, but will the stress of this new line of attack and the strain of maintaining three different personalities be the beginning of his end?

My blood beat hard in my veins and hammered in my ears, like the sound of bronze wings clashing. And I understood for the first time what it meant that Kushiel, the One God's punisher, had loved his charges too well...

Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents, Phèdre and Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire.

After a year abroad to study at university, Imriel returns from his adventures a little older and somewhat wiser. But perhaps not wise enough. What was once a mere spark of interest between himself and his cousin Sidonie now ignites into a white-hot blaze. But from commoner to peer, the whole realm would recoil from any alliance between Sidonie, heir to the throne, and Imriel, who bears the stigma of his mother's misdeeds and betrayals.

Praying that their passion will peak and fade, Imriel and Sidonie embark on an intense, secret affair. Blessed Elua founded Terre d'Ange and bestowed one simple precept to guide his people: Love as thou wilt. When duty calls, Imriel honors his role as a member of the royal family by leaving to marry a lovely, if merely sweet, Alban princess. By choosing duty over love, Imriel and Sidonie may have unwittingly trespassed against Elua's law.

But when dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d'Ange, seek to use the lovers' passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice. Before the end, Kushiel's justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.

Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, D.C., Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold, filed among the unsolved drive-bys in D.C.'s rough neighborhoods.

Years later, still haunted by his wife's death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love.

Then Cross's former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life.

From the master of the genre, James Patterson, CROSS is the high-velocity thriller fans have waited years to read and the pinnacle of the bestselling detective series of the past two decades.

Light - working as Kira, the newest member of the NPA intelligence bureau, and L - has nearly succeeded in creating his ideal world. But the years of uncontested victory have made him complacent, and he is unprepared for a new attack close to home.

With his younger sister Sayu kidnapped and the NPA's Death Note demanded as ransom, Light must travel across the world and confront two new adversaries, each with a very different agenda.

Will Light's quick wits be a match for this new challenge, or will he be forced to choose between Kira's ambitions and his own family's lives?

Born into a poor family in Spain, Inés, a seamstress, finds herself condemned to a life of hard work without reward or hope for the future. It is the sixteenth century, the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and when her shiftless husband disappears to the New World, Inés uses the opportunity to search for him as an excuse to flee her stifling homeland and seek adventure.

After her treacherous journey takes her to Peru, she learns that her husband has died in battle. Soon she begins a fiery love affair with a man who will change the course of her life: Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed Francisco Pizarro.

Valdivia's dream is to succeed where other Spaniards have failed: to become the conqueror of Chile. The natives of Chile are fearsome warriors, and the land is rumored to be barren of gold, but this suits Valdivia, who seeks only honor and glory. Together the lovers Inés Suárez and Pedro de Valdivia will build the new city of Santiago, and they will wage a bloody, ruthless war against the indigenous Chileans—the fierce local Indians led by the chief Michimalonko, and the even fiercer Mapuche from the south.

The horrific struggle will change them forever, pulling each of them toward their separate destinies. Inés of My Soul is a work of breathtaking scope: meticulously researched, it engagingly dramatizes the known events of Inés Suárez's life, crafting them into a novel full of the narrative brilliance and passion readers have come to expect from Isabel Allende.

Arrested and imprisoned in a small Swiss town, a prisoner begins this book with an exclamation: "I'm not Stiller!" He claims that his name is Jim White, that he has been jailed under false charges and under the wrong identity. To prove he is who he claims to be, he confesses to three unsolved murders and recalls in great detail an adventuresome life in America and Mexico among cowboys and peasants, in back alleys and docks.

He is consumed by "the morbid impulse to convince," but no one believes him. This is a harrowing account, part Kafka, part Camus, of the power of self-deception and the freedom that ultimately lies in self-acceptance. Simultaneously haunting and humorous, I'm Not Stiller explores the complex interplay between identity and truth.

He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think again.

In this reimagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen's most trusted lady-in-waiting. Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of power in a court where nothing is as it seems.

When she catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia's happiness is shattered. Ultimately, she must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life.

In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever... with one very dangerous secret.

Lisa Klein's Ophelia tells the story of a young woman falling in love, searching for her place in the world, and finding the strength to survive. Sharp and literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its grip until the final, heartrending scene.

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart.

But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read... and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love—and face the hardest decision of his life.

Et si l'on nous donnait la chance de revenir en arrière ?

Elliott, médecin réputé, père comblé, ne s'est jamais consolé de la disparition d'Ilena, la femme qu'il aimait, morte il y a trente ans. Un jour, par une circonstance extraordinaire, il est ramené dans le passé et rencontre le jeune homme qu'il était alors.

Les années 1970 battent leur plein à San Francisco, Elliott est un jeune médecin passionné et plein d'ambition. Fera-t-il cette fois le geste décisif qui pourrait sauver Ilena?
Saura-t-il modifier son implacable destin ?

Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all twelve questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest. But through a series of exhilarating tales, Ram explains to his lawyer how episodes in his life gave him the answer to each question.

Ram takes us on an amazing review of his own history - from the day he was found as a baby in the clothes donation box of a Delhi church to his employment by a faded Bollywood star, to his adventure with a security-crazed Australian army colonel, to his career as an overly creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal.

Vikas Swarup's Q & A is a beguiling blend of high comedy, drama, and romance that reveals how we know what we know - not just about trivia, but about life itself. Cutting across humanity in all its squalor and glory, Vikas Swarup presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle between good and evil - and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive.

The Known World is a daring and ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones. This novel tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues.

Edward P. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities. An ambitious, luminously written novel that ranges seamlessly between the past and future and back again to the present, The Known World weaves together the lives of freed and enslaved blacks, whites, and Indians -- and allows all of us a deeper understanding of the enduring multidimensional world created by the institution of slavery.

Until the phone calls came at three o'clock on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily is dead—shot with a gun her beloved and devoted Chris pilfered from his father's cabinet as part of an apparent suicide pact—leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew. From New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult—one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction—comes a riveting, timely, heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish and friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence.

New Moon is the dramatic sequel to Twilight, following the tale of Bella Swan, a teenage girl whose love for a vampire gets her into trouble.

I stuck my finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape. "Shoot," I muttered as the paper sliced my finger. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. It all happened very quickly then. "No!" Edward roared...

Dazed and disoriented, Bella looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of her arm - and into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined.

Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of an evil vampire. However, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may just be beginning.

Bella and Edward face a devastating separation, encounter a mysterious pack of wolves, and face a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire. Plus, a sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi.

Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs (first published under the French title L'Homme qui Rit in April 1869) is a sad and sordid tale -- not the sort of tale of the moment Hugo was known for. It starts on the night of January 29, 1690, a ten-year-old boy abandoned -- the stern men who've kept him since infancy have wearied of him. The boy wanders, barefoot and starving, through a snowstorm to reach a gibbet bearing the corpse of a hanged criminal. Beneath the gibbet is a ragged woman, frozen to death. The boy is about to move onward when he hears a sound within the woman's garments: He discovers an infant girl, barely alive, clutching the woman's breast. A single drop of frozen milk, resembling a pearl, is on the woman's lifeless breast...

On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia—and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history. Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia—driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches—into a region of total madness.

To his friends, to his coworkers, and even to his mistress Moira, Roy Dillon is an honest hardworking salesman. He lives in a cheap hotel just within his pay bracket. He goes to work every day. He has hundreds of friends and associates who could attest to his good character.

Yet, hidden behind three gaudy clown paintings in Roy's pallid hotel room, sits fifty-two thousand dollars--the money Roy makes from his short cons, his "grifting." For years, Roy has effortlessly maintained control over his house-of-cards life--until the simplest con goes wrong, and he finds himself critically injured and at the mercy of the most dangerous woman he ever met: his own mother.

The Grifters, one of the best novels ever written about the art of the con, is an ingeniously crafted story of deception and betrayal that was the basis for Stephen Frears' and Martin Scorsese's critically-acclaimed film of the same name.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a dark comedy that portrays the bitter marriage of George and Martha as it unravels in a searing night of dangerous fun and games. Twelve times a week, actress Uta Hagen wished to play Martha, reflecting the audience and critics' inability to get enough of Edward Albee's masterful play.

By the evening’s end, a stunning, almost unbearable revelation provides a climax that has shocked audiences for years. With its razor-sharp dialogue and the stripping away of social pretense, the play is considered a brilliantly original work of art—an excoriating theatrical experience, surging with shocks of recognition and dramatic fire.

Building on her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, bestselling suspense writer Iris Johansen takes a slightly different tangent with her latest thriller, The Search. The search and rescue team of Sarah Patrick and her golden retriever, Monty, first appeared in The Killing Game, where they helped Eve track down a kidnapped child and a maniacal killer.

Now, John Logan, the billionaire who wooed Eve only to lose her to Joe Quinn, needs to utilize Sarah and Monty's talents in a quest of his own. Although it has its rewards, the rescue work Sarah and Monty do demands a hefty emotional toll from them both. Sarah is highly protective of Monty, and when Logan first approaches her with what's obviously a very dangerous mission, Sarah is quick to say no. But Logan brings his powerful resources to bear and more or less forces Sarah to agree to the mission or face the loss of her job, her peace of mind, and Monty.

The task at hand involves finding and rescuing a highly valued scientist who has been kidnapped and is being held somewhere in Colombia. But the man who took the scientist is a ruthless and heartless killer whose primary objective is carrying out his sadistic revenge on Logan. Sarah, none too happy about being coerced into helping Logan, becomes even less inclined toward him when Monty is wounded in the rescue attempt. Logan is wounded too, and after their mission has been accomplished, the threesome end up back at Sarah's isolated cabin.

Sarah does everything she can to make Logan leave but finds it hard to be too insistent given his wounds. Besides, when Logan pays his debt to her for completing the mission, it is something Sarah could never have anticipated, an act that leaves her stunned, confused, and indebted. As for Logan, he refuses to leave Sarah alone because he knows that his nemesis, Rudzak, saw her and Monty in Colombia. And because of the nature of his relationship with Rudzak and the secret history they share, Logan knows the psycho will eventually come after Sarah.

Holed up together and fighting a wide array of emotions, Sarah and Logan discover a spark of passion between them. Though they both try to resist, eventually the spark ignites a full-fledged conflagration that leaves both of them stunned, puzzled, and forever changed. By the time the inevitable confrontation with Rudzak occurs, Logan will be forced to risk both his life and his heart in hopes of keeping Sarah and Monty safe. And Sarah must risk everything she holds dear if she ever hopes to find a happiness she is only now beginning to realize.

Angels Fall is an engrossing and passionate novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Grand Tetons, this story weaves together the mysteries of love, murder, and madness.

Reece Gilmore, the sole survivor of a brutal crime back East, finds herself in Angel's Fist, Wyoming. She's been on the run, battling the nightmares and panic attacks that haunt her. Temporarily settling in the small town, Reece takes a job at a local diner, hoping to find some semblance of peace.

While hiking in the mountains, Reece witnesses a terrifying scene: a man and woman on the opposite bank of the Snake River, embroiled in a violent altercation. As she watches, the man places his hands around the woman's throat. In shock, Reece seeks help from a gruff loner named Brody, but by the time they return to the scene, the couple has vanished without a trace.

Despite her insistence, no one in Angel's Fist believes Reece's story, except for Brody. As menacing events unfold, it becomes clear that someone wants Reece out of the way. She must rely on Brody—and her own instincts—to uncover the truth and determine whether there is indeed a killer lurking in Angel's Fist.

This novel is a thrilling blend of romance and suspense, exploring themes of trust, resilience, and the quest for justice.

Galip is a lawyer living in Istanbul. His wife, the detective novel–loving Ruya, has disappeared. Could she have left him for her ex-husband or Celâl, a popular newspaper columnist? But Celâl, too, seems to have vanished. As Galip investigates, he finds himself assuming the enviable Celâl's identity, wearing his clothes, answering his phone calls, even writing his columns.

Galip pursues every conceivable clue, but the nature of the mystery keeps changing, and when he receives a death threat, he begins to fear the worst.

With its cascade of beguiling stories about Istanbul, The Black Book is a brilliantly unconventional mystery, and a provocative meditation on identity. It is the cherished cult novel in which Orhan Pamuk found his original voice, but it has largely been neglected by English-language readers. Now, in Maureen Freely’s beautiful new translation, they, too, may encounter all its riches.

We Need to Talk About Kevin explores the gripping theme of motherhood gone awry. Eva, the protagonist, never really aspired to be a mother—especially not the mother of Kevin, a boy who becomes the perpetrator of a school massacre, killing seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a teacher who had tried to befriend him, just two days shy of his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years after the tragedy, Eva must confront her feelings towards her marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin's horrific actions through a series of direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin.

From the start, Eva was uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion that motherhood entailed, fearing that her alarming dislike for her own son may have been a driving factor in his nihilistic actions. We Need to Talk About Kevin delves into the complex emotions surrounding family, responsibility, and the nature of evil, presenting a compelling and resonant story that stays with the reader long after the last page is turned.

Keine Zeugen, keine Spuren, keine Leiche. Josy, die zwölfjährige Tochter des bekannten Psychiaters Viktor Larenz, verschwindet unter mysteriösen Umständen. Ihr Schicksal bleibt ungeklärt.

Vier Jahre später: Der trauernde Viktor hat sich in ein abgelegenes Ferienhaus zurückgezogen. Doch eine schöne Unbekannte spürt ihn dort auf. Sie wird von Wahnvorstellungen gequält. Darin erscheint ihr immer wieder ein kleines Mädchen, das ebenso spurlos verschwindet wie einst Josy.

Viktor beginnt mit der Therapie, die mehr und mehr zum dramatischen Verhör wird...

Tradition, Honor, Excellence... and secrets so dark they’re almost invisible.

Fifteen-year-old Reed Brennan wins a scholarship to Easton Academy—the golden ticket away from her pill-popping mother and run-of-the-mill suburban life. But when she arrives on the beautiful, tradition-steeped campus of Easton, everyone is just a bit more sophisticated, a bit more gorgeous, and a lot wealthier than she ever thought possible. Reed realizes that even though she has been accepted to Easton, Easton has not accepted her. She feels like she’s on the outside, looking in.

Until she meets the Billings Girls. They are the most beautiful, intelligent, and intensely confident girls on campus. And they know it. They hold all the power in a world where power is fleeting but means everything. Reed vows to do whatever it takes to be accepted into their inner circle.

Reed uses every part of herself—the good, the bad, the beautiful—to get closer to the Billings Girls. She quickly discovers that inside their secret parties and mountains of attitude, hanging in their designer clothing-packed closets the Billings Girls have skeletons. And they’ll do anything to keep their secrets private.

Have you ever loved someone who's mortally wounded you? Phineas Poe, disgraced cop and morphine addict, has just been released from a psych ward when he meets a beautiful woman named Jude in a hotel bar. Red dress, black hair, body like a knife. He takes her back to his room and wakes the next morning in a bathtub full of blood and ice, missing a kidney.

Dragging himself from a hospital bed, Phineas discovers he wants to be with Jude like a hunger—and he wants to find her and kill her. Falling for her is the start of a twisted love story that takes him from the snowy streets of Denver to the high plains of Texas where the boundaries between torturer and victim, killer and accomplice, become nightmarishly distorted.

What would you do for love? Would you die? Would you kill?

Landscaper Mitchell Rafferty thinks it must be some kind of joke when he receives a call, "We have your wife. You can get her back for two million cash."

On an ordinary afternoon, in a normal suburban neighborhood, Mitch finds himself caught in a nightmare. The caller is dead serious and confident that if Mitch loves his wife enough, he will find a way to raise the money.

Mitch loves her more than life itself. He's got seventy-two hours to prove it. But he'll pay a lot more. He'll pay anything.

From its tense opening to its shattering climax, The Husband is a thriller that will hold you in its relentless grip for every twist, every shock, every revelation...until it lets you go, unmistakably changed.

This is a Dean Koontz novel, after all, and there's no other experience quite like it.

The History of Love weaves a complex tapestry of love, loss, and the power of literature. It tells the story of two very different characters, whose lives are intertwined by a mysterious book. Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is on a quest to find a cure for her mother's loneliness, a journey that leads her to the discovery of an old book her mother cherishes. Across New York, an old man named Leo Gursky is trying to hold on to his existence, reminiscing about a lost love who inspired him to write a book decades ago in Poland.

Their stories converge in a narrative that crosses oceans and generations, demonstrating the enduring impact of words and love. This novel explores the themes of memory, identity, and the survival of the human spirit, making it a heartwarming and inspirational read.

Anna Walsh is officially a wreck. Physically broken and emotionally shattered, she lies on her parents' Dublin sofa with only one thing on her mind: getting back to New York. New York means her best friends, The Most Fabulous Job In The World™ and above all, it means her husband, Aidan.

But nothing in Anna's life is that simple anymore. Not only is her return to Manhattan complicated by her physical and emotional scars – but Aidan seems to have vanished. Is it time for Anna to move on? Is it even possible for her to move on?

A motley group of misfits, an earth-shattering revelation, two births and one very weird wedding might help Anna find some answers – and change her life forever.

After a week locked up with no one but Ryuk for company, Light is ready to give up his Death Note and all memories of it. Freed from his past actions, Light is convinced he's innocent. But L is ready to keep Light under lock and key forever, especially since the killings stopped once Light was incarcerated.

Then a new wave of Kira crimes hits Japan. Someone else has gotten their hands on a Death Note, and these new deaths aren't focused on making the world a better place, they're focused on making money. Big business can be murder, and Kira has gone corporate!

Dean Koontz's unique talent for writing terrifying thrillers with a heart and soul is nowhere more evident than in this latest suspense masterpiece that pits one man against the ultimate deadline. If there were speed limits for the sheer pulse-racing excitement allowed in one novel, Velocity would break them all. Get ready for the ride of your life.

Bill Wiles is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car.

"If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours."

It seems like a sick joke, and Bill's friend on the police force, Lanny Olson, thinks so too. His advice to Bill is to go home and forget about it. Besides, what could they do even if they took the note seriously? No crime has actually been committed.

But less than twenty-four hours later, a young blond schoolteacher is found murdered, and it's Bill's fault: he didn't convince the police to get involved. Now he's got another note, another deadline, another ultimatum...and two new lives hanging in the balance.

Suddenly Bill's average, seemingly innocuous life takes on the dimensions and speed of an accelerating nightmare. Because the notes are coming faster, the deadlines growing tighter, and the killer becoming bolder and crueler with every communication—until Bill is isolated with the terrifying knowledge that he alone has the power of life and death over a psychopath's innocent victims. Until the struggle between good and evil is intensely personal. Until the most chilling words of all are: "The choice is yours."

Fresh from her triumphs in Paris society, Whitney Stone returns to England determined to win the heart of her childhood love. However, in order to save himself from ruin, her father has come to an arrangement with the arrogant Duke of Claymore, and Whitney is the price.

Characters from the Westmoreland Dynasty Saga universe appear across the novels. From this era, Whitney, Clayton, and Stephen appear in Until You, with Clayton and Stephen's ancestor, Royce Westmoreland, as the main character in A Kingdom of Dreams.

If you'd like to read in order:

• A Kingdom of Dreams (Westmoreland, #1)
• Once and Always (Sequels, #1)
• Something Wonderful (Sequels, #2)
• Almost Heaven (Sequels, #3)
• Whitney, My Love (Westmoreland, #2)
• Until You (Westmoreland, #3)
• Miracles (Westmoreland, #3.5)

Main Characters include Whitney Stone, Clayton Westmoreland, Duke of Claymore, Paul Sevarin, Whitney's girlhood crush, Nicolas DuVille, Whitney's friend and suitor, Martin Stone, father of Whitney, and many more.

Ask the Dust is a virtuoso performance by an influential master of the twentieth-century American novel. It is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown and disappears... and Bandini forever rejects the writer's life he fought so hard to attain.

Luna is a groundbreaking novel about a transgender teen. Regan's brother Liam can't stand the person he is during the day. Like the moon from whom Liam has chosen his female name, his true self, Luna, only reveals herself at night.

In the secrecy of his basement bedroom, Liam transforms himself into the beautiful girl he longs to be, with help from his sister's clothes and makeup.

Now, everything is about to change: Luna is preparing to emerge from her cocoon. But are Liam's family and friends ready to welcome Luna into their lives?

Compelling and provocative, this is an unforgettable novel about a transgender teen's struggle for self-identity and acceptance.

Renowned hip-hop artist, political activist, and bestselling author Sister Souljah brings the streets of New York to life in a powerful and utterly unforgettable first novel.

I came busting into the world during one of New York's worst snowstorms, so my mother named me Winter. Ghetto-born, Winter is the young, wealthy daughter of a prominent Brooklyn drug-dealing family. Quick-witted, sexy, and business-minded, she knows and loves the streets like the curves of her own body. But when a cold Winter wind blows her life in a direction she doesn't want to go, her street smarts and seductive skills are put to the test of a lifetime. Unwilling to lose, this ghetto girl will do anything to stay on top.

Featuring a Special Collector’s Edition Reader’s Guide—including an author Q&A, detailed character analyses, and the author’s own remarks about the meaning of her story.

Trumble is a minimum-security federal prison, a "camp," home to the usual assortment of relatively harmless criminals—drug dealers, bank robbers, swindlers, embezzlers, tax evaders, two Wall Street crooks, one doctor, and at least five lawyers.

And three former judges who call themselves the Brethren: one from Texas, one from California, and one from Mississippi. They meet each day in the law library, their turf at Trumble, where they write briefs, handle cases for other inmates, practice law without a license, and sometimes dispense jailhouse justice.

And they spend hours writing letters. They are fine-tuning a mail scam, and it's starting to really work. The money is pouring in.

Then their little scam goes awry. It ensnares the wrong victim, a powerful man on the outside, a man with dangerous friends, and the Brethren's days of quietly marking time are over.

Clay Carter is a young, ambitious attorney stuck in the mundane routine of the public defender's office. Like many of his colleagues, he dreams of a brighter future in a prestigious law firm.

When he reluctantly takes on the case of a young man accused of a random street killing, he assumes it's just another senseless crime in Washington D.C. However, as Clay delves deeper into the case, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy that is too shocking to believe.

Suddenly, Clay finds himself in the midst of a complex legal battle against one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. The stakes are high, and the potential settlement could transform his life overnight, elevating him to become the legal profession's newest King of Torts.

This gripping novel takes readers on a thrilling journey through the world of law and justice, where the lines between right and wrong are often blurred.

Smithson "Smithy" Ide is by all accounts, especially his own, a loser. An overweight, friendless, chain-smoking, forty-three-year-old drunk, Smithy's life becomes completely unhinged when he loses his parents and long-lost sister within the span of one week.

Rolling down the driveway of his parents' house in Rhode Island on his old Raleigh bicycle to escape his grief, the emotionally bereft Smithy embarks on an epic, hilarious, luminous, and extraordinary journey of discovery and redemption.

This novel captures the public's imagination with a story that sweeps readers up and takes them on a thrilling, unforgettable ride.

There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he’d never do: he’d never leave New York City; never give his heart away after barely surviving one failed marriage; and never become a parent. Now Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, engaged to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the start of their family. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, a mysterious and disturbing e-mail sets off a chain of events that will change the course of this young couple’s relationship.

How well do we really know the ones we love? How do we handle the inevitable doubts, fears concerning parenthood, and stumbling blocks that are sometimes placed in our way? Continuing the story of the young couple introduced in Sparks’s bestselling True Believer, this novel captures all the heartbreak, tension, romance and surprises of those who are newly wed. An astonishing tale about the love between a man and a woman and between a parent and a child, At First Sight is about endings that bring new beginnings... tragedies that lead to unexpected joy... and, most of all, the magic of everlasting love.

Bailed out of jail and holed up in a low-rent motel, amnesiac Eric Ashworth's only memory is a woman's name: Desiree. With steadily increasing doses of a strange new hallucinogen, Eric finds that the drug allows him to reassemble his past in broken fragments. But as he begins to lose touch with the present, his distinction between truth and fantasy begins to crumble, creating a world where divisions between love and loss, violence and tenderness, and fact and fiction are less discernible than they ought to be.

It is 1950 and, after a disastrous honeymoon night, Ariah Erskine's young husband throws himself into the roaring waters of Niagara Falls. Ariah, "the Widow Bride of the Falls," begins a relentless seven-day vigil in the mist, waiting for his body to be found.

At her side is confirmed bachelor and pillar of the community Dirk Burnaby, who is unexpectedly drawn to this plain, strange woman. What follows is a passionate love affair, marriage, and family—a seemingly perfect existence. But the tragedy by which they were thrown together begins to shadow them, damaging their idyll with distrust, greed, and even murder.

Set against the mythic-historic backdrop of Niagara Falls in the mid-twentieth century, this haunting exploration of the American family in crisis is a stunning achievement from one of the great artistic forces of our time.

Until I Find You is the story of the actor Jack Burns – his life, loves, celebrity and astonishing search for the truth about his parents. When he is four years old, Jack travels with his mother Alice, a tattoo artist, to several North Sea ports in search of his father, William Burns. From Copenhagen to Amsterdam, William, a brilliant church organist and profligate womanizer, is always a step ahead – has always just departed in a wave of scandal, with a new tattoo somewhere on his body from a local master or "scratcher."

Alice and Jack abandon their quest, and Jack is educated at schools in Canada and New England – including, tellingly, a girls’ school in Toronto. His real education consists of his relationships with older women – from Emma Oastler, who initiates him into erotic life, to the girls of St. Hilda’s, with whom he first appears on stage, to the abusive Mrs. Machado, whom he first meets when sent to learn wrestling at a local gym.

Too much happens in this expansive, eventful novel to possibly summarize it all. Emma and Jack move to Los Angeles, where Emma becomes a successful novelist and Jack a promising actor. A host of eccentric minor characters memorably come and go, including Jack’s hilariously confused teacher the Wurtz; Michelle Maher, the girlfriend he will never forget; and a precocious child Jack finds in the back of an Audi in a restaurant parking lot.

We learn about tattoo addiction and movie cross-dressing, "sleeping in the needles" and the cure for cauliflower ears. And John Irving renders his protagonist’s unusual rise through Hollywood with the same vivid detail and range of emotions he gives to the organ music Jack hears as a child in European churches.

This is an absorbing and moving book about obsession and loss, truth and storytelling, the signs we carry on us and inside us, the traces we can’t get rid of. Jack has always lived in the shadow of his absent father. But as he grows older – and when his mother dies – he starts to doubt the portrait of his father’s character she painted for him when he was a child. This is the cue for a second journey around Europe in search of his father, from Edinburgh to Switzerland, towards a conclusion of great emotional force.

A melancholy tale of deception, Until I Find You is also a swaggering comic novel, a giant tapestry of life’s hopes. It is a masterpiece to compare with John Irving’s great novels, and restates the author’s claim to be considered the most glorious, comic, moving novelist at work today.

One day, Haruhi, a scholarship student at the exclusive Ouran High School, breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to the "Host Club," a mysterious campus group consisting of six super-rich (and gorgeous) guys. To pay back the damages, she is forced to work for the club, and it's there that she discovers just how wealthy the boys are and how different they are from everybody else.

Join Haruhi on this adventurous journey as she navigates through the extravagant world of the elite, filled with comedy, romance, and unexpected friendships.

The world-famous masterpiece by Nobel laureate Thomas Mann -- here in a new translation by Michael Henry Heim. Published on the eve of World War I, a decade after Buddenbrooks had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity, Death in Venice tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to Venice in search of spiritual fulfillment that instead leads to his erotic doom.

In the decaying city, besieged by an unnamed epidemic, he becomes obsessed with an exquisite Polish boy, Tadzio. "It is a story of the voluptuousness of doom," Mann wrote. "But the problem I had especially in mind was that of the artist's dignity."