Adult

Central Pennsylvania, May 31, 1889: After a deluge of rain swelled the Little Conemaugh River, panicked engineers watched helplessly as swiftly rising waters threatened to breach the South Fork dam. At 3:10pm the dam gave way, releasing 20 million tons of water. The deluge wiped out nearly everything in its path before reaching Johnstown, a vibrant steel town 14 miles downstream. Traveling 40 miles an hour, the deadly floodwaters razed the mill town in minutes. The Great Flood remains the deadliest in US history, killing more than 2,200 people and causing $17 million in damage. In RUTHLESS TIDE, Al Roker follows an unforgettable cast of characters whose fates converged because of that tragic day.

Written while confronting a mortal illness, John McCain looks back with appreciation on his years in the Senate, his historic 2008 campaign for the presidency against Barack Obama, and his crusades on behalf of democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Always the fighter, McCain attacks the “spurious nationalism” and political polarization afflicting American policy. He makes an impassioned case for democratic internationalism and bi-partisanship. He tells stories of his most satisfying moments of public service, including his work with another giant of the Senate, Edward M. Kennedy.

As the 1980s draw to a close, South Africa is a maelstrom of political violence, the apartheid regime in its death throes. Young Martin Helger is a misfit at an elite private boys’ school in Johannesburg, with a father who is a scrap dealer and a brother who is a mysterious legend. When a beautiful and manipulative American activist arrives at the family home, Martin soon finds himself wrenched out of his isolated bubble and thrust into the heart of the struggle. At the same time, secrets from the past begin to emerge, tearing at the Helgers, a second-generation Jewish family, even as the larger forces of history and politics tear apart the country.

When Caroline and Francis receive an offer to house swap --- from their city apartment to a house in an upscale London suburb --- they jump at the chance for a week away from home, their son, and the tensions that have pushed their marriage to the brink. As the couple settles in, the old problems that permeate their marriage start bubbling to the surface. But while they attempt to mend their relationship, their neighbor is showing a little too much interest in their activities. Meanwhile, Caroline slowly begins to uncover some signs of life in the stark house --- signs of her life. It seems the person they have swapped with is someone who knows her, someone who knows the secrets she's desperate to forget.

With the full resources of the Justice Department, Intelligence Community and the military (not to mention presidential pardons pre-signed), Logan West must battle a secret organization with the connections and funding to rival many first-world nations. The goal of this organization is both singular and sinister --- to pit the United States against China in a bid to dismantle the world’s security and economy. Back on US soil, Logan and his task force pursue the elusive foe from the woods of northern Virginia to the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, from suburban Maryland across the urban sprawl of Washington, DC. The stakes have never been higher for Logan or America itself.

When Toru Narazaki’s girlfriend, Ryoko Tachibana, disappears, he tries to track her down, despite the warnings of the private detective he’s hired to find her. Ryoko’s past is shrouded in mystery, but the one concrete clue to her whereabouts is a previous address in the heart of Tokyo. She lived in a compound with a group that seems to be a cult led by a charismatic guru with a revisionist Buddhist scheme of life, death and society. Narazaki plunges into the secretive world of the cult, ready to expose himself to any of the guru’s brainwashing tactics if it means he can learn the truth about Ryoko. But the cult isn’t what he expected, and he has no idea of the bubbling violence he is stepping into.

Shelley Stone --- wife, mother and CEO of the tech company Conch --- is committed to living her most efficient life. She takes her "me time" at 3:30am on the treadmill, power naps while waiting in line, schedules sex with her husband for when they are already changing clothes, and takes a men's multivitamin because she refuses to participate in her own oppression. But when she meets a young woman also named Shelley Stone who has the same exact scar on her shoulder, Shelley has to wonder: Is she finally buckling under all the pressure?

STAR OF THE NORTH opens in 1988, when a Korean American teenager is kidnapped from a South Korean beach by North Korean operatives. Twenty-two years later, her brilliant twin sister, Jenna, is still searching for her and ends up on the radar of the CIA. When evidence that her sister may still be alive in North Korea comes to light, Jenna will do anything possible to rescue her. Her story is braided together with two other narrative threads. In one, a North Korean peasant woman finds a forbidden international aid balloon and uses the valuables inside to launch a dangerously lucrative black-market business. In the other, a high-ranking North Korean official discovers that he may be descended from a traitor, a fact that could mean his death if it is revealed.

Rye Mallett, a fearless "freight dog" pilot, is asked to fly into a completely fogbound northern Georgia town and deliver a mysterious black box to a Dr. Lambert. As Rye's plane nears the isolated landing strip, more trouble than inclement weather awaits him. He is greeted first by a sabotage attempt on his plane that causes him to crash land, and then by Dr. Brynn O'Neal, who claims she was sent for the box in Dr. Lambert's stead. Despite Rye's "no-involvement" policy when it comes to other people's problems, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the intrigue surrounding his cargo…and to the mysterious and alluring Brynn. Soon Rye and Brynn are in a treacherous 48-hour race to deliver the box before time runs out.

After the craziness of August, the end of summer is supposed to bring peace and tranquility to the posh seaside enclave of East Hampton, New York. Antonia Bingham, chef and proprietor of the town’s prestigious Windmill Inn, has been lining up new recipes to try in the quiet, golden days of September, and looks forward to putting murder and mayhem behind her so she can focus on herself and her business. But when a Labor Day visit by two slick Wall Streeters ends with their gruesome deaths in a summer rental house, Antonia is pulled back to the dark side. With mysterious guests (and possible suspects) popping in and out of the inn, Antonia has no choice but to put back on her sleuthing cap and try to decipher who butchered these men.