Adult

On the streets of 1970s Brooklyn, a daily ritual goes down: the dance. Money is exchanged, belongings surrendered, power asserted. The promise of violence lies everywhere, a currency itself. For these children --- Black, brown and white --- the street is a stage in shadow. And in the wings hide the other players: parents; cops; renovators; landlords; those who write the headlines, the histories and the laws; those who award this neighborhood its name. The rules appear obvious at first. But in memory’s prism, criminals and victims may seem to trade places. The voices of the past may seem to rise and gather as if in harmony, then make war with one another. A street may seem to crack open and reveal what lies behind its glimmering facade. None who lived through it are ever permitted to forget.

Melody Gallard spends her days restoring old books and avoiding the limelight. But when a producer offers her a lot of money to reunite her mother’s band on live TV, Mel begins to wonder if it’s time to rattle the cage, shake up her quiet life…and see him again. The only other person who could wrangle the rock and roll divas. Beat Dawkins, the lead singer’s son, is Melody’s opposite --- the camera loves him, he could charm the pants off anyone, and his mom is not a potential cult leader. Still, they might have been best friends if not for the legendary feud that broke up the band. When they met as teenagers, Mel felt an instant spark, but it’s nothing compared to the wild, intense attraction that builds as they embark on a madcap mission to convince their mothers to perform one last show.

A founding member of the Grand Ole Opry and the program’s first Black star, DeFord Bailey (1899-1982) was among the Opry’s most popular early performers. Known as the “Harmonica Wizard” for his virtuosity on the instrument, he was also a singer, guitarist, banjoist and composer. For decades following his departure from the Opry, Bailey’s story was shrouded in mystery. This meticulously researched biography, long out of print, tells the story of a pioneering Black star in early country music in rich and fascinating detail. The book’s original publication in 1991 helped pave the way for Bailey’s election to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

Wade, a respected banker in La Jolla, CA, and his estranged wife, Fiona, make the unbearable decision to send their teenage son, Myles, away to an expensive treatment center after a streak of harmful behavior. After a year of treatment, Myles comes home, seemingly rehabilitated. But soon, he sneaks off to Tijuana to buy drugs --- and is kidnapped. When the ransom call comes, Fiona is frantic and accepts help from Andre, the Quebecois whose charity Fiona runs. In order to get the ransom money, Wade makes a deal with Andre: He’ll work for Andre’s bank in exchange for the cash. But as Wade races to rescue Myles before his kidnappers lose their patience, he realizes he’s wrapped up in more crime than just a kidnapping. He’s now indebted to a cartel.

Best friends Anita and Rainie find refuge by an old sycamore tree with its neighboring lot of stray dogs who have a mysterious ability to communicate with humans. The girls learn that they are preceded by generations of dog-headed women and woman-headed dogs whose bloodlines bind them together. Anita convinces Rainie to become a dog with her, tying a collar of red string around each of their necks to preserve their kinship forever. But when the two girls are separated, Anita sinks into a dreamworld that only Rainie knows how to rescue her from. As Anita’s body begins to rot, it is up to Rainie to rebuild Anita’s body and keep her friend from being lost forever.

Fox hunting season is “Sister” Jane Arnold’s favorite time of year. The Jefferson Hunt Club is organizing a fundraising drive to help with the upkeep of their beloved hunting grounds. But the festive season is interrupted by the appearance of a dead body, tied to a chair and placed directly in the path of an early-season hunt. The intentional placement makes it clear that someone is sending a message. Then, one huntsman’s valuable stamp collection is stolen, and they discover the victim was also a stamp collector. Sister suspects a connection, which is confirmed when just one stamp is found taped to the garage door of her friend and treasurer of the hunt club, Ronnie Haslip. Could Ronnie have been involved in either the murder or the theft, or has he been marked as the next victim?

1992. All across the United States, respectable, upstanding citizens are showing up dead. These deaths could be accidents, and they don’t appear to be connected --- until a fatal fall from a high-floor window attracts some unexpected attention. That attention comes from the Secretary of Defense. All of a sudden, he wants an interagency task force to investigate. And he wants Jack Reacher as the army’s representative. If Reacher gets a result, great. If not, he’s a convenient fall guy. But office politics isn’t Reacher’s thing. Three questions quickly emerge: Who’s with him, who’s against him, and will the justice he dispenses be the official kind...or his own kind?

Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. They were unlikely spies, which is exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA’s critical archives --- first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda --- though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside.

The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm --- and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors. It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. But she is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own. After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for?

Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher --- the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but Kel knows that his destiny is to die for Conor. Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls within the city. But Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge. After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld.