Adult

Set on a ranch in the stunningly beautiful Southern California wine country, well-known writer and television personality Frances Schultz’s hospitality is no secret in Santa Barbara County and beyond. The cooking of chef and recipe creator Stephanie Valentine is acclaimed by all who’ve sampled it, including Martha Stewart and Julia Child. Frances invites us into her home, her heart and a place at her beautiful table, and she shows us how she does it. Whether you're planning a simple picnic for two or a celebration dinner for 20, CALIFORNIA COOKING AND SOUTHERN STYLE is the perfect cookbook and table-scape guide to have at your fingertips always.

It is a time of political turmoil once more as the fading King Edward begins to lose control over his successors and their supporters. Uhtred of Bebbanburg cares solely about his beloved Northumbria and its continuing independence from southern control. But an oath is a strong, almost sacred commitment, and such a promise had been exchanged between Uhtred and Aethelstan, his one-time companion in arms and now a potential king. Uhtred was tempted to ignore the demands of the oath and stay in his northern fastness, leaving the quarrelling Anglo-Saxons to sort out their own issues. But an attack on him by a leading supporter of one of the candidates and an unexpected appeal for help from another drives Uhtred south into the battle for kingship --- and England’s fate.

At 18, Alexandra Wickham is presented to King George V and Queen Mary in an exquisite white lace and satin dress her mother has ordered from Paris. With her delicate blond looks, she is a stunning beauty who seems destined for a privileged life. But fate, a world war and her own quietly rebellious personality lead her down a different path. SPY follows Alex’s extraordinary adventures in World War II and afterward in India, Pakistan, Morocco, Hong Kong, Moscow and Washington, D.C., when her husband, Richard, enters the foreign service and both become witnesses to a rapidly changing world from post-war to Cold War. She lives life on the edge, with a secret she must always keep hidden.

In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. Hours later, they are called to the scene of a copycat crime. A note signed "M" rests on the corpse. "You messed up big time, Dr. Cross." Was an innocent man just put to death? Alex soon realizes he may have much to answer for, as "M" lures the detective out of the capital to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details --- details that conjure up decades-old cases. Details that conjure up Cross family secrets. Details that make clear that M is after a prize so dear that --- were the killer to attain it --- Alex's heart would no longer have reason to beat.

While Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill prepare to join their team on a counter-terrorist mission in the triple frontier --- the lawless tri-border region where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet --- they are targeted in Charleston, South Carolina. A vicious explosion kills a friend, and the perpetrators have set it up to look like an accident. While the authorities believe this was not foul play, Pike knows the attack was meant for him. When he loses contact with the team in South America, Pike is convinced that he and the Taskforce are under assault. Pike and Jennifer head to Brazil to investigate their disappearance and run headlong into a crew of Russian assassins. Within days they are entangled in a byzantine scheme involving Brazilian politics and a cut-throat battle for control of offshore oil fields.

With his best bro Colman riding shotgun, Serge A. Storms hits the highway in his ’69 gold Plymouth Satellite, putting pedal to the metal on a grand tour of the past. Beginning in Key West, the sunshine boys’ odyssey includes a forgotten mass grave in Palm Beach County holding the remains of African Americans killed by the Great Hurricane of 1928, and the resting place of one world-famous television dolphin (RIP Flipper) from the 1960s. But one deadland --- a haunted old sugar field --- holds more than just the bones of those who’ve passed. For years, local children have whispered about a boogeyman hiding among the stalks. Could it be the same maniac known as Naked Florida man who’s been raising hell all over the place?

Seventeen stories by 17 brilliant writers, inspired by 17 paintings. That was the formula for Lawrence Block’s two groundbreaking anthologies, IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW and ALIVE IN SHAPE AND COLOR, and it’s on glorious display here once again in FROM SEA TO STORMY SEA. This time the paintings are exclusively the work of American artists, and the roster includes Harvey Dunn, John Steuart Curry, Reginald Marsh, Thomas Hart Benton, Helen Frankenthaler, Winslow Homer, Rockwell Kent, Grant Wood and Andy Warhol. Among the star-studded lineup of writers, you’ll find Warren Moore, Jerome Charyn, Jane Hamilton, Christa Faust, John Sandford, Sara Paretsky, Charles Ardai, Barry Malzberg and Janice Eidus.

When the decorated Captain of a great ship descends the gangplank for the final time, a new leader, a man with a yellow feather in his hair, vows to step forward and solemnly swears to shake things up. Together with his band of petty thieves and confidence men known as the Upskirt Boys, the Captain thrills his passengers, writing his dreams and notions on the cafeteria wipe-away board, boasting of his exemplary anatomy, devouring cheeseburgers, and tossing overboard anyone who displeases him. Until one day a famous pirate, long feared by passengers of the Glory but revered by the Captain for how phenomenally masculine he looked without a shirt while riding a horse, appears on the horizon.

Kate Potter used to love Christmas. A few years ago, she would have been wrapping her presents in September and baking mince pies on Halloween, counting down the days and hours to Christmas. But that was before Kate’s husband left for the army and never came home. Now she can hardly stand December at all. Kate can’t deny she’s lonely, yet she doesn’t think she’s ready for romance. She knows that her son, Jack, needs a Christmas to remember --- just like Kate needs a miracle to help her finally move forward with her life. So she’s decided if there isn’t a miracle on its way, she’ll just have to make her own. As Kate’s advent countdown to the best Christmas ever begins, she soon realizes that even with the best laid plans, you can’t plan for the unexpected.

In her comfy cottage nestled in the Derbyshire hills, Rosie Hopkins has good reason to feel a warm blush in her cheeks. With Christmas weeks away, the holiday is being ushered in with England’s first glorious snowfall of the season. Her boyfriend, Stephen, is starting his new job as a teacher in the village school. Her quaint Sweetshop and Confectionery has been restored to its former glory, and she has a lovable mop of a new puppy named Mr. Dog. Most joyous of all, Rosie and Stephen’s relatives will finally be gathering together in Lipton for what is sure to be a merry feast. But when a devastating tragedy strikes at the heart of the close-knit town, plans for a cozy Christmas are suddenly in danger of melting away.