From a master of modern American letters comes a collection of short fiction about people who, as E. L. Doctorow notes in his Preface, are somehow “distinct from their surroundings --- people in some sort of contest with the prevailing world.” 

James Bond, in his early 30s and already a veteran of the Afghan war, has been recruited to a new organization. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of MI5, MI6 and the Ministry of Defense, its very existence deniable. Its aim: To protect the Realm, by any means necessary.

Accused murderer Lee Coburn claims that Honor Gillette's beloved late husband possessed something extremely valuable that places Honor and her daughter in grave danger. Coburn has come to their house to retrieve it --- at any cost.

No one knew Stieg Larsson like his lifelong companion, Eva Gabrielsson. Here she tells the story of their 30-year romance, Stieg's lifelong struggle to expose Sweden’s Neo-Nazis, his difficult relationships with his immediate family, and the joy and relief he discovered writing the Millennium Trilogy.