Skip to main content

Editorial Content for Gratitude

Book

Reviewer (text)

Barbara Bamberger Scott

A neurologist who gained his greatest renown for his ability to write about his profession in a thoroughly human way, Oliver Sacks passed away in August of 2015. His literary legacy consists of these four short, personal, profound essays written in the last two years of his life as he contemplated the facts of age and dying. Read More

Teaser

No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks. During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death. “It is the fate of every human being,” Sacks writes, “to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.” Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.

Promo

No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks. During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death. “It is the fate of every human being,” Sacks writes, “to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.” Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.

About the Book

No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks. 

During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death.

“It is the fate of every human being,” Sacks writes, “to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.”

Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.

Audiobook available, narrated by Dan Woren

Editorial Content for A Wild Swan: And Other Tales

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Harvey Freedenberg

Michael Cunningham's new collection of short stories, one that updates an assortment of classic fairy tales, may strike admirers of novels like his Pulitzer Prize-winning THE HOURS or his most recent, THE SNOW QUEEN, as a radical departure from the literary fiction that has earned him his estimable reputation. That would be an erroneous conclusion, for each one of these emphatically grownup stories reveals again Cunningham's talent for characterization, his psychological acuity and his radiant prose. Read More

Teaser

A poisoned apple and a monkey's paw with the power to change fate; a girl whose extraordinarily long hair causes catastrophe; a man with one human arm and one swan's wing; and a house deep in the forest, constructed of gumdrops and gingerbread, vanilla frosting and boiled sugar. In A WILD SWAN, the people and the talismans of lands far, far away --- the mythic figures of our childhoods and the source of so much of our wonder --- are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation.

Promo

A poisoned apple and a monkey's paw with the power to change fate; a girl whose extraordinarily long hair causes catastrophe; a man with one human arm and one swan's wing; and a house deep in the forest, constructed of gumdrops and gingerbread, vanilla frosting and boiled sugar. In A WILD SWAN, the people and the talismans of lands far, far away --- the mythic figures of our childhoods and the source of so much of our wonder --- are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation.

About the Book

Fairy tales for our times from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of THE HOURS.

A poisoned apple and a monkey's paw with the power to change fate; a girl whose extraordinarily long hair causes catastrophe; a man with one human arm and one swan's wing; and a house deep in the forest, constructed of gumdrops and gingerbread, vanilla frosting and boiled sugar. In A WILD SWAN AND OTHER TALES, the people and the talismans of lands far, far away --- the mythic figures of our childhoods and the source of so much of our wonder --- are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation.

Here are the moments that our fairy tales forgot or deliberately concealed: the years after a spell is broken, the rapturous instant of a miracle unexpectedly realized, or the fate of a prince only half cured of a curse. The Beast stands ahead of you in line at the convenience store, buying smokes and a Slim Jim, his devouring smile aimed at the cashier. A malformed little man with a knack for minor acts of wizardry goes to disastrous lengths to procure a child. A loutish and lazy Jack prefers living in his mother's basement to getting a job, until the day he trades a cow for a handful of magic beans.

Reimagined by one of the most gifted storytellers of his generation and exquisitely illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, rarely have our bedtime stories been this dark, this perverse, or this true.

Audiobook available, narrated by Billy Hough and Lili Taylor

Editorial Content for And Yet…: Essays

Reviewer (text)

Barbara Bamberger Scott

It would be nearly impossible to read in English without at some point coming across an article or quotation by Christopher Hitchens, an American transplanted from England whose life spanned several critical phases in modern history. Hitchens was born for the role of social critic, but so much more --- acerbic yet kind at times, strict yet also forgiving. He suffered fools gladly, as grist for his mill, and the landscape of his writing is littered with fiery phrases like luminous gems. Read More

Teaser

The author of five previous volumes of selected writings, including the international bestseller ARGUABLY, Christopher Hitchens left at his death nearly 250,000 words of essays not yet published in book form. AND YET… assembles a selection that ranges from the literary to the political and is, by turns, a banquet of entertaining and instructive delights, including essays on Orwell, Lermontov, Chesterton, Fleming, Naipaul, Rushdie, Pamuk and Dickens, among others, as well as his laugh-out-loud self-mocking “makeover.”

Promo

The author of five previous volumes of selected writings, including the international bestseller ARGUABLY, Christopher Hitchens left at his death nearly 250,000 words of essays not yet published in book form. AND YET… assembles a selection that ranges from the literary to the political and is, by turns, a banquet of entertaining and instructive delights, including essays on Orwell, Lermontov, Chesterton, Fleming, Naipaul, Rushdie, Pamuk and Dickens, among others, as well as his laugh-out-loud self-mocking “makeover.”

About the Book

The death of Christopher Hitchens in December 2011 prematurely silenced a voice that was among the most admired of contemporary writers. For more than 40 years, Hitchens delivered to numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic essays that were astonishingly wide-ranging and provocative. The judges for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, posthumously bestowed on Hitchens, praised him for the way he wrote “with fervor about the books and writers he loved and with unbridled venom about ideas and political figures he loathed.” He could write, the judges went on to say, with “undisguised brio, mining the resources of the language as if alert to every possibility of color and inflection.” He was, as Benjamin Schwarz, his editor at The Atlantic magazine, recalled, “slashing and lively, biting and funny --- and with a nuanced sensibility and a refined ear that he kept in tune with his encyclopedic knowledge and near photographic memory of English poetry.” And as Michael Dirda, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, observed, Hitchens “was a flail and a scourge, but also a gift to readers everywhere.”

The author of five previous volumes of selected writings, including the international bestseller ARGUABLY, Hitchens left at his death nearly 250,000 words of essays not yet published in book form. AND YETassembles a selection that usefully adds to Hitchens’s oeuvre. It ranges from the literary to the political and is, by turns, a banquet of entertaining and instructive delights, including essays on Orwell, Lermontov, Chesterton, Fleming, Naipaul, Rushdie, Pamuk and Dickens, among others, as well as his laugh-out-loud self-mocking “makeover.” The range and quality of Hitchens’ essays transcend the particular occasions for which they were originally written. Often prescient, always pugnacious, and formidably learned, Hitchens was a polemicist for the ages. With this posthumous volume, his reputation and his readers will continue to grow.

Christopher Hitchens was the cartographer of his own literary and political explorations. He sought assiduously to affirm --- and to reaffirm --- the ideas of secularism, reason, libertarianism, internationalism and solidarity, values always under siege and ever in need of defending. Henry James once remarked, “Nothing is my last word on anything.” For Hitchens, as for James, there was always more to be said.

Audiobook available, narrated by Steve West

Editorial Content for Reacher Said Nothing: Lee Child and the Making of Make Me

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

When I first heard of REACHER SAID NOTHING, I had two thoughts, both of which were wrong. Read More

Teaser

Fans of Lee Child know well that the muscular star of his bestselling novels, Jack Reacher, is a man of few words --- and a lot of action. In REACHER SAID NOTHING, Andy Martin shadows Child like a literary private eye in a yearlong investigation of what it takes to make fiction’s hottest hero hit the page running. The result is an up-close-and-personal look into the world and ways of an expert storyteller’s creative process as he undertakes the writing of the much-anticipated 20th Jack Reacher novel, MAKE ME.

Promo

Fans of Lee Child know well that the muscular star of his bestselling novels, Jack Reacher, is a man of few words --- and a lot of action. In REACHER SAID NOTHING, Andy Martin shadows Child like a literary private eye in a yearlong investigation of what it takes to make fiction’s hottest hero hit the page running. The result is an up-close-and-personal look into the world and ways of an expert storyteller’s creative process as he undertakes the writing of the much-anticipated 20th Jack Reacher novel, MAKE ME.

About the Book

Fans of Lee Child know well that the muscular star of his bestselling novels, Jack Reacher, is a man of few words --- and a lot of action. In REACHER SAID NOTHING, Andy Martin shadows Child like a literary private eye in a yearlong investigation of what it takes to make fiction’s hottest hero hit the page running. The result is a fascinating, up-close-and-personal look into the world and ways of an expert storyteller’s creative process as he undertakes the writing of the much anticipated twentieth Jack Reacher novel,MAKE ME.
 
Fueled by copious mugs of black coffee, Lee Child squares off against the blank page (or, rather, computer screen), eager to follow his wandering imagination in search of a plot worthy of the rough and ready Reacher. While working in fits and starts, fine-tuning sentences, characters, twists and turns, Child plies Martin with anecdotes and insights about the life and times that shaped the man and his methods: from schoolyard scraps and dismal factory jobs to a successful TV production career and the life-changing decision to put pencil to paper. Then there’s the chance encounter that transformed aspiring author James Grant into household name “Lee Child.” And between bouts at the keyboard in an office high above Manhattan, there are jaunts to writers’ conventions, book signings, publishing powwows, chat shows, the Prado in Madrid, American diners and English pubs.
 
“Can I --- the storyteller --- get away with this?” Lee Child ponders, as he hones and hammers his latest nail-biter into fighting trim. Numerous bestsellers and near worldwide fame say he can. Jack Reacher may be a man of few words, but REACHER SAID NOTHING says it all about a certain tall man with a talent for coming out on top.

Editorial Content for The Master of the Prado

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kate Ayers

Imagine standing in Madrid’s Prado, one of the world’s greatest museums, before a huge painting by Raphael, just contemplating the masterpiece, when a man who has stood quietly next to you breaks the silence with a question that stuns you. He strikes up a conversation that, despite your better judgment, you cannot resist. The painting you have been admiring has hidden meaning, he says. Moreover, so do many others within these walls. Would you like to hear more? Read More

Teaser

Presented as a fictionalized autobiography, THE MASTER OF THE PRADO begins in Madrid in 1990, when Javier Sierra encounters a mysterious stranger named Luis Fovel within the halls of the Prado museum. Fovel takes him on a whirlwind tour and promises to uncover startling secrets hidden in the museum’s masterpieces. It is these secrets that lead Sierra to question his entire understanding of art history and unearth groundbreaking discoveries about European art.

Promo

Presented as a fictionalized autobiography, THE MASTER OF THE PRADO begins in Madrid in 1990, when Javier Sierra encounters a mysterious stranger named Luis Fovel within the halls of the Prado museum. Fovel takes him on a whirlwind tour and promises to uncover startling secrets hidden in the museum’s masterpieces. It is these secrets that lead Sierra to question his entire understanding of art history and unearth groundbreaking discoveries about European art.

About the Book

New York Times bestselling author Javier Sierra takes you on a grand tour of the Prado museum in this historical novel that illuminates the fascinating mysteries behind European art --- complete with gorgeous, full-color inserts of artwork by da Vinci, Boticelli and other master artists.

Presented as a fictionalized autobiography, THE MASTER OF THE PRADO begins in Madrid in 1990, when Sierra encounters a mysterious stranger named Luis Fovel within the halls of the Prado. Fovel takes him on a whirlwind tour and promises to uncover startling secrets hidden in the museum’s masterpieces --- secrets that open up a whole new world to Sierra.

The enigmatic Fovel reveals how a variety of visions, prophesies, conspiracies and even heresies inspired masters such as Raphael, Titian, Hieronymus Bosch, Botticelli, Brueghel and El Greco. The secrets they concealed in their paintings are stunning enough to change the way we think about art, uncovering mysteries about historical facts, secret sects and prophetical theories. It is these secrets that lead Sierra to question his entire understanding of art history and unearth groundbreaking discoveries about European art.

At once a captivating novel and a beautifully illustrated reference guide to Madrid’s famed museum, THE MASTER OF THE PRADO is full of insights and intriguing mysteries. Sierra brings historical characters alive in this astounding narrative filled with dazzling surprises that will entrance you as much as the pictures within.

Editorial Content for Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ann Bruns

Once a year, I make a pilgrimage to New York City to shop, dine and binge on the latest Broadway shows. To be truthful, I could shop and dine in most any city, but there’s just no venue anywhere that can compete with the unique dynamic of Broadway. I love those beautiful old theaters where musicals like “Cabaret” and “South Pacific” lit up the stage or plays like “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” rocked the emotions. Read More

Teaser

Broadway’s most respected (and feared) commentator pulls back the curtain on its stars, producers and mega-hits to reveal all the shocking drama, intrigue and power plays that happened off stage. RAZZLE DAZZLE is a no-holds-barred narrative account of the people, money and power that reinvented an iconic quarter of New York City, turning its gritty back alleys and sex shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way --- and bringing a crippled New York from the brink of bankruptcy to its glittering glory.

Promo

Broadway’s most respected (and feared) commentator pulls back the curtain on its stars, producers and mega-hits to reveal all the shocking drama, intrigue and power plays that happened off stage. RAZZLE DAZZLE is a no-holds-barred narrative account of the people, money and power that reinvented an iconic quarter of New York City, turning its gritty back alleys and sex shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way --- and bringing a crippled New York from the brink of bankruptcy to its glittering glory.

About the Book

Broadway’s most respected (and feared) commentator pulls back the curtain on its stars, its producers and its mega-hits to reveal all the shocking drama, intrigue and power plays that happened off stage.

RAZZLE DAZZLE is a provocative, no-holds-barred narrative account of the people and the money and the power that reinvented an iconic quarter of New York City, turning its gritty back alleys and sex shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way --- and bringing a crippled New York from the brink of bankruptcy to its glittering glory.

In the mid-1970s Times Square was the seedy symbol of New York’s economic decline. Its once shining star, the renowned Shubert Organization, was losing theaters to make way for parking lots. Bernard Jacobs and Jerry Schoenfeld, two ambitious board members, saw the crumbling company was ripe for takeover and staged a coup amidst corporate intrigue, personal betrayals, and criminal investigations. Once Jacobs and Schoenfeld solidified their power, they turned a collapsed theater-owning holding company into one of the most successful entertainment empires in the world, ultimately backing many of Broadway’s biggest hits, including "A Chorus Line," "Cats," "Les Miserables," "Phantom of the Opera" and "Mamma Mia!" They also sparked the revitalization of Broadway and the renewal of Times Square.

Now Michael Riedel tells the stories of the Shubert Organization and the shows that rebuilt a city in grand style, revealing the backstage drama that often rivaled what transpired onstage, exposing bitter rivalries, unlikely alliances, and --- of course --- scintillating gossip. This is a great story, told with wit and passion.

Audiobook available, narrated by Peter Berkrot

Editorial Content for American Blood

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

Even as 2015 winds down, books of all degrees of merit continue to be published. One of the best this year has snuck in under the wire: AMERICAN BLOOD, Ben Sanders’ fourth novel. His first three, known as the Auckland Trilogy, achieved high critical acclaim and can be had with a bit of digging. You will want to make the attempt after reading his latest, which is wonderful in every possible way. Read More

Teaser

After a botched undercover operation, ex-NYPD officer Marshall Grade is living in witness protection in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The mob wants him dead, and a contract killer known as the Dallas Man has been hired to track him down. Racked with guilt over wrongs committed during his undercover work, Marshall investigates the disappearance of a local woman named Alyce Ray. Members of a drug ring seem to hold clues to Ray's whereabouts, but hunting traffickers is no quiet task. Word of Marshall's efforts spreads, and soon the worst elements of his former life --- including the Dallas Man --- are coming for him.

Promo

After a botched undercover operation, ex-NYPD officer Marshall Grade is living in witness protection in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The mob wants him dead, and a contract killer known as the Dallas Man has been hired to track him down. Racked with guilt over wrongs committed during his undercover work, Marshall investigates the disappearance of a local woman named Alyce Ray. Members of a drug ring seem to hold clues to Ray's whereabouts, but hunting traffickers is no quiet task. Word of Marshall's efforts spreads, and soon the worst elements of his former life --- including the Dallas Man --- are coming for him.

About the Book

In Ben Sanders' AMERICAN BLOOD a former undercover cop now in witness protection finds himself pulled into the search for a missing woman; film rights sold to Warner Bros with Bradley Cooper attached to star and produce.

After a botched undercover operation, ex-NYPD officer Marshall Grade is living in witness protection in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Marshall's instructions are to keep a low profile: the mob wants him dead, and a contract killer known as the Dallas Man has been hired to track him down. Racked with guilt over wrongs committed during his undercover work, and seeking atonement, Marshall investigates the disappearance of a local woman named Alyce Ray.

Members of a drug ring seem to hold clues to Ray's whereabouts, but hunting traffickers is no quiet task. Word of Marshall's efforts spreads, and soon the worst elements of his former life, including the Dallas Man, are coming for him.

Written by a rising New Zealand star who has been described as "first rate," this American debut drops a Jack Reacher-like hero into the landscape of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

Audiobook available, narrated by George Newbern

Editorial Content for Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain's Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Lorraine W. Shanley

Even those who don’t claim an intimate knowledge of World War II will be familiar with Winston Churchill’s relentless refusal to entertain the notion of surrender, even in Britain’s darkest hours --- or, more accurately, four months. Read More

Teaser

London in April 1940 was a place of great fear and conflict. The Germans were marching. They had taken Poland, France, Holland, Belgium and Czechoslovakia, and were now menacing Britain. Churchill, leading the faction to fight, and Lord Halifax, cautioning that prudence was the way to survive, attempted to usurp one another by any means possible. Drawing on the War Cabinet papers, other government documents, private diaries, newspaper accounts and memoirs, historian John Kelly tells the story of the summer of 1940 --- the months of the “Supreme Question” of whether or not the British were to surrender.

Promo

London in April 1940 was a place of great fear and conflict. The Germans were marching. They had taken Poland, France, Holland, Belgium and Czechoslovakia, and were now menacing Britain. Churchill, leading the faction to fight, and Lord Halifax, cautioning that prudence was the way to survive, attempted to usurp one another by any means possible. Drawing on the War Cabinet papers, other government documents, private diaries, newspaper accounts and memoirs, historian John Kelly tells the story of the summer of 1940 --- the months of the “Supreme Question” of whether or not the British were to surrender.

About the Book

A remarkably vivid account of a key moment in Western history: The critical six months in 1940 when Winston Churchill debated whether the British would fight Hitler.

London in April 1940 was a place of great fear and conflict. Everyone was on edge; civilization itself seemed imperiled. The Germans are marching. They have taken Poland, France, Holland, Belgium and Czechoslovakia. They now menace Britain. Should Britain negotiate with Germany? The members of the War Cabinet bicker, yell, lose their control and are divided. Churchill, leading the faction to fight, and Lord Halifax, cautioning that prudence is the way to survive, attempt to usurp one another by any means possible. Their country is on the line. And, in NEVER SURRENDER, we feel we are alongside these complex and imperfect men, determining the fate of the British Empire.

Drawing on the War Cabinet papers, other government documents, private diaries, newspaper accounts and memoirs, historian John Kelly tells the story of the summer of 1940 --- the months of the “Supreme Question” of whether or not the British were to surrender. Impressive in scope and attentive to detail, Kelly takes readers from the battlefield to Parliament, to the government ministries, to the British high command, to the desperate Anglo-French conference in Paris and London, to the American embassy in London, and to life with the ordinary Britons. He brings to life one of the most heroic moments of the twentieth century and intimately portrays some of its largest players --- Churchill, Lord Halifax, FDR, Joe Kennedy, Hitler, Stalin and others.

NEVER SURRENDER is a fabulous, grand narrative of a crucial period in World War II history and the men and women who shaped it.

Audiobook available, narrated by Gordon Greenhill

Editorial Content for Bohemian Gospel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Although strong female protagonists have made a huge literary impact in recent years, few have caught my attention like Mouse, the enigmatic main character of Dana Chamblee Carpenter’s stunning debut, BOHEMIAN GOSPEL. A combination of dark fantasy and rich historical detail, this book has it all: romance, suspense and even a healthy dose of the supernatural. And at the center of it all is 15-year-old Mouse, one of the most well-rounded, fascinating characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. Read More

Teaser

Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. When young King Ottakar shows up at the Abbey wounded by a traitor's arrow, Mouse breaks church law to save him and then agrees to accompany him back to Prague as his personal healer. Caught in the undertow of court politics at the castle, Ottakar and Mouse find themselves drawn to each other as they work to uncover the threat against him and to unravel the mystery of her past.

Promo

Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. When young King Ottakar shows up at the Abbey wounded by a traitor's arrow, Mouse breaks church law to save him and then agrees to accompany him back to Prague as his personal healer. Caught in the undertow of court politics at the castle, Ottakar and Mouse find themselves drawn to each other as they work to uncover the threat against him and to unravel the mystery of her past.

About the Book

Set against the historical reign of the Golden and Iron King, BOHEMIAN GOSPEL is the remarkable tale of a bold and unusual girl on a quest to uncover her past and define her destiny.

Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. Some call her a witch. Others call her an angel. Even Mouse doesn’t know who --- or what --- she is. But she means to find out.

When young King Ottakar shows up at the Abbey wounded by a traitor's arrow, Mouse breaks church law to save him and then agrees to accompany him back to Prague as his personal healer. Caught in the undertow of court politics at the castle, Ottakar and Mouse find themselves drawn to each other as they work to uncover the threat against him and to unravel the mystery of her past. But when Mouse's unusual gifts give rise to a violence and strength that surprise everyone --- especially herself --- she is forced to ask herself: Will she be prepared for the future that awaits her?

A heart-thumping, highly original tale in the vein of Elizabeth Kostova's THE HISTORIAN, BOHEMIAN GOSPEL heralds the arrival of a fresh new voice for historical fiction.

Editorial Content for The Mistake I Made

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Judy Frasca

The protagonist in THE MISTAKE I MADE, Paula Daly’s latest novel (following JUST WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU? and KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE), is Roz, a single mother who is struggling on her own following the end of her marriage to an irresponsible man who offers no financial support to either her or her son, George.

"This is an excellent psychological thriller that had me mesmerized from first page to last."

Teaser

After the dissolution of her marriage, Roz’s business has gone under, debts are racking up, the rent is late (again), and she's struggling to provide for her nine-year-old son. At her sister’s birthday party, Roz meets Scott Elias, who makes her an offer to spend the night with him --- for money. With that kind of cash, she could clear her debts and get her life back on track. But as the situation spirals out of her control, Roz is forced to do things she never thought herself capable of. Can she ever set things right again?

Promo

After the dissolution of her marriage, Roz’s business has gone under, debts are racking up, the rent is late (again), and she's struggling to provide for her nine-year-old son. At her sister’s birthday party, Roz meets Scott Elias, who makes her an offer to spend the night with him --- for money. With that kind of cash, she could clear her debts and get her life back on track. But as the situation spirals out of her control, Roz is forced to do things she never thought herself capable of. Can she ever set things right again?

About the Book

In this provocative and riveting thriller, Paula Daly focuses her masterful eye for psychological suspense and family drama on a clandestine affair that has fatal repercussions.

Single mother Roz has reached breaking-point. After the dissolution of her marriage, her business has gone under, debts are racking up, the rent is late again, and she's struggling to provide for her nine-year-old son, who is starting to misbehave in school. When she returns home from work one day to find an eviction notice, she has two weeks to come up with a solution before they're kicked out. Roz is in trouble, real trouble, and she doesn't know where to turn. Then an unusual opportunity presents itself.

At her sister's birthday party, Roz meets Scott Elias --- wealthy, powerful and very married --- and she leaves an indelible impression on him. So much so that he tracks her down and makes her an offer: to spend the night with him...for money. He wants no-strings-attached intimacy and can guarantee total discretion. With that kind of cash, Roz could clear her debts and get her life back on track. But how much is Roz willing to compromise in order to keep her family safe? As the seemingly straightforward arrangement grows ever complicated, Scott becomes obsessive and dangerously controlling, and Roz is forced to do things she never thought herself capable of in order to safeguard her life.

The latest page-turner from one of England's most captivating thriller writers, THE MISTAKE I MADE takes a gripping turn into a world of sex, blackmail and murder within a tightly knit community that is more familiar with solitude than scandal.