Adult

The body is the most complex machine in the world, and the only one for which you cannot get a replacement part from the manufacturer. For centuries, medicine has reached for what’s available --- sculpting noses from brass, borrowing skin from frogs and hearts from pigs, crafting eye parts from jet canopies and breasts from petroleum by-products. Today we’re attempting to grow body parts from scratch using stem cells and 3D printers. Mary Roach explores the remarkable advances and difficult questions prompted by the human body’s failings.

After making his debut in 1997’s THE KILLING FLOOR, Jack Reacher has quickly become one of the most popular --- and most enduring --- fictional heroes to emerge in the past half century. Now, his creator tells the stories behind the stories. These are the origin tales of all of the Reacher novels written solely by Lee Child, chock full of colorful anecdotes and intriguing inspirations. One by one, they expand upon each novel and place it in the context not only of the author’s life, but of the world outside the books. And taken together, they chart the rise of an action icon, from 1999’s THE KILLING FLOOR to 2019’s BLUE MOON. An afterword by crime fiction expert and bookseller Otto Penzler considers the importance of the character and novels in the canon of contemporary crime fiction.

In repressive Elizabethan England, artists are frightened into conventionality. Into this world of government censorship, comes a writer with an uncanny ear for Latin poetry, Christopher Marlowe. What Marlowe seizes in his opportunity for an education, and what he does with it, brings about a explosion of English literature. His success will nourish the talent of a collaborator and rival, William Shakespeare. DARK RENAISSANCE illuminates Marlowe’s times and significance of his work. Introducing us to Marlowe’s genius, Stephen Greenblatt brings understanding of the literary work to reveal the inner world of the author, bringing to life a homosexual atheist who was tormented, who refused to toe the party line, and who was murdered when he had found love.

Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her, she keeps her husband happy, her household running. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu's carefully crafted life begins to unravel. When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman's constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew --- and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?

The Hill is the kind of place everyone wants to live: luxurious, exclusive and safe. But now someone is breaking and entering these Cheshire homes one by one, and DS Leo Brady suspects the burglar is looking for something, or someone, in particular. Over the border in Wales, DC Ffion Morgan recovers the body of an estate agent from the lake. There's no love lost between Ffion and estate agents, but who hated this one enough to want her dead --- and why? As their cases collide, Ffion and Leo discover people will pay a high price to keep their secrets behind closed doors.

Lauryn Harper had a plan. A high-achieving, perfectly constructed, eight-year plan. But after a (totally blown out of proportion) mishap at work, that plan is put to the test. As punishment for her mistake, she is transferred to the Ryser charity department, a branch that just so happens to be located in the hometown she abandoned long ago --- and that her powerful corporate employer is responsible for running into the ground. Horrified at the thought of returning and facing those she left behind, Lauryn quickly comes up with a new plan: impress her boss enough that she's briskly whisked back to her big city life. However, it soon becomes clear that sticking to plans isn't that simple, especially when her ex-best friend enters the charity department demanding they help revitalize the town.

Hannah has been running from her demons ever since she emerged from a harrowing wilderness trip without her fiancé. No one knows exactly what happened the day Ben died, and Hannah would like to keep it that way...even if his ghost still haunts her with vivid waking nightmares that are ruining her life. So when her friend group gets an exclusive invitation to a restorative spiritual retreat in Joshua Tree, Hannah reluctantly agrees in search of a fresh start. Despite her skepticism of the strange Guru Pax and his belief in the supernatural world, Hannah soon finds healing through all the yoga, sound baths and hot springs offered at the tech-free haven. But this peaceful journey of self-discovery quickly descends into a violent fight for self-preservation when a mysterious killer starts picking off retreat attendees in increasingly gruesome ways.

Luke and his underground revolutionary group have been planning their biggest operation yet: kidnapping 23-year-old Adeline Woolsaw. They want to expose the Woolsaw Group, the source of Adeline’s parents’ enormous wealth, a company that runs everything from military bases and mental hospitals to commuter trains, and prisons. But the revolutionaries get a shock when they bundle Adeline into their van. She’s about to go into labor. And she may not object to being kidnapped, if it allows her and the baby to escape. It becomes apparent that this is no ordinary child. He’s capable of setting off deadly weather events. Adeline’s parents engineered the pregnancy as part of a bargain with an ancient evil. Now the Woolsaws will stop at nothing to get the infant back, so they can establish a new kingdom on Earth with their grandchild on the throne.

Barcelona 1936. Theo Sterling helps the Anarchist workers defeat the army that is trying to overthrow the democratically elected government, and he is reunited with his true love, Maria. But all too soon, his joy turns to terror as the Anarchists turn on him, led by a rival for Maria’s affection. Lucky to escape with his life, Theo returns to England to study at Oxford. But his heart is in Spain, now torn apart by a bloody civil war, and he is quick to abandon his new life when his old schoolmate, Esmond, offers him the chance to fight the Fascists. He is unprepared for the nightmare of war that crushes his spirit and his hope until, back in Barcelona, Theo is confronted with a final terrible choice that will define his life forever.

The abduction of two teenagers from their Vegas wedding isn’t a case Detective Lazarus Holloway wants to take --- it’s one he has to take. His only clue is a bracelet, etched with a Mayan symbol of death and vengeance --- two things the detective is familiar with. With no other leads, Lazarus enlists the help of guardian ad litem Piper Danes. They’ve got a complicated history, but Piper shares his compulsion to save children in need, no matter the personal cost. Unfortunately, that cost gets higher with every new revelation. As they tread further into the dangerous network surrounding the case, secrets from Lazarus’s past follow close behind. He soon finds himself entangled with the players in this game of life, death, and disappearances. And if he can’t figure out how he fits in, there may be no getting out.