Adult

Thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt, abandoned by his mother, follows his father to sun-splashed California in search of a dream. Suddenly forced to fend for himself, Russell struggles to survive in Marshfield, a dilapidated town haunted by a sadistic animal killer and a ring of malicious boys who bully Russell for being “queer.” Rescued from his booze-swilling father by Wen and Jian Mah, a Chinese immigrant couple who long for a child, Russell betrays their generosity by running away with their restaurant’s proceeds.

In a crooked house in South London, Melissa feels increasingly that she’s defined solely by motherhood, while Michael mourns the former thrill of their romance. In the suburbs, Stephanie’s aspirations for bliss on the commuter belt, coupled with her white middle-class upbringing, compound Damian’s itch for a bigger life catalyzed by the death of his activist father. Longtime friends from the years when passion seemed permanent, the couples have stayed in touch, gathering for births and anniversaries, bonding over discussions of politics, race and art. But as bonds fray, the lines once clearly marked by wedding bands aren’t so simply defined.

Kathy is a writer. Kathy is getting married. It’s the summer of 2017, and the whole world is falling apart. CRUDO unfolds in real time from the full-throttle perspective of a commitment-phobic artist who may or may not be Kathy Acker. From a Tuscan hotel for the superrich to a Brexit-paralyzed United Kingdom, Kathy spends the first summer of her 40s adjusting to the idea of a lifelong commitment. But it’s not only Kathy who’s changing. Fascism is on the rise, truth is dead, the planet is heating up, and Trump is tweeting the world ever-closer to nuclear war. How do you make art, let alone a life, when one rogue tweet could end it all?

There are three rules of Blackheath House: 1) Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00pm; 2) There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit; 3) We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. Understood? Then let's begin. Evelyn Hardcastle will die. She will die every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. Some of his hosts are helpful, and others only operate on a need-to-know basis.

As the 1960s draw to a close, the rural northeast Texas community of Center Springs is visited by two nondescript government men in dark suits and shades. Their delivery of a mysterious microscopic payload called Gold Dust from a hired crop duster coincides with 14-year-old Pepper Parker's discovery of an ancient gold coin in her dad's possession. Her adolescent trick played on a greedy adult results in the only gold rush in north Texas history. Add in modern-day cattle-rustlers and murderers, and Center Springs is once again the bull's-eye in a deadly target. The biological agent deemed benign by the CIA has unexpected repercussions, putting Pepper's near-twin cousin, Top, at death's door.

When funeral director and part-time deputy sheriff Barry Clayton and his childhood nemesis, Archie Donovan, Jr., unite to create a fundraising float in Gainesboro's annual Apple Festival Parade, everything goes wrong. First, the Grand Marshal, NC Secretary of Agriculture Graham James, is attacked by a gunman and Barry's Uncle Wayne is critically wounded in the melee. The assailant is killed. Then, when the body of a convenience store owner is discovered less than an hour later with the gunman's food stamp card in his wallet, the case escalates. Two men are dead. What is the connection? Barry and Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins swiftly learn that their small town offers no protection against big-time crime.

Best friends Rosie and Lisa's families had always been inseparable. But that summer, Lisa had an affair with Rosie's husband, Nick. None of them would forget that week on the wild Norfolk seacoast. Relationships were torn apart, friendships shattered and childish innocence destroyed. Now, after years of silence, a letter arrives that begs for help --- a letter that exposes dark secrets. Then Rosie’s daughter Daisy's fragile hold on reality begins to unravel. Teenage son Max blames himself for everything that happened that long hot summer, and Nick must confront his own version of events. As long-repressed memories bubble to the surface, the past has never seemed more present and the truth murkier.

When Shaun Bythell first thought of taking over The Bookshop, it seemed like a great idea: The Bookshop is Scotland's largest second-hand store, with over 100,000 books in a glorious old house with twisting corridors and roaring fireplaces, set in a tiny, beautiful town by the sea. It seemed like a book-lover's paradise. Until Bythell did indeed buy the store. In THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER, he tells us what happened next --- the trials and tribulations of being a small businessman; of learning that customers can be, um, eccentric; and of wrangling with his own staff of oddballs. And perhaps none are quirkier than the charmingly cantankerous bookseller Bythell himself turns out to be.

With her dream of opening The Cookie Jar taking shape, Hannah Swensen’s life matches the hectic December hustle and bustle in Lake Eden --- especially when she agrees to help recreate a spectacular Christmas Ball from the past in honor of Essie Granger, an elderly local in hospice care. But instead of poring over decadent dessert recipes for the merry festivities, she instantly becomes enthralled by Essie’s old notebooks and the tale of a woman escaping danger on the streets of New York. Hannah is surprised by Essie’s secret talent for penning crime fiction. She’s even more surprised when the story turns real.

Bill Belichick is perhaps the most fascinating figure in the NFL --- the infamously dour face of one of the winningest franchises in sports. As head coach of the New England Patriots, he’s led the team to six Super Bowl championship trophies. In Ian O’Connor’s revelatory biography, readers will come to understand and see Belichick’s full life in football --- from watching college games as a kid with his father, a Naval Academy scout, to orchestrating two Super Bowl–winning game plans as defensive coordinator for the Giants, to his dramatic leap to New England, where he has made history.