Adult

Over the course of nine loosely connected stories, HOT LITTLE HANDS introduces us to young women, at once clever and naïve, who struggle to navigate the chronic uncertainty and very real dangers that come with being impatient for the future and reluctant to leave childhood behind. Abigail Ulman’s voice feels of the moment --- sharp and powerful --- as she deftly explores ageless themes of sex and maturity among girls who are both confident and frighteningly exposed.

When a viral video of an explosive terrorist attack on the Golden Gate Bridge reveals that a Federal witness long thought dead is still alive, the organization he'd agreed to testify against will stop at nothing to put him in the ground. FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson calls the only person on the planet who can keep her witness safe: Michael Hendricks. Once a covert operative for the US military, Hendricks makes his living hitting hitmen... or he did, until the very organization hunting Charlie's witness --- the Council --- caught wind and targeted the people he loves. He is now determined to take the Council down, even if it means wading into the center of a terror plot whose perpetrators are not what they seem.

Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow,” but the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. Queens are still  only human, so young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness.

Zoe Maisey is a 17-year-old musical prodigy with a genius IQ. Three years ago, she was involved in a tragic incident that left three classmates dead. She served her time, and now her mother, Maria, is resolved to keep that devastating fact tucked far away from their new beginning, hiding the past even from her new husband and demanding Zoe do the same. Tonight Zoe is giving a recital that Maria has been planning for months. But, by the end of the evening, Maria is dead. In the aftermath, everyone tries to piece together what happened. But as Zoe knows all too well, the truth is rarely straightforward, and the closer we are to someone, the less we may see.

In the years following the Civil War, Mariah Reddick, former slave to Carrie McGavock --- the "Widow of the South" --- has quietly built a new life for herself as a midwife to the women of Franklin, Tennessee. But when her ambitious, politically minded grown son, Theopolis, is murdered, Mariah --- no stranger to loss --- finds her world once more breaking apart. How could this happen? Who wanted him dead? Mariah's journey to uncover the truth leads her to unexpected people --- including George Tole, a recent arrival to town, fleeing a difficult past of his own --- and forces her to confront the truths of her own past.

In 1944, twin sisters Pearl and Stasha Zagorski arrive in Auschwitz and become part of the experimental population of twins known as Mengele's Zoo. That winter, at a concert orchestrated by Mengele, Pearl disappears and Stasha is left in the Zoo alone, clinging to hope that her twin remains alive. After the Red Army liberates the camp, Stasha and her companion, Feliks --- who has also lost his twin to Mengele's Zoo --- travel through a devastated Poland, undeterred by injury, starvation or the chaos around them. As the young survivors discover what has become of the world, they must try to imagine a future within it.

Donald is sure that he and his wife, Viv, who runs the local stables, are both devoted to their two children and to each other. Then Mercury --- a gorgeous young thoroughbred with a murky past --- arrives at Windy Hill, and everything changes. Mercury’s owner, Hilary, is a newcomer to town who has enrolled her daughter in riding lessons. When she brings Mercury to board at Windy Hill, everyone is struck by his beauty and prowess, particularly Viv. As she rides him, Viv begins to dream of competing again, embracing the ambitions that she had harbored, yet relinquished, as a young woman. Her daydreams soon morph into consuming desire, and her infatuation with the thoroughbred escalates to obsession.

With the discovery of a murder at an abandoned construction site, Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is brought in on a case that becomes much more dangerous when the dead man is identified as an ex-cop. Studying the body, Sara Linton --- the GBI’s newest medical examiner and Will’s lover --- realizes that the extensive blood loss didn't belong to the corpse. Sure enough, bloody footprints leading away from the scene indicate there is another victim who has vanished and will die soon if she isn’t found. Evidence soon links Will’s troubled past to the case, and the consequences will tear through his life with the force of a tornado, wreaking havoc for Will and everyone around him.

Juniper French was born four months early, weighing in at one pound, four ounces. Babies like Juniper, born at the edge of viability, trigger the question: Which is the greater act of love --- to save her, or to let her go? Kelley and Thomas French chose to fight for Juniper's life. Here, they explore the border between what is possible and what is right. They marvel at the science that conceived and sustained their daughter and the love that made the difference. They trace the journey of their family from its fragile beginning to the miraculous survival of their now-thriving daughter.

Although she’s Anglo-Irish, Kitty Deverill’s heart completely belongs to the wild countryside of the Emerald Isle, and her devotion to her Irish-Catholic friends Bridie Doyle, the daughter of the castle’s cook, and Jack O’Leary, the vet’s son, is unmatched. Jack and Kitty can’t help falling in love, although they both know their union faces the greatest obstacles since they are from different worlds. Bridie can’t help dreaming of someday having all the wealth and glamour Kitty’s station in life affords her. But when she discovers a secret that Kitty has been keeping from her, Bridie finds herself growing resentful toward the girl in the castle who seems to have it all.