Adult

Even the deadliest gangs in Chicagoland fear the Cross Crew and carefully avoid their cinderblock bunker headquarters.The Crew is notorious for its ruthless efficiency and cold-blooded cunning. Why, then, would anyone be foolhardy enough to threaten them --- and, even more dangerously, their loved ones? As Cross catches the scent of a far-reaching conspiracy, he realizes that it all connects to an unexplained event in his past: a massacre from which he emerged inexplicably unscathed, save for the blue mark on his face that pulses when danger is near. If he's reading the signs accurately, Cross might find himself again facing a terrible menace that is not altogether human.

Orphaned by an act of senseless violence that took their mother from them, half-brothers Clarence Luckman and Elliott Danziger have been raised in state institutions, unaware of any world beyond its walls. But their lives take a sudden turn when they are seized as hostages by a convicted killer en route to death row. Earl Sheridan is a psychopath of the worst kind, and as he and his two hostages set off on a frenetic path through California down to Texas, Clarence and Elliot must come to terms with the ever-growing tide of violence in their wake.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten, chef and owner of 18 restaurants around the world, pioneered Asian-fusion cuisine and cooks this food better than anyone on the planet. In ASIAN FLAVORS OF JEAN-GEORGES, he presents dozens of recipes for reproducing the dishes that have made his restaurants --- Vong, Spice Market and 66 --- the hottest dining destinations in New York City.

Kate Reilly is thrown into a new social scene and a murder investigation when she arrives in Long Beach, CA, a week before the Grand Prix. Her cousin Billy is found dead, with her card in his pocket. At the same time Kate is called to investigate, she’s coaching a gorgeous actress for a celebrity race and meets Hollywood’s hottest bachelor. Her professional dreams are also coming true: she’s racing in the upcoming Grand Prix. Kate must juggle her social life as she juggles her suspects, all while staying out of a killer’s grasp.

Tai Rudolph has gladly rebooted her life in Atlanta. It’s been a year since she got together with her sexy, ex-SWAT-team lover Trey and a year since confronting a checkered list of ruffians and villains, mostly now put behind bars. One of these criminals is Jasper, Tai’s cousin and the leader of a white militia splinter group. When witnesses against Jasper start turning up dead, Tai decides that she has to take him down once and for all, even if it means confronting her past.

When Isabel meets Edward, both are at a crossroads: he wants to follow his late wife to the grave, and she is ready to give up on love. As they gather each week for the glorious dinners that Edward prepares, he shares so much more than his recipes for apple galette or the perfect martini, or even his tips for deboning poultry. Edward is teaching Isabel the luxury of slowing down and taking the time to think through everything she does, to deconstruct her own life, cutting it back to the bone and examining the guts, no matter how messy that proves to be.

In the title story of Joyce Carol Oates’ haunting collection of six “tales of terror,” a young boy becomes obsessed with his cousin’s doll after she tragically passes away from leukemia. As he grows older, he begins to collect “found dolls” from the surrounding neighborhoods and stores his treasures in the abandoned carriage house on his family's estate. But just what kind of dolls are they? Joyce Carol Oates evokes the “fascination of the abomination” that is at the core of the most profound, the most unsettling and the most memorable of dark mystery fiction.

With a birthmark covering half her face, 13-year-old Madelyn Branch is accustomed to cold and awkward greetings, and expects no less in the struggling town of Reliance. After all, her mother, Rebecca, was careful not to mention a daughter in the Matrimonial Times ad that brought them there. When Rebecca weds, Madelyn poses as her mother’s younger sister and earns a grudging berth in her new house. Deeply injured by her mother’s deceptions, Madelyn soon leaves to enter the service of Miss Rose Werner, prodigal daughter of the town’s founder. Madelyn wants to feel beautiful and loved, and she pins her hopes on William Stark, a young photographer and haunted Civil War veteran.

On May 19, 1942, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey 50 miles from New Orleans. Captained by 29-year-old Iron Cross and King's Cross recipient Erich Würdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with 62 souls on board. Most were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family. Fast asleep in their berths, they had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued --- and each family member had to find his or her own path to survival.