Adult

Alex Dale is lost. Destructive habits have cost her a marriage and a journalism career. Then she discovers Amy Stevenson, who was found unconscious after a merciless assault and has been in a coma for 15 years. Unbeknownst to her doctors, Amy remains locked inside her body, conscious but paralyzed, reliving the past. Soon Alex’s routine includes visiting hours at the hospital, then interviews with the original suspects in the attack. But what starts as a reporter’s story becomes a personal obsession. How do you solve a crime when the only witness lived but cannot tell the tale?

Wendell and Frank meet at the end of World War II, when Frank returns home to their North Carolina town. Soon he's loitering around Wendell's taxidermy shop, and the two come to understand their connection as love --- a love that, in this time and place, can hold real danger. Cutting nearly all ties with the rest of the world, they make a home for themselves on the outskirts of town. But when Wendell finds Frank lying outside among their tomatoes at the age of 83, he feels a new threat to their careful self-reliance. As Frank's physical strength and his memory deteriorate, the two of them must fully confront the sacrifices they've made for each other --- and the impending loss of the life they've built.

Air force captain Riley McCord has come home on medical leave to find one heck of a welcome reception. Every unattached woman in Spring Hill, Texas, wants to nurse him back to health. That includes his childhood friend, Claire Davidson --- the only person who understands how damaged he really feels. In high school, she chose his best friend over him. According to Riley's rules, that should make her off-limits forever. But when Claire suggests a no-strings fling, he can't refuse. Yet once he realizes the depth of her feelings --- and his own --- he'll have to make the ultimate choice: return to the job he loves, or stay home for the woman who's always lived in his heart.

As thriller writer Hayden Winters is deeply ashamed of his past, his hunger for an honest relationship and dreams of starting a family remain unsatisfied. He's determined to outrun his personal demons, but the charming old Peach Orchard Inn and a woman whose presence is as gentle as a sparrow's song stops him in his tracks. Carrie Riley is afraid of everything from flying to thunderstorms, but meeting the enigmatic writer staying at the inn emboldens her to learn everything about him. When they discover a vulnerable boy hiding at the inn, Hayden is compelled to help Carrie protect him.

Ava’s 25-year marriage has fallen apart, and her two grown children are pursuing their own lives outside of the country. Ava joins a book group, not only for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The group’s goal throughout the year is for each member to present the book that matters most to them. Ava rediscovers a mysterious book from her childhood --- one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of her sister and mother. Alternating with Ava’s story is that of her troubled daughter Maggie, who, living in Paris, descends into a destructive relationship with an older man. Ava’s mission to find that book and its enigmatic author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers her and Maggie the chance to remake their lives.

When Samuel, a lonely linguistics lecturer, wakes up on New Year’s Day, he is convinced that the year ahead will bring nothing more than passive verbs and un-italicized moments --- until an unexpected visitor slips into his Barcelona apartment and refuses to leave. The appearance of Mishima, a stray, brindle-furred cat, becomes the catalyst that leads Samuel from the comforts of his favorite books, foreign films and classical music to places he’s never been (next door) and to people he might never have met (a neighbor with whom he’s never exchanged a word).

An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS brings together for the first time ever more than 60 pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics --- offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved and influential artists of our time.

Piper Dove is determined to become the best detective in Chicago. Her first job is to trail former Chicago Stars quarterback Cooper Graham. But Graham has spotted her, and he’s not happy. Piper soon finds herself working for Graham himself, although not as the bodyguard he refuses to admit he so desperately needs. Instead, he’s hired her to keep an eye on the employees at his exclusive new nightclub. But Coop’s life might be in danger, and Piper is determined to protect him. If only she weren’t also dealing with a bevy of Middle Eastern princesses, a Pakistani servant girl yearning for freedom, a teenager who just wants to fit in, and an elderly neighbor demanding that Piper find her very dead husband.

ALL SUMMER LONG is the story of how plans evolve and lives change in unexpected ways, how even those who have everything are still looking for something more. Dorothea Benton Frank’s latest novel asks the ultimate question: Can money buy happiness? From Sullivans Island to Necker Island to Nantucket to the beaches of Southern Spain, readers will come to recognize the many faces of true love, love that deepens and endures but only because one woman makes a tremendous leap of faith. And that leap changes everything.

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan lies in a well-guarded hospital room in Carmel, California. But she and Joe Quinn have sworn to protect an innocent young girl, Cara Delaney, whose enemies are getting closer by the hour. Weighing her own health against Cara’s safety, Eve decides they must disappear --- and so she turns to her daughter, Jane MacGuire, for an unexpected solution. After years of resistance, Jane has finally succumbed to the inevitable: John MacDuff’s insistent plea to track down a treasure presumed buried in Scotland. The remote mountains should be a perfect hiding place for Eve and Cara, but they soon realize there is nowhere distant enough from the ruthless predators who are on their trail.