Decorated US Navy SEAL lieutenant Jason Redman served his country courageously and with distinction in Colombia, Peru, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where he commanded mobility and assault forces. He conducted over forty capture/kill missions with his men in Iraq, locating more than 120 al-Qaida insurgents. But his journey was not without supreme challenges both emotional and physical. Redman is brutally honest about his struggles to learn how to be an effective leader, yet that effort pales beside the story of his critical wounding in 2007 while leading a mission against a key al-Qaida commander. On that mission his team was ambushed and he was struck by machine-gun fire at point-blank range.During the intense recovery period that followed, Redman gained national attention when he posted a sign on his door at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, warning all who entered not to feel sorry for [his] wounds. His sign became both a statement and a symbol for wounded warriors everywhere.From his grueling SEAL training to his search for a balance between arrogance and humility, Redman shares it all in this inspiring and unforgettable account. He speaks candidly of the grit that sustained him despite grievous wounds, and of the extraordinary love and devotion of his wife, Erica, and his family, without whom he would not have survived.Vivid and powerful, emotionally resonant and illuminating, The Trident traces the evolution of a modern warrior, husband, and father, a man who has come to embody the never-say-die spirit that defines the SEALs, one of America's elite fighting forces.

Mitt Romney has masterfully positioned himself as the front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Even though he’s become a household name, the former Massachusetts governor remains an enigma to many in America, his character and core convictions elusive, his record little known. Who is the man behind that sweep of dark hair, distinguished white sideburns, and high-wattage smileHe often seems to be two people at once: a savvy politician, and someone who will simply say anything to win. A business visionary, and a calculating dealmaker. A man comfortable in his faith and with family, and one who can have trouble connecting with average voters. In this definitive, unflinching biography by Boston Globe investigative reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman, readers will finally discover the real Romney. The book explores Romney’s personal life, his bond with his wife and how they handled her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, and his difficult years as a Mormon missionary in France, where a fatal car crash had a profound effect on his path. It also illuminates Romney’s privileged upbringing in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; his rejection of the 1960s protest culture; and his close but complicated relationship with his father. Based on more than five years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, The Real Romney includes a probing analysis of Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading private investment firms, where staggering profits were won through leveraged buyouts that helped create jobs but also destroyed them. This penetrating portrait offers important new details, too, on Romney’s failed Senate race against Ted Kennedy, his role leading the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics, and his championing of universal health care in Massachusetts. Drawing on previously undisclosed campaign memos, e-mails, and interviews with key players, Kranish and Helman reveal the infighting and disagreement that sunk Romney’s 2008 White House bid—and his conscious decision to switch tactics for his 2012 run. In The Real Romney, Kranish and Helman delve searchingly into the psyche of a complex man now at his most critical juncture—the private Romney whom few people see. They show the remarkable lengths to which Romney has gone in order to succeed in politics and business, shrewdly shifting identities as needed, bringing tough-minded strategy to every decision, and always carefully safeguarding his public image. For the first time, readers will gain a full understanding of the kind of man Romney is—the kind of man who may be running their country.

The true account of one boy’s lifelong search for his boarding-school bully. Equal parts childhood memoir and literary thriller, Whipping Boy chronicles prize-winning author Allen Kurzweil’s search for his twelve-year-old nemesis, a bully named Cesar Augustus. The obsessive inquiry, which spans some forty years, takes Kurzweil all over the world, from a Swiss boarding school (where he endures horrifying cruelty) to the slums of Manila, from the Park Avenue boardroom of the world’s largest law firm to a federal prison camp in Southern California. While hunting down his tormentor, Kurzweil encounters an improbable cast of characters that includes an elocution teacher with ill-fitting dentures, a gang of faux royal swindlers, a crime investigator “with paper in his blood,” and a onocled grand master of the Knights of Malta. Yet for all its global exoticism and comic exuberance, Kurzweil’s riveting account is, at its core, a heartfelt and suspenseful narrative about the “parallel lives” of a victim and his abuser. A scrupulously researched work of nonfiction that renders a childhood menace into an unlikely muse, Whipping Boy is much more than a tale of karmic retribution; it is a poignant meditation on loss, memory, and mourning, a surreal odyssey born out of suffering, nourished by rancor, tempered by wit, and resolved, unexpectedly, in a breathtaking act of personal courage. Whipping Boy features two 8-page black-and-white photo inserts and 83 images throughout.

One of Oprah Magazine's 21 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020 + Marie Claire's Best New Books of 2020New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with a unique, sexy romantic comedy about a young married couple whose rocky relationship needs a serious renovation... Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be anyway. Now Rosie’s lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with ten years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp. Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to-emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope. But to her surprise, he’s all in, and it forces her to admit her own role in their cracked foundation. As they complete one ridiculous—yet surprisingly helpful—assignment after another, their remodeled relationship gets stronger than ever. Except just as they’re getting back on track, Rosie discovers Dom has a secret... and it could demolish everything.“Her voice feels as fresh and contemporary as a Netflix rom-com.” —Entertainment Weekly

How far would you go to get what you wantedThe author of Don't Try to Find Me returns with a taut, riveting novel of psychological suspense about a woman determined to be a mother despite a past full of secrets, a husband who's nowhere near ready for fatherhood, and a teenaged birth mother with a mysterious agenda of her own.Thirty-nine-year-old Adrienne has tried before to adopt a child, but this time, nothing is going to get in her way. Sure, her husband, Gabe, is ambivalent about fatherhood. But she knows that once he holds their baby, he'll come around. He's just feeling a little threatened, that's all. Because once upon a time, it was Gabe that Adrienne wanted more than anything; she was willing to do anything. . . . But that was half a lifetime ago. She's a different person now. There are lines she wouldn't cross, not without extreme provocation. And sure, she was bitten by another birth mother—clear to the bone—and for most people, it's once bitten, twice shy. But Adrienne isn't exactly the retiring type. Enter Leah. At nineteen, she bears a remarkable resemblance to the young woman Adrienne once was. Which is why Adrienne knows the baby Leah is carrying is meant to be hers. But Leah's got ideas of her own. If Gabe and Adrienne let her live with them for a year, they get the baby, free and clear. All Leah wants is a fresh start in California, and a soft landing. Or so she says.It seems like a small price for Adrienne to pay to get their baby. And with Gabe suddenly on board, what could possibly go wrong?

The five members of the Truants –– Richie, John, Brian, Jerry and Tim –– graduated from toney Chase Academy in New Hampshire 30 years ago. Before they left, they managed to record an album called "Out of Site." Nearing the age of 50, they learn that a German record collector has paid $10,000 for one copy of their work. At the urging of Dino Paradise, a grossly overweight and overly avid fan, the Truants aim to reunite and cash in. But miles from the horizon of youth, weighed down by bad marriages and mortgaged ambitions, they will have to get out of their own way to get back together. Richie, a divorce lawyer, will have to tear himself away from seducing clients with his karaoke skills. John, a dermatologist, needs to escape all the would–be patients who drop their pants at parties to ask for his advice. Tim must convince his wife to accept his drum set, which he keeps hidden in the attic the way most guys hide porn. Brian will have to step away from the thesis he's been barely trying to complete for 25 years. And all four will have to track down Jerry, a degenerate gambler/Equal addict who was last seen flying to the Caymans for his bookie with $1 million in cash taped to his body. And that's not to mention the delusional sister, the anatomically–blessed baker, a couple of vengeful spouses, Les Paul, and former J. Geils lead singer Peter Wolf.

From the author of Still Life with Elephant comes the story of one woman and her quest to save a majestic animal.After a year spent caring for baby elephants in Africa, Neelie Sterling is preparing to return to the States and a life filled with exes—ex-boyfriend, ex-husband, ex-house, ex-horse. But she is leaving behind some unfinished business in Zimbabwe: a very special elephant targeted for execution. With the help of her new friend Diamond-Rose Tremaine, an eccentric safari operator, Neelie manages to buy some time for the imperiled pachyderm, knowing that when she lands in New York they'll need to raise funds for his rescue.Once they're home, everything becomes a struggle. Neelie and Diamond-Rose now must relearn how to survive in an urban jungle of table manners and real beds while coping with the overbearing affections of Neelie's family. Harder still, Neelie desperately needs the help of her wealthy conservationist ex-boyfriend, Tom, to save the magnificent creature—and swallowing her pride just might be the biggest challenge of all.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Colors, a stunning new novel of sun, sand, love, and family set against the beautiful backdrop of the South Carolina coastDevastated by tragedy during her last project, documentarian Abbie Sinclair thinks she has nothing left to give by the time she arrives in Stargazey Point. Once a popular South Carolina family destination, the town's beaches have eroded, local businesses are closing, and skyrocketing taxes are driving residents away. Stargazey Point, like Abbie, is fighting to survive.But Abbie is drawn slowly into the lives of the people around her: the Crispin siblings, three octogenarians sharing a looming plantation house; Cab Reynolds, who left his work as an industrial architect to refurbish his uncle's antique carousel, a childhood sanctuary; Ervina, an old Gullah wisewoman with the power to guide Abbie to a new life, if only she'd let her; and a motley crew of children whom Abbie can't ignore.Abbie came seeking a safe haven, but what she finds is so much more. For Stargazey Point is a magical place?.?.?.?a place for dreamers?.?.?.?a place that can lead you home.

“Call me Ishmael.”Thus begins one of the most famous journeys in literature—the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod and its embattled, monomaniacal Captain Ahab. Ishmael quickly learns that the Pequod’s captain sails for revenge against the elusive Moby Dick, a sperm whale with a snow-white hump and mottled skin that destroyed Ahab’s former vessel and left him crippled. As the Pequod sails deeper through the nights and into the sea, the divisions between man and nature begin to blur—so do the lines between good and evil, as the fates of the ship’s crewmen become increasingly unclear....Melville’s classic tale of obsession and the sea, one of the most important and enduring masterworks of nineteenth-century literature, Moby Dick is a riveting drama, exploring rage, hope, destiny, and the deepest questions of moral truth.

After successfully completing their mission to rescue Marshal Augustin Lucerne’s daughter, Astra, the crew of the Wolf’s Claw are enjoying some well-deserved rest—all, that is, except Blackhawk. The gun-for-hire cannot escape Lucerne’s relentless pleas for help against growing imperial control in the Far Stars. While Blackhawk deeply respects his friend, he fears that the power Lucerne offers will lead him back to his old, dark ways.His resistance crumbles, however, when Lucerne presents evidence that the imperial governor has been manipulating the conflicts in the Far Stars. Convinced of the deadly danger of imperial domination, Blackhawk and his crew board the Wolf’s Claw once more and set out to gather intelligence on the Empire’s movements—the proof Lucerne needs to unite the fractured and feuding worlds of the Far Stars into a single power bloc capable of resisting imperial aggression. But deep in the sparsely populated territory of the Far Stars, he discovers that the imperial governor’s machinations are far reaching—and threaten the independence of every world this side of the Void.A man seemingly running from himself, Blackhawk is beginning to realize he can no longer remain a prisoner of his own past while the future of the Far Stars is in jeopardy.

A haunting, suspenseful, and dazzlingly written novel of secrets, corruption, tragedy, and vengeance from the author of Crazy Heart—the basis for the 2009 Academy Award-winning film. An electrifying crime drama and psychological thriller in which a young cop becomes the fulcrum of a community's grief and rage in the aftermath of a tragic accident."What happened is what happened, and the effects of it rippled out continuously. How could you stop the rippling of water?"Out on a rural highway on a freezing night, Patrolman Ronny Forbert sits in his ten-year-old Crown Victoria cruiser trying to keep warm and make time pass until his shift ends. Then a familiar beater Jeep Cherokee comes speeding over a hill, forcing the rookie cop to chase after it. The driver is his old-friend-turned-nemesis, Matt Laferiere, the rogue son of a man as beaten down as the town itself.Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals into a heated struggle between two young men with a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of blacktop. The only witnesses are Officer Forbert and Laferiere's three drinking buddies inside the Jeep.As the news spreads around Lydell, a small upstate burg near the state line, Police Chief Gordy Hawkins is certain that Ronny Forbert followed the rules, at least most of them, and he's willing to stand by the young cop. Finding the driver of the car that hit Laferiere, the judicious police chief tries to keep the situation from escalating dangerously out of control. But in a town like Lydell, where jobs are scarce and everyone is hurting, a few people—some manipulative, some just plain greedy—see opportunity in the tragedy.Over the course of six days, as uneasy relationships, dark secrets, damning lies, and old grievances reveal themselves, the people of this small, tightly woven community decide that a crime must have been committed, and that someone—Officer Ronny Forbert—must pay a price, a decision that will hold devastating consequences for them all.Evocative, atmospheric, and powerful, Darkness the Color of Snow is a portrait of decency and desperation, ambition and pragmatism, heated passion and cool calculation—of ordinary American lives.

The tenants of 28 Barbary Lane have fled their cozy nest for adventures far afield. Mary Ann Singleton finds love at sea with a forgetful stranger, Mona Ramsey discovers her doppelg?nger in a desert whorehouse, and Michael Tolliver bumps into his favorite gynecologist in a Mexican bar. Meanwhile, their venerable landlady takes the biggest journey of all—without ever leaving home.

A young orphan goes from rags to riches in this remarkable tale of friendship, love, and adventure at the height of the Industrial Revolution.Like Charles Dickens's beloved Oliver Twist, John Halifax is an orphan. Determined to make his success through honest hard work, he becomes an apprentice to Abel Fletcher, a tanner and Quaker, whose invalid son, Phineas, befriends John as a young boy. Together they embark upon numerous adventures, with Phineas narrating John's noble struggles in business and love. Spanning four decades, the novel chronicles John's improbable rise to industrial fortune and contested marriage to the noblewoman Ursula. On his journey, John must overcome the deep prejudices of an aristocracy that refuses to view him as anything but a simple commoner, no matter his professional achievements or strength of character.In John Halifax, Gentleman Dinah Maria Mulock deftly explores the sweeping transformations wrought by the Industrial Revolution, including the rise of the middle class and its impact on the social, economic, and political makeup of Great Britain as it transitioned from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.

New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance's heartrending collection of poetry and essays recounts a dark chapter of her own life, her first marriage to an alcoholic—a powerful look at the emotional cost of addiction and an inspiring story of courage and triumph in the wake of crushing defeatBefore she found fame as a bestselling mystery author, Judith Jance wrestled with the anguish of being married to an alcoholic. For years she channeled her pain into words, composing the poems in this moving volume, first published in 1984, a year before her debut novel.In searing and direct language, After the Fire chronicles the collapse of Jance's first marriage under the weight of her husband's addiction—and her own unwitting denial and codependence while she struggled to find herself. "I will not be the price of your redemption," she wrote then. "I will not pay my life to ransom yours."An intimate, deeply personal look into a wrenching time in Jance's life, After the Fire is a portrait of addiction and its insidious effects on lives and love. It illuminates universal truths about unbearable loss and finding the courage to carry on, and offers inspiration and profound insight into the heart and work of a beloved bestselling author.

From the New York Times bestselling author Sally Beauman comes an intensely atmospheric, spellbinding re-creation of Lord Carnarvon's hunt for Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.Sent abroad to Egypt in 1922 to recover from the typhoid that has killed her mother, eleven-year-old Lucy becomes swept up in the feverish excitement surrounding the search for Tutankhamun's tomb. Through her friendship with Frances, the daughter of an American archaeologist, Lucy witnesses first-hand the intrigue, politics, and passions surrounding this quest. Raised in a world in which adults are often cold and unpredictable, Lucy forms an immediate bond with Frances. Their friendship sustains them throughout childhood, guides them through the class-ridden colonial society in which they grow up, and takes them into an adult life that promises fulfilment—until it veers toward heartbreak.Deftly constructed and transportive, peopled by powerful characters, moving from the 1920s to the present day, The Visitors is a timeless coming-of-age narrative set against the backdrop of profound historical change. But how is such change documentedWhose testimony is reliableWhich witness should we believe?Looking back on her past much later in life, viewing it from the perspective of age, Lucy tells a deeply moving story of love and loss, of mistakes made and incendiary secrets concealed. She reveals the circumstances that lie behind the most celebrated discovery ever made in the Valley of the Kings, a discovery clouded by deception, in which triumph swiftly turned to tragedy; it is a story, as she comes to see, whose truths are both elusive and occluded, one that mirrors her own. As Lord Carnarvon and the archaeologist Howard Carter force the desert to yield its treasures, Lucy reveals the extremes to which people are driven by desire—even when these extremes involve building a life around a lie.

A congressional adviser and habitué of a cozy circuit of bars inside the Beltway, Joel Lingeman never quite felt middle-aged. At least not until he was abandoned by his partner of fifteen years and suddenly thrust into a dating scene with men half his age and no discernible trace of love handles. But this unexpected hole in his life inspires Joel's search for a 1964 edition ofan Esquire-like magazine that contained a swimsuit ad that obsessed and haunted him throughout his youth. Determined to find out what happened to the model shown in the ad, Joel slowly begins to understand what has happened to his own life. Sexy, smart, and deftly observed, Man About Town is a new twist on the idea that the personal is political and a must read for anyone who's ever wondered what happened to that first crush.

Sixteen-year-old Nora Lindell is missing. And the neighborhood boys she’s left behind are caught forever in the heady current of her absence. As the days and years pile up, the mystery of her disappearance grows kaleidoscopically. A collection of rumors, divergent suspicions, and tantalizing what-ifs, Nora Lindell’s story is a shadowy projection of teenage lust, friendship, reverence, and regret, captured magically in the disembodied plural voice of the boys who still long for her.Told in haunting, percussive prose, Hannah Pittard’s beautifully crafted novel tracks the emotional progress of the sister Nora left behind, the other families in their leafy suburban enclave, and the individual fates of the boys in her thrall. Far more eager to imagine Nora’s fate than to scrutinize their own, the boys sleepwalk into an adulthood of jobs, marriages, families, homes, and daughters of their own, all the while pining for a girl—and a life—that no longer exists, except in the imagination.A masterful literary debut that shines a light into the dream-filled space between childhood and all that follows, The Fates Will Find Their Way is a story about the stories we tell ourselves—of who we once were and may someday become.

With his inimitable sense of humor and storytelling talent, New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda brings us this charming, hilarious, self-deprecating memoir of a city couple's new life in the country.At once entertaining, canny, and moving, Country Matters does for Dutchess County, New York, what Under the Tuscan Sun did for Tuscany. This witty memoir, replete with Korda's own line drawings, reads like a novel, as it chronicles the author's transformation from city slicker to full-time country gentleman, complete with tractors, horses, and a leaking roof.When he decides to take up residence in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in Dutchess County, ninety miles north of New York City, Korda discovers what country life is really like: Owning pigs, more than owning horses, even more than owning the actual house, firmly anchored the Kordas as residents in the eyes of their Pleasant Valley neighbors. You may own your land, but without concertina barbed wire, or the 82nd Airborne on patrol, it's impossible to keep people off it! It's possible to line up major household repairs over a tuna melt sandwich. And everyone in the area is fully aware that Michael "don't know shit about septics." The locals are not particularly quick to accept these outsiders, and the couple's earliest interactions with their new neighbors provide constant entertainment, particularly when the Kordas discover that hunting season is a year-round event -- right on their own land! From their closest neighbors, mostly dairy farmers, to their unforgettable caretaker Harold Roe -- whose motto regarding the local flora is "Whack it all back! " -- the residents of Pleasant Valley eventually come to realize that the Kordas are more than mere weekenders.Sure to have readers in stitches, this is a book that has universal appeal for all who have ever dreamed of owning that perfect little place to escape to up in the country, or, more boldly, have done it.

Set in 1970, in the last, dark days of hippiedom, Perv -- A Love Story is the saga of Bobby Stark, a sixteen-year-old batch of desire and angst struggling to stay sane in a world gone Day-Glo.As the novel opens, Bobby loses his virginity in a drug-addled tryst with a one-armed barber's daughter. For his sins he's thrown out of school and dispatched to live with his mom, a festive electro shock aficionado, whose condo he flees to track down Michelle, the gorgeously damaged, lasped Hare Krishna-ette he's adored since kindergarten.Like the rest of their generation, the couple hit the road for California, only to be picked up in a hell-fueled Lincoln by a pair of Bad Hippies -- Meat and Varnish -- smacked-out spiritual cousins to Charles Manson. From here the trip gets vicious....Already an underground classic, Perv-A Love Story is relentlessly twisted, sexy, and savagely funny literary excursion, a novel of doomed youth in the era when Flower Power had begun to wilt.

When sixteen-year-old Lark Austin is kidnapped from her Virginia hometown and left to die in a snowy forest, she leaves behind two friends who are stunned by the loss. As Lark's former best friend, Eve can't shake the guilt that this tragedy was somehow her fault. Meanwhile, Nyetta is haunted each night by Lark's ghost, who comes through the bedroom window and begs Nyetta to set her soul free. Eve and Nyetta realize that Lark is trapped in limbo, and only by coming together to heal themselves will they discover why.Tracey Porter's stunning narrative about love and loss demonstrates that forgiveness can never come too late.

Set during the 2010 earthquake, this formidable debut pays homage to the resilient people of Haiti. At the heart of God Loves Haiti are the connected but divergent fates of its President, his wife, and her lover. The first lady has locked her paramour in the closet of her room at the National Palace, in an attempt to abandon him and to escape from her eternally godforsaken hometown of Port-au-Prince. She meets her husband, the soon-to-be ex-President, at the airport. Standing on the tarmac, she realizes that while she does not love him, she's grateful to him. It is at this moment that buildings "tumble on people as if they were made of cards." In thirty-five seconds, more than 200,000 people are killed and 1.3 million are left homeless. An earthquake has struck, ravaging a land that is plagued by poverty and poor infrastructure. Yet in this stunning novel the amazing characters are never simply victims.The world has fallen down around them, laying bare remorse, pain, isolation, and unalloyed grief now devastatingly realized through her interrupted plans, and irrevocably altering all their lives. The first lady is having second thoughts about choosing a glamorous life in Europe over a passionate love in a tropical paradise. Is her lover even still alive?Anchoring this heartwarming and constantly surprising love story is its affectionate depiction of Haiti, in all its complexity—its proud past as the first nation established by a successful slave revolt, its entangled politics with France and the United States, and its efforts to rise from the ruins to build anew.God Loves Haiti is an enthralling first novel that is as astonishing as it is entertaining.