Throughout history, waves of invaders have coveted the northeast corner of France: Attila the Hun in the fifth century, the English in the Hundred Years War, the Prussians in the nineteenth century. Yet this region – which historians say has suffered more battles and wars than any other place on earth – is also the birthplace of one thing the entire world equates with good times, friendship and celebration: champagne. Champagne is the story of the world's favourite wine. It tells how a sparkling beverage that became the toast of society during the Belle Epoque emerged after World War I as a global icon of fine taste and good living. The book celebrates the gutsy, larger–than–life characters whose proud determination nurtured and preserved the land and its grapes throughout centuries of conflict.

Daphna Whispers is insanely gifted.At age two and a half, she composed her first sonata.At age eight, she completed an opera.And now, at eleven and three-quarters, she is orchestrating a piano rhapsody.With a résumé like that, it's no wonder she is a student at the prestigious Blatt School for the Insanely Gifted. But as sixth grade draws to a close, Daphna's mind is far from the upcoming "Insanity Cup" competition. She's preoccupied by her mother's disappearance two months ago. When a mysterious man breaks into Daphna's small New York apartment, Daphna discovers that her mother's disappearance wasn't a random accident. Her mother knew something—and now somebody is after Daphna. What starts out as a simple fact-finding trip to the basement with her friends spirals into an international expedition. And while Daphna hopes to uncover the secret of her mother's disappearance on her global trek, the last thing she expects to uncover is an outrageous secret about the Blatt School.And one insanely shocking secret about herself.

In The Sweet Hereafter, Russell Banks tells a story that begins with a school bus accident. Using four different narrators, Banks creates a small-town morality play that addresses one of life's most agonizing questions: when the worst thing happens, who do you blame?

The minute she had opened the trunk, she knew there wasn't anything like hope in it. Just awful musty things, but each one with a kind of terrible dark halo around it. She picked up that piece of old lace. She saw that stain -- pale, brownish in color. She knew it was blood. Somebody's blood. There was violence in that trunk, and dark secrets, and she did not want to know them.Curious about the old homestead where she now lives, Jerry finds an ancient trunk in the basement that contains, among other things, an old piece of bloodstained lace, some letters, and a battered doll. The objects in the trunk have stories to tell -- stories about the Spanish Inquisition spanning nearly five hundred years and stories of secrets locked deep in the bloodlines of Jerry's ancestors.Kathryn Lasky's powerhouse novel is a dramatic historical saga that brings the reader face-to-face with some of the worst atrocities ever committed against humankind in the name of God. But above all, it is an unforgettable coming-of-age story about a girl who, in connecting with her own past and faith, is at last able to face her own demons and liberate not only herself but also future generations of her family from the long chain of suffering and silence.

Twenty contemporary writers commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe with chilling stories inspired by the master himself.Nearly two centuries after they were penned, Edgar Allan Poe's macabre tales are still working their eerie magic on readers of every stripe—thrill-seekers, filmmakers, even fellow writers of suspense. Collected here to honor and celebrate Poe's genius are original stories by some of the best mystery writers at work today.A son attempts to connect with his dying father in Thomas H. Cook's "Nevermore." John Lutz's "Poe, Poe, Poe" combines elements from several of Poe's stories in a twisted tale of madness and mayhem. "Poe, Jo, and I," by Don Winslow, examines the curious bond literature can form between the most unlikely of friends. And in Jon L. Breen's "William Allan Wilson," getting even has never felt so good.With contributions by Mary Higgins Clark, Jeremiah Healy, Peter Lovesey, P. J. Parrish, Daniel Stashower, and Angela Zeman, among others, On a Raven's Wing is a fitting tribute to the one and only Edgar Allan Poe. The Mystery Writers of America, founded in 1945, is the foremost organization for mystery writers and other professionals dedicated to the field of crime writing. Don't miss In the Shadow of the Master, a new collection of Poe's stories, edited by Michael Connelly and featuring essays from Stephen King, Sue Grafton, and others.

What happened to Eden?The New York Times bestselling author of Ahab's Wife, Four Spirits, and Abundance returns with an audacious and provocative novel that envisions a world where science and faith contend for the allegiance of a new Adam & EveHer books have been hailed as "exceptional" (People); "enchanting" (Entertainment Weekly); "of great cultural and historical importance" (New York Times Book Review); and "original and affecting" (Los Angeles Times). One of the most imaginative and inspired writers of our time, Sena Jeter Naslund masterfully uses her craft to lay bare the poignant complexity of humanity—the passion and despair, the ignorance and frailty, the genius and resilience that define us. From Victorian London to civil-rights-era Alabama, from nineteenth-century New England to revolutionary Paris, her novels offer profound insight and startling truths about human experience. Now, with Adam & Eve, she delivers her most ambitious and encompassing tale to date.Hours before his untimely—and highly suspicious—death, world-renowned astrophysicist Thom Bergmann shares his discovery of extraterrestrial life with his wife, Lucy. Feeling that the warring world is not ready to learn of—or accept—proof of life elsewhere in the universe, Thom entrusts Lucy with his computer flash drive, which holds the keys to his secret work.Devastated by Thom's death, Lucy keeps the secret, but Thom's friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, contacts Lucy with an unusual and dangerous request about another sensitive matter. Pierre needs Lucy to help him smuggle a newly discovered artifact out of Egypt: an ancient codex concerning the human authorship of the Book of Genesis. Offering a reinterpretation of the creation story, the document is sure to threaten the foundation of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions . . . and there are those who will stop at nothing to suppress it. Midway through the daring journey, Lucy's small plane goes down on a slip of verdant land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Burned in the crash landing, she is rescued by Adam, a delusional American soldier whose search for both spiritual and carnal knowledge has led to madness. Blessed with youth, beauty, and an unsettling innocence, Adam gently tends to Lucy's wounds, and in this quiet, solitary paradise, a bond between the unlikely pair grows. Ultimately, Lucy and Adam forsake their half-mythical Eden and make their way back toward civilization, where members of an ultraconservative religious cult are determined to deprive the world of the knowledge Lucy carries.Set against the searing debate between evolutionists and creationists, Adam & Eve expands the definition of a "sacred book," and suggests that true madness lies in wars and violence fueled by all religious literalism and intolerance. A thriller, a romance, an adventure, and an idyll, Adam & Eve is a tour de force by a master contemporary storyteller.

Once Edith Lutz had a life, a husband, and a home. Why did she run?Edith doesn't want to be found, so she's taken on a new look, a new name, and an anonymous new life in New York City. Hoping to escape her past and start over, she's now working as a live-in housekeeper for wealthy, recently divorced publisher Adam. Edith is a breath of fresh air in her lonely employer's empty home, and she soon becomes more than just the woman who cleans the kitchen. But Adam knows nothing of the real woman he's falling in love with—or just how shaky the foundations of their blossoming relationship truly are. And Edith can never be sure that her dark history won't catch up to her. In fact, it's closer than she thinks.

Hailed as the "Israeli Kite Runner" (The Bookseller), this international bestseller and publishing phenomenon is the bittersweet story of one family, one home, and the surprising arc of one woman's life, from the poverty of her youth to the glowing love and painful losses of her adult years.Braiding together past and present, Every House Needs a Balcony tells the story of a young Jewish girl—a child of Romanian immigrants—who lives with her family in the poverty-stricken heart of 1950s Haifa, Israel. Eight-year-old Rina, her older sister, and their parents inhabit a cramped apartment with a narrow balcony that becomes an intimate shared stage on which the joys and dramas of the building's daily life are played out. It is also a vantage point from which Rina witnesses the emergence of a strange new country, born from the ashes of World War II. Later, after years of living abroad with her wealthy Spanish husband in Barcelona, Rina, longing for the simple life she has missed, returns to the Haifa of her boisterous youth, a move that soothes her soul but ultimately endangers her marriage.Beautifully told, rich with questions of identity, love, and survival, Every House Needs a Balcony is an unforgettable social and historical portrait of a neighborhood and a nation. Steeped in the colors and smells, laughter and tears, of Rina Frank's own childhood memories, it is a heartbreaking tale about the deepest meanings of home.

Summer 1936. Mystery writer Josephine Tey joins her friends in the resort village of Portmeirion, Wales, to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine's novel, A Shilling for Candles. But things get out of hand when one of Hollywood's leading actresses is brutally slashed to death in a cemetery near the village. The following day, as fear and suspicion take over in a setting where nothing—and no one—is quite what it seems, Chief Inspector Archie Penrose becomes increasingly unsatisfied with the way the investigation is ultimately resolved. Several years later, another horrif?ic murder, again linked to a Hitchcock movie, drives Penrose back to the scene of the original crime to uncover the shocking truth.

No matter what your age or your family and medicalhistory, you can take steps to prevent debilitatingstrokes. And you can start today.No one plans to have a stroke, but too many people think that avoiding them is impossible. Written by the director of the Stroke Research Center at Mayo Clinic, this book helps you determine your risk for stroke and offers you a personalized prevention program based on your own risk profile.This book is the first of its kind to offer such thorough information about our nation's #1 disabler and #3 killer. Based on decades of research, Dr. Wiebers shares crucial information you need to know, including: The six different types of stroke Simple dietary changes that can help prevent stroke Common heart conditions that are little-known stroke risk factors Where to get the best treatment during a strokeYou and your loved ones don't have to live in fear of suffering strokes. This book gives you specific, positive steps to reduce the risk of stroke and to help you lead a more healthy, balanced, and enjoyable life.

It is August of 1963, the year of the Taylor/Burton film epic Cleopatra, showcasing a passion too grand to be contained on the movie screen. The women of the Kalyna Beach cottage community gather for gin and gossip, trading the current racy bestsellers among themselves as they seek a brief escape from the predictable rhythms of children and chores. But dramatic change is coming this summer as innocence falters and the desire for change reaches a boiling point, threatening to disrupt the warm, sweet, heady days and the lives of parents and children, family and friends, forever.

A personal trainer to the stars and regular contributor to The Dr. Oz Show, Joel Harper has spent twenty years helping people achieve their weight-loss goals and optimally balancing every category of their lives. Over his career, he has witnessed firsthand thousands of health transformations and personal breakthroughs. But he's also seen time and time again how different people following the exact same regime will produce stunningly different results. Some people flourish, while others simply throw in the towel. So Harper set out to figure out why. By investigating cutting-edge research in the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology, Harper soon discovered that people who are stuck struggling with excess weight have one thing in common—destructive self-talk and negative thinking patterns. That's right. The missing solution to successful—and long-lasting—weight loss isn't another fad diet. The secret, according to Harper, lies in tapping the power of your mind. In Mind Your Body, Harper explores the crucial—and often overlooked—connection between meals, moves, and mindset: meals to keep you nourished, moves that can be done in the comfort of your home, and the mindset to keep you motivated, inspired, and thriving. And in the process, he provides a "whole-istic" three-step weight-loss program that will help you quadruple your weight loss, maximize your workouts by 85 percent, and boost your happiness and energy levels by more than 40 percent—in just fifteen minutes a day.With Harper's proven, fun, and effective program, you'll be able to finally blast through those frustrating plateaus and achieve—once and for all—the physical, mental, and emotional health you desire. Harper teaches you the ten optimal traits that lead to successful nutritional, physical, and mental fitness. If you are tired of yo-yo dieting, fed up with hitting weight-loss plateaus, and ready to finally achieve the health and happiness that seem so elusive, Mind Your Body is the self-empowering and life-changing mind-body solution you've been waiting for.

In San Francisco, the souls of the dead are mysteriously disappearing—and you know that can't be good—in this delightfully weird and funny sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Dirty JobSecondhand SoulsIt seems like only yesterday that Charlie Asher took on a very dirty job—collecting souls and keeping the Forces of Darkness at bay. The new gig came with the Big Book of the Dead and a host of other oddities: creatures under the streets, an evil trinity of ravenlike Celtic death goddesses, and one very bad Underworld dude attempting to conquer humanity. Along with a cohort of other oddballs, Charlie faced off against these denizens of darkness—and met his own end. But thanks to Audrey, his Buddhist-nun boo, his soul is still alive . . . inside a fourteen-inch-high body made from lunchmeat and spare animal parts. Waiting for Audrey to find him a suitable new body to play host, Charlie has squirreled himself away from everyone, including his adorable seven-year-old daughter, Sophie, who enjoys dressing up like a princess, playing with her glitter ponies, and—being the Luminatus—spouting off about her power over the Underworld and her dominion over Death.Just when Charlie and company thought the world was safe, some really freaky stuff hits San Francisco. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone—or something—is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Then there's the Taser-wielding banshee keening about doom who's suddenly appeared while Sophie's guardian hellhounds, Alvin and Mohammed, have mysteriously vanished.Charlie is just as flummoxed as everyone else. To get to the bottom of this abomination, he and a motley crew of heroes will band together: the seven-foot-tall, two-hundred-and-seventy-five-pounds-of-lean-heartache Death Merchant Minty Fresh; the retired policeman-turned-bookseller Alphonse Rivera; the lunatic Emperor of San Francisco and his dogs, Bummer and Lazarus; Mike Sullivan, a bridge painter in love with a ghost; a gentle French-speaking janitor named Jean-Pierre Baptiste; and former Goth girl Lily Darquewillow Elventhing Severo, now a part-time suicide hotline counselor.With little Sophie babbling about the coming battle for the very soul of humankind, time is definitely not on their side. . . .Irresistibly zany, rich in humor, heart, and spirit, Secondhand Souls is vintage Christopher Moore.

She was there. She was involved in Celia's day, although she isn't sure exactly how. She had far too much to drink. And then the incredible death—the shocking, horrible, inconceivable death, sticking like a dagger in her heart. She closes her eyes and tries to remember the last thing she said to Celia. She thinks it was "I don't ever want to see you again."Dana Catrell's life is in chaos. She's married to a lawyer who makes her feel trivial, as if stuck inside his pocket like loose change. She's also sliding toward the brink of insanity. Devastated by mania, part of her bipolar disorder, Dana finds that there are troubling holes in her memory, including what happened on the afternoon of her friend Celia's death. She's horrified to learn she's the only other person with a key to Celia's house—and the last person to see her alive.She and Celia had shared recipes and gossip. But not secrets—until that final afternoon. Closing her eyes, Dana can see images, loose pieces of a hazy puzzle. Sangria in a glass, a tiny rip in Celia's screen door, Celia lying in a pool of blood, the broken vase beside her head, the kitchen knife just so above her hand. But there are infuriating, terrifying gaps.Is murder on her mind—or is it all in her head?As evidence starts to point in her direction, Dana will use the clarity her mania brings her to fill in the blanks and clear her name before her demons win out. But her husband's odd behavior and the persistent probing of Detective Jack Moss complicate Dana's search for answers. The closer she comes to piecing together shards of her broken memory, the closer Dana comes to falling apart. Is there a killer lurking inside her . . . or is there one out there in the shadows of reality, waiting to strike again?A story of marriage, murder, and madness, The Pocket Wife is a sophisticated, gripping tale of psychological suspense that explores the world through the foggy lens of a woman on the edge.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and widely considered to be Edna Ferber's greatest achievement, So Big is a classic novel of turn-of-the-century Chicago. It is the unforgettable story of Selina Peake DeJong, a gambler's daughter, and her struggles to stay afloat and maintain her dignity and her sanity in the face of marriage, widowhood, and single parenthood. A brilliant literary masterwork from one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and admired writers, the remarkable So Big still resonates with its unflinching view of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success.

A mesmerizingly powerful debut novel about the ways in which past choices can irrevocably define the present—and the bittersweet confrontation of what might have been1962: It may be the Swinging Sixties in New York, but in Denver it's different: being a single gal over thirty in this city is almost bohemian. Still, thirty-eight-year-old Kitty Miller has come to terms with her unconventional single life. She was involved, once—with a doctor named Kevin—but when things didn't work out the way she had hoped, she decided to chart her own path. Now she dedicates herself to the bookstore she runs with her best friend, Frieda, returning home each evening to her cozy apartment. Without a husband expecting dinner, she can enjoy last-minute drinks after work with her friends; without children who need to get ready for school, she can stay up all night reading with her beloved cat, Aslan, by her side.Then the dreams begin.1963: Katharyn Andersson is married to Lars, the love of her life. They live in a picture-perfect home in a suburban area of Denver, close to their circle of friends. It's the ideal place in which to raise their children. Katharyn's world is exactly what Kitty once believed she wanted . . . but it exists only when she sleeps.At first, Kitty enjoys her nighttime forays into this alternate world. Even though there is no Frieda, no bookstore, no other familiar face, Kitty becomes increasingly reluctant to open her eyes and abandon Katharyn's alluring life.But with each visit to her dreamworld, it grows more real. As the lines between the two worlds begin to blur, Kitty faces an uncertain future. What price must she pay to stayWhat is the cost of letting go?

The first installment in the Far Star series, a swashbuckling space saga that introduces the daring pirate Blackhawk and the loyal crew of the Wolf’s Claw, from the author of the bestselling Crimson Worlds saga.Smuggler and mercenary Arkarin Blackhawk and the crew of the ship Wolf’s Claw are freelance adventurers who live on the fringe of human society in the Far Stars. A veteran fighter as deadly with a blade as he is with a gun, Blackhawk is a man haunted by a dark past. Even his cynicism cannot banish the guilt and pain that threaten his sanity.Sent to rescue the kidnapped daughter of his longtime friend Marshal Augustin Lucerne, Blackhawk and his crew find themselves drawn into one deadly fight after another. When the Wolf’s Claw is damaged, they are forced to land on a remote planet subsumed by civil war. Pulled unwittingly into the conflict, they uncover disturbing information about secret imperial involvement that could upset the plans of Lucerne.For the Marshal is determined to forge a Far Stars Confederation powerful enough to eliminate all imperial influence and threats in the sector. He needs a skilled warrior like Blackhawk on his side, but the mercenary, plagued by dark memories from the past, refuses to join the cause. All too soon, though, he and his crew will have to take a stand.

The Abduction is an adrenaline-fuelled tale of mystery and intrigue that moves between the physical world of Venice, Italy, and its online counterpart, blurring the boundary between dark fantasy and even darker reality.Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri knows that the social media site Carnivia.com harbors disturbing secrets—she's already endured one encounter with this digital incarnation of Venice and its creator, the reclusive hacker Daniele Barbo. But she's shocked to discover a webcam feed that streams video of a terrified teenage girl, hooded and shackled. A strand of text repeatedly scrolls across the screen: Stressful Standing Is Not Torture.At the same time, Second Lieutenant Holly Boland is desperately trying to find the daughter of a US Army officer, missing from an American military base near the city. An intelligence analyst trained to look for clues that others miss, Holly is sure the kidnappers are after more than just money.When responsibility is claimed by a group demanding an end to US bases in Italy, it seems that the motive behind the kidnapping is clear. But the more the two women investigate, the more the case becomes as murky as the dark waters of Venice's lagoon itself.Uncooperative at the best of times, Daniele has never before allowed Carnivia.com to yield its hidden truths to the authorities. But when secrets from Italy's complicated wartime past begin to surface, revelations that could put them all in danger, he must make a difficult choice. How far will he let them inIf the shocking truth is not discovered, more than one innocent life will be sacrificed....With The Abduction, the second book in the Carnivia Trilogy, Jonathan Holt delivers a heart-pounding sequel to his acclaimed international thriller The Abomination.

"What if the end is not the end?" From the beloved author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most thrilling and magical novel yet—a page-turning mystery and a meditation on the power of human connection.One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle everOr some cruel hoaxAs news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it.At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by "miracle fever." Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven.As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town—and the world—transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.The First Phone Call from Heaven is Mitch Albom at his best—a virtuosic story of love, history, and belief.

Four young people in 1970s London race toward the future, fueled by love, betrayal, and creative ambition.Luke Kanowski is a young playwright— intense, magnetic, and eager for life. He escapes a disastrous upbringing in the northeast and, arriving in London, meets Paul Driscoll, an aspiring producer, and the beautiful, fiery Leigh Radley, the woman Paul loves.The three set up a radical theater company, living and working together; a romantic connection forged in candlelit rehearsal rooms during power cuts and smoky late-night parties in Chelsea's run-down flats. The gritty rebellion of pub theater is fighting for its place against a West End dominated by racy revue shows and the giants of twentieth-century drama.Nina Jacobs is a fragile actress, bullied by her mother and in thrall to a controlling producer. When Luke meets Nina, he recognizes a soul in danger—but how much must he risk to save her?Everything he has fought for—loyalty, friendship, art—is drawn into the heat of their collision. As Luke ricochets between honesty and deceit, the promise of the future and his own painful past, the fallout threatens to be immense.

Washington Territory, 1886 Jacob and Nell Ellstrom step from ship to shore and are struck dumb by the sight of their new home—the Harbor, a ragged township of mud streets and windowless shacks. In the years to come this will be known as one of the busiest and most dangerous ports in the world, and with Jacob's station as the only town physician, prosperity and respect soon rain down on the Ellstroms. Then their son, Duncan, is born, and these are grand days, busy and full of growth. But when a new physician arrives, Jacob is revealed as an impostor, a fraud, and he flees, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.Years later, on a fated Fourth of July picnic, Duncan Ellstrom falls in love. Her name is Teresa Boyerton, and her father owns the largest sawmill in the Harbor. Their relationship is forbidden by class and by circumstance, because without Jacob there to guide him, Duncan has gone to work for Hank Bellhouse, the local crime boss. Now, if Duncan wants to be with Teresa, he must face not only his past, but the realities of a dark and violent world and his place within it.Told from various points of view, Brian Hart's novel follows the evolution of the Harbor from a mudstamp outpost to a city that rivals the promise of San Francisco. The Bully of Order is a meditation on progress, love, and identity; a spellbinding novel of fate and redemption—told with a muscular lyricism and filled with a cast of characters Shakespearean in scope—where everyone is as much at the mercy of the weather as they are of the times.