This unconventional thriller probes the mysteries of art, celebrity stalking, and fatal obsession In a prestigious London gallery, a retrospective exhibition of Constance Benson's work is about to open. The main attraction will be the unveiling of her last painting. The portrait of her lover, eccentric visionary Patrick Mount, was completed right before he famously disappeared. Why has the reclusive artist kept her final masterwork hidden for thirty years? What happened to Mount? And why did Benson stop painting? Tony never met Patrick, having been born the day Patrick vanished. But he feels he knows the man—perhaps better than he knows himself. Tony has photographs, paintings, articles, and everything Patrick ever wrote. Now he wants what Patrick left unfinished in his memoir: the final phase of his Seven Steps to Bliss. And there's only one person standing in Tony's way. An addictive thriller that resonates with emotion, Sheer...

The past haunts the present as a woman struggles to liberate herself from her family's dark history This masterfully written novel plumbs the mysteries of the female psyche in a tale of buried family secrets and obsessive love. Zelda is getting ready for a date with her older lover, Foxy, whom she's sure is about to dump her, when the call comes. Zelda's father has hanged himself. His suicide brings back terrifying childhood memories of screams in the night. A POW in a Japanese prison camp during World War II, Ralph Dawkins was haunted by a nightmare: the guilty secret he harbored. Zelda's journey into the past brings back troubling questions that were never answered. Why did her father seem to prefer Vassily Pudilchuck, a friendless and disfigured neighborhood boy, to Zelda and her sister, Hazel? How did Vassily end up brutally assaulted? Zelda's own jealousies and bitter sibling rivalry have cast a long shadow across her present...

Something is buried deep in a northern English town in this novel of secrets, friendship, and long-simmering rivalries Former activists Olive and Arthur have been together for decades. They never married—they don't believe in it. Now obese, Olive is given to violent mood swings, while Arthur tenderly watches over her. Widowhood suits Nell, who has lived here for fifty years. She has her pension and her house but misses her husband, Jim. And now the bane of her existence—her ex-con son, Rodney—has come home. Between the adjoining houses, eight-year-old Wolfe lives with his family. Petra, his mother, who dreamed about a wolf while carrying him, is pregnant with her fourth child. Wolfe misses the commune where they used to live. He hates Halloween—and with good reason. The advent of trick or treat will set tempers flaring across this remote pocket of urban grit and stunted industrial growth. As Wolfe...

THE TALIONIC FILES is a crime suspense series that will follow a group of elite ATF agents in Chicago led by Valentino Masterson. The first book in the series, RETALIATORY JUSTICE, will pick up with Valentino and his crew of specialized agents being brought in on a case in New Orleans that links to their case in Chicago. During the investigation he meets the beautiful Dominique Walker, a chef working for the people he’s investigating. Things get complicated when he finds himself falling for her, unfortunately, he doesn’t quite know what side she’s on. Will his quest for vengeance, prevent him from accepting peace and love when offered, or will his need for justice end up costing him more than he’s willing to pay? In a story where it becomes increasingly difficult to tell the bad guys from the good ones, you will be on the edge of your seat until the very final moment.**

The hottest, freshest lesbian erotica of the year... "These stories will make you want to call your girl in the middle of the afternoon and tell her things that make her squirm. Girlsex will flash in your brain like neon in the elevator, subway, traffic jam, sidewalk crowded with people. Read these stories and you'll be swimming in the juice of your erotic need. Your desire will become irresistible, like a force of nature pushing you beyond reason." —Felice Newman "For me, the best erotic stories closely resemble the people who make my skin flush hot pink and send my head into overdrive. They're fiercely intelligent, confident and intricate. They can sweep me off my feet or catch me off guard. They are tender and nasty and just a little bit dangerous. They are not always what you expect them to be." —Tristan Taormino, series editor

Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and #1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, David and Goliath, and What the Dog Saw, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers—-and why they often go wrong.How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true?Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland—-throwing our...

Today the classics of the western canon, written by the proverbial “dead white men,” are cannon fodder in the culture wars. But in the 1950s and 1960s, they were a pop culture phenomenon. The Great Books of Western Civilization, fifty-four volumes chosen by intellectuals at the University of Chicago, began as an educational movement, and evolved into a successful marketing idea. Why did a million American households buy books by Hippocrates and Nicomachus from door-to-door salesmen? And how and why did the great books fall out of fashion?In A Great Idea at the Time Alex Beam explores the Great Books mania, in an entertaining and strangely poignant portrait of American popular culture on the threshold of the television age. Populated with memorable characters, A Great Idea at the Time will leave readers asking themselves: Have I read Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura lately? If not, why not?

"No individual—not even Freud himself—has had a greater impact on modern psychotherapy."—Psychology TodayWith a New Foreword by Kristene A. Doyle, Ph.D. CLASSIC SELF-HELP FROM A RESPECTED PIONEER OF PSYCHOTHERAPY Life can get tough. From unemployment—or overwork—to divorce or remarriage, the challenges of newly blended families, not to mention everyday hassles, stress can feel non-stop. To top it off, technology confronts us with a barrage of seemingly urgent tasks 24/7. It's no wonder things and people can make you lose your cool. In this landmark book you'll find a very specific, powerful skill set designed to help you keep any scenario from pushing your buttons—and it works. Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), created by world-renowned therapist Dr. Albert Ellis, provides you with realistic, simple, proven techniques that will significantly reduce your stress levels and help you react effectively, whether the circumstances are professional or personal. Discover: * Ten beliefs we use to let people and situations needlessly push our buttons * A powerful alternative to the kind of thinking that upsets us * The Fatal Foursome—feelings that sabotage you * How to change your irrational thinking using four key steps Whether you’re dealing with colleagues, parents, kids, friends, or lovers, How to Keep People From Pushing Your Buttons will show you how to enjoy an active, vibrant, successful life.

In this startling and thought-provoking book, which will remind readers of works by Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande, a world-renowned neuroscientist reveals his controversial, groundbreaking work with patients whose brains were previously thought vegetative or non-responsive but turn out—in up to 20 percent of cases—to be vibrantly alive, existing in the "Gray Zone."Into the Gray Zone takes readers to the edge of a dazzling, humbling frontier in our understanding of the brain: the so-called "gray zone" between full consciousness and brain death. People in this middle place have sustained traumatic brain injuries or are the victims of stroke or degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Many are oblivious to the outside world, and their doctors believe they are incapable of thought. But a sizeable number are experiencing something different: intact minds adrift deep within damaged brains and bodies. An expert in the field, Adrian Owen led a...

Two strangers who should never have met make an unusual connection in this dazzling novel by Lesley Glaister At sixteen, Lamb walked out on her life. It wasn't much to walk away from: Her parents were dead and she had no brothers or sisters—no one in the world who cared if she lived or died. Now she cleans houses and lives in the dusty cellar of an elderly widowed man, balancing on her high wire of loneliness. If she doesn't let anyone in, she can't fall. Then Doggo shows up. A fugitive on the run for committing a violent crime, he's accompanied by Gordon and Norma, two mutts who love him unconditionally. Doggo needs Lamb's help to stay off the radar. He also needs her in other ways—even after he learns the terrible secret she's been lugging around like a second skin. In Lamb, Doggo sees his chance for salvation. And in Doggo, Lamb just might find the acceptance and adoration she's been searching for. Part love story, part...