Senior CIA analyst Mariah Bolt remembers her late father as the man who abandoned his family to run off to Europe with another woman. Ben Bolt's fans remember him somewhat differently, and revere him as a literary genius. But like it or not, Mariah has become the reluctant guardian of his legacy...  more

Senior CIA analyst Mariah Bolt remembers her late father as the man who abandoned his family to run off to Europe with another woman. Ben Bolt's fans remember him somewhat differently, and revere him as a literary genius. But like it or not, Mariah has become the reluctant guardian of his legacy -- never suspecting she has also inherited a ticking time bomb. As she is about to depart on a much-needed vacation with her teenage daughter, Mariah is called in on an urgent assignment -- to lure a man into betraying his country. There's only one hitch -- to get to this man she has to cross paths with her father's old lover. Suddenly the past is back with a vengeance. One old friend will betray her and another will be murdered, as Mariah discovers how little she really knows about her father's life -- and his death. And when her fifteen-year-old daughter goes missing, Mariah will be reminded once more that there are no limits in the terrifying game of international espionage.

In this stirring book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence -- when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed...  more

In this stirring book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence -- when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper. Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King's men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known. Here also is the Revolution as experienced by American Loyalists, Hessian mercenaries, politicians, preachers, traitors, spies, men and women of all kinds caught in the paths of war. At the center of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, who, at first, knew no more of war than what they had read in books -- Nathanael Greene, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three, and Henry Knox, a twenty-five-year-old bookseller who had the preposterous idea of hauling the guns of Fort Ticonderoga overland to Boston in the dead of winter. But it is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had never before led an army in battle. The book begins in London on October 26, 1775, when His Majesty King George III went before Parliament to declare America in rebellion and to affirm his resolve to crush it. From there the story moves to the Siege of Boston and its astonishing outcome, then to New York, where British ships and British troops appear in numbers never imagined and the newly proclaimed Continental Army confronts the enemy for the first time. David McCullough's vivid rendering of the Battle of Brooklyn and the daring American escape that followed is a part of the book few readers will ever forget. As the crucial weeks pass, defeat follows defeat, and in the long retreat across New Jersey, all hope seems gone, until Washington launches the "brilliant stroke" that will change history. The darkest hours of that tumultuous year were as dark as any Americans have known. Especially in our own tumultuous time, 1776 is powerful testimony to how much is owed to a rare few in that brave founding epoch, and what a miracle it was that things turned out as they did. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough's 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force....  more

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive. This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers. A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

For generations the curse had hung over the Baskerville family. Now another life had been claimed by the mysterious and terrifying beast. Was it a demon or an animal lurking on the desolate moor? Would the new master of the Baskerville home be its next victim? Sherlock Holmes and Watson...  more

For generations the curse had hung over the Baskerville family. Now another life had been claimed by the mysterious and terrifying beast. Was it a demon or an animal lurking on the desolate moor? Would the new master of the Baskerville home be its next victim? Sherlock Holmes and Watson set out to solve the most bewildering and bloodcurdling case of their careers in this world-famous classic of mystery and suspense.

Two of America's best-loved inspirational speakers share the very best of their collected stories and favorite tales that have touched the hearts of people everywhere. Canfield and Hansen bring you wit and wisdom, hope and empowerment to buoy you up through life's dark moments. It's like...  more

Two of America's best-loved inspirational speakers share the very best of their collected stories and favorite tales that have touched the hearts of people everywhere. Canfield and Hansen bring you wit and wisdom, hope and empowerment to buoy you up through life's dark moments. It's like homemade chicken soup that warms the chill and heals the ill. This collection of 101 stories is based on the belief that true testimonies of goodness and loving transformations can nourish us to the bone and heal the cynicism in our hearts. Indeed, most every story seeps in deeply. It's hard not to shed a tear of gratitude, feeling thrilled to have been touched and soothed so easily. Some of the authors are famous, such as Dan Millman, who writes an exquisite vignette on "Courage," and Gloria Steinem, who writes of "The Royal Knights of Harlem." Many, however, have a short, simple story to tell about an event, a person, an everyday miracle that exemplifies the best of the human spirit. -- Gail Hudson

Beginning with the big jolly Santa on the cover consulting his book of "Extra Good Boys and Girls," NORMAN ROCKWELL'S CHRISTMAS BOOK overflows with the good cheer of the season. It contains selections by writers as diverse as Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Saki, Langston Hughes, W.H. Auden, and Fannie...  more

Beginning with the big jolly Santa on the cover consulting his book of "Extra Good Boys and Girls," NORMAN ROCKWELL'S CHRISTMAS BOOK overflows with the good cheer of the season. It contains selections by writers as diverse as Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Saki, Langston Hughes, W.H. Auden, and Fannie Farmer (whose sumptuous Christmas dinner, c. 1896, is featured), and is illustrated, of course, by the master celebrator of American life, Norman Rockwell, with 83 color plates and 12 black-and-white. Also included are words and music to 15 favorite carols. The stories and poems were chosen by the artist's wife, Molly, a former English teacher.

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to...  more

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

PRIZZI'S HONOR is no ordinary story of boy-meets-girl. Charley Partanna is a faithful lieutenant for the Prizzis, New York's most powerful Mafia family. The object of his affections is Irene Walker, a Los Angeles-based tax consultant. But it's her freelancing that pays--she's a hit woman for the...  more

PRIZZI'S HONOR is no ordinary story of boy-meets-girl. Charley Partanna is a faithful lieutenant for the Prizzis, New York's most powerful Mafia family. The object of his affections is Irene Walker, a Los Angeles-based tax consultant. But it's her freelancing that pays--she's a hit woman for the Mob. She has also cheated the Prizzis out of an unforgivably large sum of money. This is very dangerous moonlighting indeed, and eventually it places Charley's oldest loyalties in conflict with his newest one. Which wins? "His best book since THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE...he mixes caricature and character as easily as Charley hacks off thumbs." (Chicago Tribune Book World)

Jack Kennedy had it all. And he used it all -- his father’s fortune, and his own beauty, wit, and power -- with a heedless, reckless daring. There was no tomorrow, and there was no secret that money and charm could not hide. In this ground-breaking book, award-winning, investigative...  more

Jack Kennedy had it all. And he used it all -- his father’s fortune, and his own beauty, wit, and power -- with a heedless, reckless daring. There was no tomorrow, and there was no secret that money and charm could not hide. In this ground-breaking book, award-winning, investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh shows us a John F. Kennedy we have never seen before, a man insulated from the normal consequences of behavior long before he entered the White House. His father, Joe, set the pattern with an arrogance and cunning that have never been fully appreciated: the Kennedys could do exactly what they wanted, and could evade any charge brought against them. The Kennedys wrote their own moral code. And Kennedys trusted only Kennedys. Jack appointed his brother Bobby keeper of the secrets -- the family debt to organized crime, the real state of Jack's health, the sources of his election victories, the plots to murder foreign leaders, and the president’s intentions in Vietnam. As Jack’s closest confidant and chief enforcer, Bobby attacked any potential family enemy with a savagery he was supposed to reserve for the criminals he was sworn to prosecute -- the very criminals their father had enlisted to help the Kennedys. The brothers prided themselves on another trait inherited from their father -- a voracious appetite for women -- and indulged it with a daily abandon deeply disturbing to the Secret Service agents who witnessed it. These men speak for the first time about their amazement at what they saw and the powerlessness they felt to protect the leader of their country. By the end of his life, Jack Kennedy’s private recklessness was beginning to edge into his public life, putting him -- and his nation -- at risk. Now Seymour Hersh tells us the real story of those risks, in the hands of a crisis-driven president who maintained a façade of cool toughness while negotiating private compromises unknown to even his closest advisers.

The ninth thriller to star ex-military cop Jack Reacher literally opens with a bang -- several of them, in fact. A sniper lurks in a parking garage during rush hour and calmly picks off five people exiting an office building. Overwhelming physical evidence names the perpetrator as Gulf War...  more

The ninth thriller to star ex-military cop Jack Reacher literally opens with a bang -- several of them, in fact. A sniper lurks in a parking garage during rush hour and calmly picks off five people exiting an office building. Overwhelming physical evidence names the perpetrator as Gulf War veteran James Barr. Barr, now in police custody, insists on his innocence and asks to speak to Jack Reacher. Reacher seems an odd choice for a defense witness; he's still angry that Barr walked away scot-free from a similar incident in which he gunned down four people in Kuwait. Surprisingly, Reacher becomes convinced of Barr's innocence; unfortunately, a jail beating has left the suspect with amnesia, making him unable to speak in his own defense.