List

The ninth circle of Dante's hell is where we find those who have betrayed a special relationship—such as the one between priest and child. It is this spiritual pit we encounter “Along the River Road.”Sister Margaret Donovan, a former sheriff's deputy, has turned in her gun and badge to take the veil. She works as parish administrator for a small congregation in rural southern Illinois. The idyllic assignment turns dark when an elderly priest is assigned to say mass on Sundays. Some in the church recognize him. A suicide in the parish alerts Margaret that there is something awry, but she gets no help from her diocese: they claim not to know a thing.Margaret's cop instincts kick into high gear, and she soon encounters dark secrets buried in the past, a bureaucracy that doesn't cough up secrets easily, and a link to a hideous murder-suicide that occurred forty years earlier. Sister Margaret isn't like any nun you have ever know. She is a flawed individual who struggles to maintain her vocation in a world where faith has gone by the wayside. Her struggle with criminality mirrors her own struggle with sin and redemption.

Tales from the Levee centres on Casey, a masculine, part Apache lesbian born and raised in a small Midwestern town. Always knowing inside herself that she is not like others she knew, she escapes, moves to the centre of Springfield, Illinois, where she discovers an area known as the Levee. The street, infamously sprinkled with several gay bars, a massage parlor, a hamburger stand, and apartments, becomes her new home. There, she befriends, lives and loves with lesbians, drag queens, prostitutes and gays also seeking a place they too can call home.

Coast to Coast and Back to Chicago begins with the protagonist Mick Scott hitchhiking out of the Windy City to escape a cold winter and a failed relationship with a cold-hearted woman. His trip takes him across the Deep South and up the east coast to Boston. He continues on through the west to San Francisco with stops in Austin, El Paso, Santa Fe, and Salt Lake City. He then returns to Chicago where he resolves his relationship with the woman he left while meeting the famous columnist Mike Royko, who helps him in his attempt to publish a book about his hitchhiking adventures.

Graduate student Rachel Cole is feeling the weekend blues and heads to her favorite lesbian hangout, looking for Ms. Right Now. She is immediately attracted to a brown- haired, brown-eyed, flannel-wearing soulful singer named Bobby Layton. But when Bobby introduces himself to Rachel, Rachel questions things about herself--things like her own sexuality and her very identity. Could she be falling for this sweet boy?

Bobby Layton lost a lot when he came out as trans. And he's sworn off dating lesbians because dealing with hate from the straight world is hard enough. Who needs the drama? But something about wild girl Rachel Cole keeps him coming back.

Love may be enough to take them to unexpected places beyond their expectations.

ABE & ANN brings to life Abraham Lincoln's passionate romance with Ann Rutledge when he was young and timid and hopelessly in love. Years later he would be enthroned in Washington after saving democracy, his wisdom and greatness legendary. Was it all because of a woman?

Auburn-haired Ann Rutledge, feisty and fed-up with propriety, is frontier royalty, the 18-year-old daughter of the founder of the village where the 22-year-old Lincoln comes looking for work. She is lively and literate and funny, and Abe is homely and poor, but full of high ambition. Lincoln courts the dazzling red-haired woman who comes into his life like a revelation. In the spell of their feelings, the lovers question the limits in their lives and boldly dream of a better future. But she is engaged to another man.

Readers who enjoyed Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestselling Lincoln book Team of Rivals, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film Lincoln, and George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo will marvel again at this very different and compelling tale of Lincoln as a young man.

Not a grand historical treatment but a lyrical telling of a deeply personal tale, ABE & ANN dares to give readers an earnest but untutored Lincoln whose humanity every reader can share, who was weak before he was strong, frightened before he was bold, and deeply in love with a woman whose admiration confirmed the greatness growing within him.

Jason Alexander is abruptly informed that he won't be able to finish his studies at Illinois College because the school is closing down for the Civil War in the fall of 1862. The son of the largest cattle rancher in the Union is assigned to Edwin Stanton's War Department. Jason's adventures begin on the train ride to Washington when he foils an attempt by an evil member of the subversive Knights of the Golden Circle to assassinate Anna Ella Carroll, a close confidant of President Abraham Lincoln.Reporting to the assistant secretary of war, Agent Alexander examines mysterious documents and explores the dangerous countryside for clues to the Confederacy's uncanny ability to smuggle critical information out of Washington and into the hands of Jeb Stuart's cavalry, lurking just beyond the outer perimeter of the city's defenses. Miss Carroll mentors Jason as he confronts both War Department politics and the determined enemies of the Union.Jason Alexander's gripping saga finds him locked in deadly struggles for survival as one revealing discovery leads to another at the war's most pivotal moments just prior to Gettysburg. Manchester Bluff is a thrilling story of individual sacrifice and determination that blends fact and fiction in a way that makes it impossible to determine which is which. This is a must-read for Civil War and thriller aficionados alike.

Cory Lynn Faber finds himself in Virginia Beach three thousand miles away from home after the death of his best friend and bandmate. While on the path to re-discovery he meets a local aspiring music producer, Evan Spencer. Evan, a young DJ, has his own struggles with his family's desire for him to pursue college and a "normal" life versus starting a band and traveling. All of this unfolds against the backdrop of family secrets.Noteworthy Tribute is a coming-of-age story where characters young and old learn the importance of relationships and that sacrifice is the bridge to their destiny.

In a small college town where things dont change; at least not often and certainly not easily. Once a reputation is earned or a routine is established, it sticks. No one steps out of a comfort zone or into the fray. That is certainly true at Zion Lutheran Church, where things are predictable and comfortable. That is until Zions new young pastor hires a new choir director and sets in motion a chain of events that changes everything. The crusty church secretary, Mrs. Scheinberg (everyone knows shes the one whos really in charge), must learn to adjust. The talented but difficult organist, Evan Ebner, must face reality. And the new girl in town, Emily Duke, must come to terms with her past. Even Pastor Michael Fletcher has his own world shaken up by the baggage Emily brings with her and by the handsome Zachary Brandt who pursues her.

All her life, attorney Taylor Quinlan has kept a devastating family secret, which has effectively pushed aside all thoughts of matrimony--until she meets defense attorney Michael Steele. Now, Taylor's famous cousin stands accused of his wife's sensationalized murder, and her secret--if she makes it known--will become evidence for the prosecution, and could tear her from Michael's embrace forever.

Karilyne is having a difficult time with the death of her mother. Her children are suddenly grown and gone and her husband is consumed with work. Jaclyn is returning to the village to spend time with her ailing father. Patricia is running away from painful memories and guilt. Karilyne opens the tea room she has always dreamed of hoping to fill the void. Jaclyn and Patricia are drawn to the small cafe where "the tea is warm and comforting and the chocolate cake is soulful". While her husband is gone, Kurt, the first love of her life, moves back to the village while Frankie, a gorgeous organic farmer, begins his own campaign to win Karilyne's affections. Will Karilyne seek the comfort of another man while Jake is gone or will she stop feeling sorry for herself long enough to see that if she turns her self-pity into the strength she has hidden within, find the faith she has lost, she could make a difference in the lives of those around her and, ultimately, in her own.

What happens in a world gone mad? Plenty! Most people are exterminated. From all lands between Peking and Washington there is a trial of death and destruction. How did this come to be? Poor countries have become prominent with backing from Communist China and the Russians. Missile sites appear in these parts of the world. China keeps waiting for a new missile delivery system being developed by the soviets. The plan is to blow America off the earth. Successive explosions throughout the world did occur causing mass destruction and the eradication of many families. Several surviving groups include a wealthy Chicago family, one notorious bank robber, a California father and his attractive daughter, and a carrer military man. The Colorado Mountains eventually become their home. Their trials take them through many desolate cities where many lives were lost and thousands of skeletons remain. There are love triangles and children brought into this world. One member leaves this group but leaves instructions in his lock box. Life goes on_____________________

As President Patricia Grant nears the end of her second term, three big questions hang heavy in the air: Who will succeed her as the next president: her vice president, Jean Morrissey, or Senate Majority Leader Oren Worth? After a Navy warship shoots down two Chinese fighter jets, how far will hostilities with China go? And, of the utmost personal importance to Patti Grant, will her husband and henchman, Jim McGill, live to see the end of her presidency?

McGill is targeted by a cluster of killers known as los muertos, working under the direction of an enigmatic contract assassin called Taps. So McGill summons his colleagues -- the private detectives who will staff his newly expanded firm, McGill Investigations International -- to help keep him alive and kicking.

They're soon put to the test when an ambush and ensuing fire-fight shatter the peace of the posh Washington neighborhood of Georgetown. Undeterred, McGill and his colleagues continue the hunt, leading to a climax that leaves McGill fighting tooth-and-nail for his life.

As Washington, D.C. detectives investigate the murder of a beautiful, young congressional aide shot dead near the Capital Mall, subtle discrepancies with the evidence become apparent. The murder weapon is identified as a Glock, but an eyewitness places the shooter too far away to have used a handgun. The slain woman was a player in high-stakes D.C. politics, yet DNA results reveal she was pregnant and the baby's father was a gang member. The detectives bring in a forensic scientist to retest the samples, and determine evidence is being altered at the crime laboratory. Detectives Jarrod and Jackson must find out who is tampering with the facts...and why.

Raised deep in the Shawnee Hills amid hogback bluffs, a roundabout river, and unending family, two divergent sisters share a colorful journey: first through childhood in a place both blessed and cursed by the hybrid footprints of the Appalachia and Ozark regions surrounding it, and then into the world beyond, compelled by their shared wanderlust. Arkansas (Sass) and Texas MacTerptin gradually understand that the sheltered bluffs of their youth are vastly removed from the broad ground beyond, and they find themselves on a truly foreign journey, separated from familiarity by an ocean and realizing amid their travels the depth of native soil all over again. Joanna Beth Tweedy's combination of both rural-homeland and poetic language will surprise and delight you--as will the stories of two unforgettable sisters and their backwoods clan.