"Sonya used to perform on stage. She used to attend glamorous parties, date handsome men, ride in fast cars. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights Sonya lived for dimmed for good. And then, in their absence, came darkness--blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she can't remember. Haunted by her failed career and unresolved childhood trauma, Sonya has fallen deep into an alcoholic abyss. What keeps Sonya from losing herself completely is...

"Wordsworth, Whitman, William Carlos Williams, and the Beats in their respective generations moved poetry toward a more natural language. Bukowski moved it a little farther." –Los Angeles Times Book Review In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled...

*Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary with a brand new audiobook recording* *Winner of the 1998 National Book Award for Fiction** Program includes a bonus conversation between Alice McDermott and Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of the critically-acclaimed novel, We Are Not Ourselves. Alice McDermott's striking audiobook, Charming Billy, is a study of the lies that bind and the weight of familial love, of the way good intentions...

"McFadden's reissued second novel takes an unflinching look at the corrosive nature of alcoholism ... This is not a story of easy redemption ... McFadden writes candidly about the treacherous hold of addiction." -Publishers Weekly "Riveting... . So nicely avoids the sentimentality that swirls around the subject matter. I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes." -Toni Morrison, author of Beloved "The...

After a childhood friend is shot down while attempting to atone for past sins, Scudder is drawn into a murder investigation that threatens to upset his path toward recovery--and get him killed in the process.

Estranged for decades after a turbulent 1969 summer spent with a free-spirited redhead, two brothers are forced by a shocking reminder to confront the past events that divided them. 1969. Eugene and his brother, Bill meet Ligeia, a sexy, free-spirited redhead from Daytona Beach banished to their small North Carolina town until the fall. Ligeia's raw sensuality and rebellious attitude draw Eugene to the thrills and pleasures of the counterculture...

"Have you seen Leila? 8-year-old Leila Smith has seen and heard things that no child should ever have to. On the Hawthorn Estate, where she lives, she often stays out after dark to avoid going home. But what Leila doesn't know is that someone has been watching her in the playground. One day, she disappears without a trace...The police start a nationwide search but it's as if Leila has vanished into thin air. Who kidnapped her? What do they want? Will...

When Chris Buckley first encountered the mysteries of creepy Solitary, North Carolina, he had little idea how far he would fall into the town's shadows. After losing the love of his life, Chris tried to do things his way. He hunted answers. Then, he gave up trying to find them. But now, Chris comes back to Solitary knowing there's a purpose for his being there. As he watches his place in a twisted and evil bloodline become clear, Chris waits for the...

"A gripping debut domestic suspense novel, Nora Murphy's thrilling The Favor explores with compassion and depth what can happen when women pushed to the limit take matters into their own hands. Staying is dangerous. Leaving could be worse. Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives. They don't-ever-find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or the coffee shop. They don't-ever-discuss their problems...