On a warm summer morning, thirteen-year-old school girl Constance Lawson is reported missing. A few days later, Constance's uncle, Karl Lawson, suddenly finds himself swept up in a media frenzy created by journalist Amanda Bowe implying that he is the prime suspect. Six years later, Karl's life is in ruins. His marriage is over and his family is destroyed. But the woman who took everything away from him is thriving. With a successful career, husband and son, Amanda's world is complete. Until the day she receives a phone call and in a heartbeat, she is plunged into every mother's worst nightmare.
Finn watches in horror as his stepmother is gunned down in front of his house. His father reacts and kills the gunman. When Finn learns that the killer is the same man who admitted to killing his birth mother years before, he is shocked and wants to know if this is more than a terrible coincidence. At the police station, he meets Lila, daughter of the killer, and they strike up a wary friendship. Both of them are desperate to find the truth. What they discover hints at a much larger conspiracy.
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, FROM THE AUTHOR OF BIG LITTLE LIES, now an HBO series. Winner of Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction “Here’s the best news you’ve heard all year: Not a single page disappoints....The only difficulty with Truly Madly Guilty? Putting it down.” —Miami Herald “Captivating, suspenseful...tantalizing.” —People Magazine Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It’s just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong? In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty turns her unique, razor-sharp eye towards three seemingly happy families. Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit busy, life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other. Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last-minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid’s larger-than-life personalities there will be a welcome respite. Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone? In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations of our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm. Entertainment Weekly's “Best Beach Bet” A USA Today Hot Books for Summer Selection A Miami Herald Summer Reads Pick
Book 2 of the Henry Parker series by bestselling thriller author Jason Pinter. As I lie in bed with Amanda, ignoring another late-night call from my ex, a shot rings out in the New York night and a beautiful starlet dies outside the city's most popular nightclub. This is the kind of story I was born to chase—but I never dreamed this story began over a hundred years ago…. Suddenly another life is taken, the bullet fired from one of the deadliest guns ever made. Both victims are highly controversial, their murders more like public executions. My search leads me into the twisted world of The Boy—a world defined by a demented code of honor and shocking, long-buried secrets of the world's most infamous outlaw. When this assassin realizes I'm getting too close to the truth, uncovering the past could jeopardize everything I care about. Because in his world there's a fine line between good and evil, and the difference between innocence and guilt depends on who's holding the gun…. "An author who dares to take the traditional thriller in bold new directions." —New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen "Jason Pinter knows what he’s doing. The Fury rocks. READ IT!" — New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly Originally published in 2008.
The only wizard in the Chicago phone book, Harry is given the task of investigating rumors of black magic in the Windy City, while, at the same time, searching for some malevolent entities that feed on fear who have been set loose on Chicago.
Criminal defense attorneys protect the innocent and guilty alike, but, the majority of criminal defendants are guilty. This is as it should be in a free society. Yet there are many different types of crime and degrees of guilt, and the defense must navigate through a complex criminal justice system that is not always equipped to recognize nuances. In Guilty People, law professor and longtime criminal defense attorney Abbe Smith gives us a thoughtful and honest look at guilty individuals on trial. Each chapter tells compelling stories about real cases she handled; some of her clients were guilty of only petty crimes and misdemeanors, while others committed offenses as grave as rape and murder. In the process, she answers the question that every defense attorney is routinely asked: How can you represent these people? Smith’s answer also tackles seldom-addressed but equally important questions such as: Who are the people filling our nation’s jails and prisons? Are they as dangerous and depraved as they are usually portrayed? How did they get caught up in the system? And what happens to them there? This book challenges the assumption that the guilty are a separate species, unworthy of humane treatment. It is dedicated to guilty people—every single one of us.
After a lavish night of guilty pleasures in Monte Carlo, four best friends face an awful morning of arrests -- and a fight for survival. Only minutes after Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off of a private helicopter, they enter the most luxurious, sumptuous, sensually pampering hotel they have ever been to. Their lavish presidential suite overlooks Monte Carlo, and they surrender: to the sun and pool, to the sashimi and sake, to the Bruno Paillard champagne. As the weekend moves into pulsating discos, high-stakes casinos, and beyond, Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known. In the morning's harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened: something impossible, unthinkable. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime-a fight for survival. Guilty Wives is the ultimate indulgence, the kind of nonstop joy-ride of excess, friendship, betrayal, and danger that only James Patterson can create.
"Avidly Reads Guilty Pleasures reclaims the femme fictions dismissed as "trash" to celebrate the surprisingly cathartic pleasures of domination, privilege, and the material trappings of patriarchal culture"--
The American judicial system is far too often a source of injustice for the innocent rather than justice for the guilty. Despite all the alleged protections built into the trial process, a person facing criminal charges is virtually presumed guilty until proven innocent - not the reverse. Presumed Guilty is about thousands of innocent Americans who each year are convicted of serious crimes they did not commit. Many are convicted of crimes that did not even occur. Journalist Martin Yant vividly and dramatically explains the process by which American justice is miscarried, providing carefully researched details about more than 100 wrongful convictions. Yant''s writing reveals both passion and frustration as he explains how most mistaken convictions could easily be avoided. "No criminal justice system is infallable," he writes, "but most errors aren''t the result of carefully considered decisions that happen to be wrong." He cites examples of outrageous carelessness, investigations that conform facts to predetermined theories, the use of long-discredited investigative techniques, rampant prejudice, and the desire of police and prosecutors to "win" convictions at any price - even if evidence is fabricated to do so. Yant goes on to propose achievable solutions that would not only prevent years of imprisonment for the wrongfully convicted but also save the lives of innocent individuals who face the increasingly used death penalty. Presumed Guilty reveals not only how often the American justice system goes awry, but how easily - and how quickly - it is possible to become its victim.
