Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Literature & Fiction

Best-selling author Nevada Barr delights contemporary mystery fans with novels like Deep South and Blood Lure. In Bittersweet, she departs the mystery genre for a touching story of hardship, perseverance, and love in the old West.

Things had been going pretty well for me. My time was filled with my jobs and friends, and my parents seemed to have finally given up on bullying me to go to law school. Then everything changes in the blink of an eye. One minute I’m teaching a yoga class, and the next there’s smoke and then fire and with it comes firefighters. One in particular. She lifted me like some hero from a romance movie and I couldn’t help but notice how good she looked when she took her helmet off and smiled at me. But that’s neither here nor there. I’ll never pursue someone like Stace.

Erin McCabe has been referred the biggest case of her career. Four months ago, William E. Townsend, Jr., son of a New Jersey state senator, was found fatally stabbed in a rundown motel near Atlantic City. Sharise Barnes, a 19-year-old transgender prostitute, is in custody, and given the evidence against her, there seems little doubt of a guilty verdict. Erin knows that defending Sharise will blow her own private life wide open, and doubtless deepen her estrangement from her family. Yet as a trans woman, she feels uniquely qualified to help Sharise.

In Tamil Nadu, India, a boy is born with blue skin. His father sets up an ashram, and the family makes a living off of the pilgrims who seek the child’s blessings and miracles, believing young Kalki to be the 10th human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In Kalki’s 10thyear, he is confronted with three trials that will test his power and prove his divine status and, his father tells him, spread his fame worldwide. While he seems to pass them, Kalki begins to question his divinity.

They say Cape Disappointment is haunted. That's why tourists used to flock there in droves. They'd visit the rocky shoreline under the old lighthouse's watchful eye and fish shells from the water as they pretended to spot dark shapes in the surf. Now the tourists are long gone, and when Meredith Strand and her young daughter return to Meredith's childhood home after an acrimonious split from her wife, the Cape seems more haunted by regret than any malevolent force. But her mother, suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's, is convinced the ghost stories are real.

Renowned theater director Cordelia Thorn is working to restore a historic theater in downtown Minneapolis. Cordelia has a vision for the playhouse's future, but the more she learns about the building, the more fascinated she becomes by its past. Nicknamed "The Old Deep and Dark" because of the Prohibition-era double murder that occurred in the basement - then a speakeasy - there are a wealth of secrets hidden inside its walls. And, to her shock and horror, Cordelia discovers that there is also one present-day body literally buried in a basement wall.

Although Eric and Andrew have been trying to keep up a semblance of normal life, they know their 13-year-old son, Jack, has been having a tough time of it since they separated. They've been concerned, but now they're terrified - Jack has run away from home. Desperate, Eric and Andrew call on private investigator Jane Lawless, a friend of Andrew's from years ago.

At first, the death of millionaire businessman Charles Parsons seems like a straightforward suicide. There’s no sign of forced entry or struggle in his lavish New Jersey mansion - just a single gunshot wound from his own weapon. But days later, a different story emerges. Computer techs pick up a voice recording that incriminates Parsons’ adoptive daughter, Ann, who duly confesses and pleads guilty.

Award-winning author Carolyn Haines visits sleuth Sarah Booth Delaney and the Mississippi Delta in Buried Bones, the second novel in this popular series. Local legend Lawrence Ambrose knows the secrets of everyone in town, and he isn’t above spilling the beans in a tell-all biography. But when his biographer turns up dead and the manuscript goes missing, it’s up to Sarah to dig up the truth.

In the next riveting, insightful Jane Lawless mystery from award-winning Ellen Hart, Jane searches for the truth behind the death of Kira Adler's mother, which has haunted Kira for many years. When Guthrie Hewitt calls on restaurateur and private investigator Jane Lawless, he doesn't know where else he can turn. Guthrie has fallen for a girl - Kira Adler. In fact, he was planning to propose to her on Christmas Eve. But his trip home with Kira over Thanksgiving made him uneasy.

A landmark collection of poetry by acclaimed fiction writer, translator, and MacArthur Fellow John Keene, Punks: New Selected Poems is a generous treasury in seven sections that spans decades and includes previously unpublished and brand new work. With depth and breadth, Punks weaves together historic narratives of loss, lust, and love.

Lana Baker is Aldgate's finest scribe. She has a sharp pen and an even sharper wit. Gregarious, charming, and ever so eager to please, she agrees to deliver a message for another lovely scribe in exchange for kisses and ends up getting sent to Low Parliament by a temperamental fairy as a result. There, she transcribes the endless circular arguments of Parliament. Due to long-standing tradition, a hung vote will cause Parliament to flood Aldgate, killing every human in Aldgate.

In Greek myth, Alcestis is known as the ideal wife; she loved her husband so much that she died and went to the underworld in his place. But who was Alcestis before she was married? Other than her love for Admetus, what circumstances led her to make this ultimate sacrifice? And what happened to her in the three days she spent in the underworld?

Holiday: If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s my family to be all in my business. No matter how many times I explain boundaries and privacy, they’re just not getting the memo, especially when it comes to my relationships. For years they’ve been asking me why I don’t date my best friend and roommate, Daniella. No matter how many times I say the words “we’re friends,” they’re not getting it.

I don’t trust people, and for good reason. My parents kicked me out the second I turned eighteen, and my friends from high school or college all lost touch. No matter how close we get, how much they claim they love me, they always abandon me. The only person I can rely on is me, which is why I’ve built my own business from the ground up making bookish merch and accessories. So far, I’m hitting or exceeding all my goals and that’s all I need.

I’m so close to everything I’ve ever wanted, including getting my graduate degree in reading education, when a series of unfortunate financial events hits me like a ton of bricks. I need a job and I need one NOW or else I’m in big trouble. This was not in my plan and I’m crossing every appendage I have that I can find something that fits with my class schedule, will pay enough, and won’t destroy my soul. A very tall order.

Lemon, poppy seed, sun-warmed sand. These visions convince Aoife to quit her job, leave her manipulative boyfriend, and escape to the isolated shores of the Farmstead commune. There, among its charismatic and hedonistic residents, Aoife finds everything she’s been missing: a community that adores her, the freedom to indulge, and the promise to be a part of something miraculous. But darkness underpins her airy new way of life. A disappearing cave looms above an ocean no one dares step foot in, mysterious crying fills the night hours, and a rot is spreading across the island.

Two reading groups, unofficially called Love and Anti-Love, falter amidst political friction and signs of environmental collapse. Participation offers a prescient look at communication in a time of rupture: anonymous participants exchange fantasies and ruminations, and relationships develop and unravel. As the groups consider—or neglect—their syllabi, and connections between members deepen, a mentor disappears, a translator questions his role, a colleague known as “the capitalist” becomes a point of fixation, and “the news reports” filter through in fragments.

Yes, Raheim "Pooquie" Rivers and Mitchell "Little Bit" Crawford are back—they've got a serious love thang goin' on, and IT'S ALL JOOD. But for Raheim, it's a trip that promises to be both phat and frightening. As he struggles with being in love with another man for the first time, he must also come to terms with the murder of his homeboy, Derrick "D.C." Carter, and confront his father, who returns after abandoning him and his mother over sixteen years ago. Add his ever-curious five-year-old son, Junior, to the mix, and it's no wonder Raheim doesn't go mad crazy.

In the third title in the bestselling B-Boy Blues series, Mitchell Crawford attends his tenth anniversary high school reunion and comes face-to-face with the man who stole his virginity and broke his heart: gymnastics coach Warren Reid. Will Mitchell finally have his say and exact his revenge—or will he fall for Warren's charms and be the same fool twice, if only for one nite?