Judith Guest

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ordinary People comes a gripping novel of suspense, exploring fragile family dynamics in the aftermath of tragedy ... Acclaimed author Judith Guest makes a triumphant return with this poignant and powerful novel that's sure to add luster to her reputation as one of the most thoughtful observers of the human condition. Taking as part of her inspiration a baffling, unsolved true-life crime, Guest achieves in this absorbing new novel an extraordinary combination of page-turning mystery and intimate, emotionally charged family drama. The Tarnished Eye takes readers to the community of Blessed, in northern Michigan, where Sheriff Hugh DeWitt still grieves for his infant son, who died of SIDS a few years earlier. Obsessed with the past, he's endangering his future with his beloved wife and daughter. Meanwhile, up the road from the DeWitts, in one of the rich summer cottages, Paige Norbois grieves for a lost love of her own. Married to a stern and unresponsive man, Paige wills herself to stay in the marriage and sacrifice her personal feelings for the sake of her children's stability. But soon an unimaginable tragedy destroys all dreams of stability in Blessed. Paige, her husband, Edward, and their four children are brutally slaughtered in their home. Sheriff DeWitt, deeply moved by the horrific murder scene, must find answers to a string of urgent questions. When, exactly, did the murders occur? Why did nobody miss the family earlier? Who had a motive to kill? The man with whom Paige was having an affair? The business partner, who was stealing from Edward's publishing firm? Which family member was the primary, intended victim? And above all, what sort of trauma could fuel a killer's capacity to commit such hate-driven violence? Judith Guest, with her own untarnished eye and finely nuanced prose, delivers a novel that transcends genre and showcases once again her remarkable literary gifts.

North of Bay City, Michigan, past the small highway town of Au Gres, past acres of sugar beets and fields of grazing sheep, the Browner family enters the slow curve in the road that leads to a view of Lake Huron. Keith, Annie, and their three children have rented the same cottage here every summer for the past six years. They know this place like the back of their station wagon. But a shadow has fallen over this particular trip: Keith is dying of cancer. It is a fate he has accepted. Annie however cannot, will not. Once safe inside a happy seventeen-year marriage, Annie finds her entire world turned upside down after Keith's death. Her sister, Jess, does her best to comfort Annie, only to find the boundaries of their own close relationship stretched to their limits. Consumed with grief, mounting bills, everyday tasks that seem insurmountable, and three kids who have become nagging sources of frustration, Annie fails to see that the family is beginning to come apart. Thirteen-year-old Harry, the oldest, changes into a brooding teen, roaming the streets with a rebellious new friend; Julie, the youngest at nine, starts to lie about her whereabouts, but keeps a secret journal that reveals her true feelings; and Jimmy, sandwiched forever in the middle, can no longer take the pressure of being the peacemaker. As each child moves toward his or her own level of acceptance, a second threatening event will transform both the children and Annie, teaching them that, even with the loss of Keith, they are still a family - a different family, but one that is no less loving, real, and enduring than they had been with a father and husband in the house.

Nick Uhler returns to St. Cloud after a lengthy absence, becomes ensnarled with members of the prominent Carmody family, and soon three murders, family fueds, and dark secrets threaten the town's very fabric.

Contains: Pride of the Peacock Bobbit Experiment [Ordinary People]( Storm Warning

The lives of three people become entwined in another compelling story by the author of Ordinary People. A 16-year old runaway is forced to confront his past ... an abusive religious fanatic father and an unseeing mother ... and in so doing comes to grips with his life.