Thorndike Press large print Americana

Some of the people in Promise are from old ranching families--like the Westons and Pattersons--folks who arrived in the Hill Country more than a century ago. And then there are newcomers like Annie Applegate, who's looking for peace but finds a great deal more. She agrees to marry a widowed veterinarian for the sake of his children...and discovers that marriage can lead to love.In Promise, everyone's life is a story! The people here, like people everywhere, experience tragedies as well as triumphs, sorrow as well as joy. This town, like towns everywhere, has its share of secrets. But--whether times are good or bad--you're never alone in a place like Promise. And as Annie Applegate knows, that makes all the difference.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Cowboy, The Texan, and The Loner weaves her seductive magic once again as she journeys back to the lawless frontier of Nineteenth-century Texas to bring us the story of two warring hearts and a seduction that began amid the fires of passion and treachery... Cruz Guerrero wanted Sloan Stewart from the first moment he laid eyes on the headstrong beauty. But Sloan, eldest daughter of a wealthy cotton planter, belonged to another man--until the day she came to him, a woman in trouble on the lawless frontier ...and he made her an offer she could not refuse. Now he is ready to claim what is rightfully his--even as a long-ago betrayal threatens to tear her from his arms forever. Sloan swore never to be used by a man again. Only sheer desperation made her strike a bargain with the aristocratic nobleman. Now he has come to collect on the vow they made together, seducing her with tender words, determined to make her want him as he wants her. Caught in the bitter cross fire of a traitorous enemy and an embattled republic, a man bound by honor and a woman wounded by passion must dare to trust in a love that's strong and wild and true...

Coerced by Alexandre Drake--one of her fictional characters who has become all too real--to attend the WAR (We Are Romance) conference, mystery writer Maggie Kelly is faced with murderous fanatics, backstabbing colleagues, overzealous writers, and NYPD Lieutenant Steve Wendell.

"An explosive thriller debut introducing Peter Ash, a veteran who finds that the demons of war aren't easily left behind . . . " -- "Peter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only one souvenir: what he calls his 'white static,' the buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature, sleeping under the stars. But when a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the man's widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog he's ever encountered...and a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives. As Ash begins to investigate this unexpected discovery, he finds himself at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined...and it may lead straight back to the world he thought he'd left for good." -- Peter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature, sleeping under the stars. When a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the man's widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog he's ever encountered... and a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives. Soon Ash is at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined-- and it may lead straight back to the world he thought he'd left for good.

Herman Fins-Winston is summoned by God to help improve his putting game; but instead of teaching God about the game, it is Herman who learns important lessons.

Schoolmarm Eden Devlin was too tall and too doggone smart. Most men in Sweetwater wouldn't tangle with her. Until Burke Kerrigan rode into town. Big, hard, and handsome, he wore a pair of six-guns and a bold, lazy smile. He came to settle the war between the nesters and the ranchers, but soon had another challenge on his hands. Both sides in Sweetwater's violent dispute wanted the meddling Miss Devlin taught a thing or two. Simple seduction seemed the perfect lesson. But Kerrigan didnt' count on the fire beneath the brains and innocence. And Miss Devlin? She found a blazing passion that promised happiness beyond her wildest expectations - and a love that might break her heart.From the Paperback edition.

In a landmark work of history, Russell Shorto presents astonishing information on the founding of our nation and reveals in riveting detail the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today. In the late 1960s, an archivist in the New York State Library made an astounding discovery: 12,000 pages of centuries-old correspondence, court cases, legal contracts, and reports from a forgotten society: the Dutch colony centered on Manhattan, which predated the thirteen "original" American colonies. For the past thirty years scholar Charles Gehring has been translating this trove, which was recently declared a national treasure. Now, Russell Shorto has made use of this vital material to construct a sweeping narrative of Manhattan's founding that gives a startling, fresh perspective on how America began. In an account that blends a novelist's grasp of storytelling with cutting-edge scholarship, The Island at the Center of the World strips Manhattan of its asphalt, bringing us back to a wilderness island, a hunting ground for Indians, populated by wolves and bears, that became a prize in the global power struggle between the English and the Dutch. Indeed, Russell Shorto shows that America's founding was not the work of English settlers alone but a result of the clashing of these two seventeenth century powers. In fact, it was Amsterdam, Europe's most liberal city, with an unusual policy of tolerance and a polyglot society dedicated to free trade, that became the model for the city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan. While the Puritans of New England were founding a society based on intolerance, on Manhattan the Dutch created a free-trade, upwardly-mobile melting pot that would help shape not only New York, but America. The story moves from the halls of power in London and The Hague to bloody naval encounters on the high seas. The characters in the saga-the men and women who played a part in Manhattan's founding, range from the philosopher Rene Descartes to James, the Duke of York, to prostitutes and smugglers. At the heart of the story is a bitter power struggle between two men: Peter Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony, and a forgotten American hero named Adriaen van der Donck, a maverick, liberal-minded lawyer whose brilliant political gamesmanship, commitment to individual freedom, and exuberant love of his new country would have a lasting impact on the history of this nation.

New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston has written over thirteen unforgettable Hawk's Way romances. Now enjoy the classic tale that started them all....Wanted: Ranch hand to mend fences—and broken hearts...When her first husband, a Texas Ranger, was killed on the job, Honey Farrell swore she'd never risk her heart again. She no longer has time for men, anyway—not with a ranch to run, a dwindling bank account and two teenaged boys to raise. So when cowboy Jesse Whitelaw turns up on her doorstep looking for work, he seems like the answer to her prayers.But Honey doesn't know that Jesse's actually a Ranger himself, going undercover to break up a cattle-rustling ring—and as she and Jesse get closer, the secrets he's keeping could destroy them both.

When mystery author Maggie Kelly pops across the pond for a movie shoot--accompanied by her once-fictional, now all-too-real (not to mention sexy) hero, Alexandre, Viscount Saint Just--she's in for a jolly good time…We are not amused…Don't get me wrong--there was plenty to laugh about when we first arrived in Merry Olde England to watch one of my novels being shot as a TV movie. Alex was delighted with the location (a seventeeth-century manor house), but horrified with the surfer-dude mimbo playing him. I, personally, found the situation hilarious…until the scriptwriter showed up. Dead.Lights, camera…action! No, not that kind of action. Hmmmm… on second thought…Okay, so things are suddenly getting hot and heavy between Alex and me--and our timing is atrocious as usual, what with the murder and mayhem. Suspects? Don't get me started. There's Mr. Contemptuous Director, Ms. Man-Crazy Production Assistant, Mr. Fancy Pants English Actor, Ms. Diva Leading Lady, and...yours truly. Yep, I was seen arguing with the victim right before his unfortunate demise, so I am, as the Brits would say, in a bit of a pickle…

In this mass market edition, #1 bestselling author Karen Kingsbury weaves a powerful story of a young couple whose love must face the ultimate challenge.Cody Gunner has no use for real love. Abandoned as a child by the person he needed the most, he swears he will never allow himself to love again. Ali Daniels denies love as well. Carrying a terrible secret, she lives life to the fullest, taking risks and refusing relationships. When Cody and Ali meet, their first instincts are to hide behind their emotional walls, seemingly doomed to repeat the patterns they have established for most of their lives. But their attraction is too strong, and soon they're doomed in another way, for neither can avoid falling in love, regardless of the consequences. Only after three years--a thousand tomorrows later--do they realize at what cost their relationship comes. In the end, they must decide if love is worth the ultimate price.

The residents of Riggs Park nicknamed her Penny, since her hair was the red of a bright copper coin…We’d all grown up in the flourishing Washington, D.C., suburb -- Marilyn, me, Steve, Penny and Wish… the boy I’d loved. It was during the baby-boom years, when the future was luminous. But things don’t always turn out as expected. Riggs Park had secrets, and Penny was one of them.Sometimes there’s a chance to go back and right a wrong. Marilyn is convinced Penny had had a baby, and that the child belonged to her family. My lifelong friend can’t follow up -- she’s fighting cancer. Only I can search for answers. But would finding truth break my heart…or set us all free?

There's a new psychic on the scene, and he's ready for action: introducing Lucas Jordan, the latest addition to Noah Bishop's crackerjack Special Crimes Unit. Lucas Jordan has an extraordinary psychic skill that police all over the country find invaluable: he locates missing people. And since being recruited by Noah Bishop for his FBI Special Crimes Unit, Lucas has learned to hone his remarkable ability so that what he does seems little short of miraculous.He's called in on what appear to be a series of ordinary kidnappings-for-ransom, but almost immediately Lucas realizes the situation is far from ordinary -- and more deadly than anything he's ever faced before. Because a brilliant, twisted madman is out to win a sick game, matching his wits against the best hunter he can find: Lucas.From the Hardcover edition.

Book 2 in the four-book set about Ricky and his hilarious adventures. Ricky is an ordinary boy, who can fly. He can really fly! But only when no one is looking. His dream is to one day be FAMOUS. But after accidentally opening the car window at the car wash, he's grounded. No movies, no swimming, no phone. And definitely no flying. But he has a plan. The school concert is coming up and he has the best ever magic trick up his sleeve. Will he wow the crowd, or fall flat on his face? Ricky is an ordinary boy, who can fly. He can really fly! But only when no one is looking. His dream is to one day be famous. But after accidentally opening the car window at the car wash, he's grounded. No movies, no swimming, no phone. And definitely no flying. But he has a plan. The school concert is coming up and he has the best ever magic trick up his sleeve. Will he wow the crowd, or fall flat on his face?

After the death of her little boy, Joey, Arden Gentry feels a terrible emptiness. Divorced and devastated over the loss of her son, Arden is utterly alone. But she has another son--a child she agreed to give up at birth to save her marriage and her family from financial ruin. Now that Joey is gone, Arden is convinced that the son she'd never held could ease her overwhelming heartache

Kay Hooper is the brightest new star of suspense fiction. Now the New York Times bestselling author who's built a reputation for keeping her readers' pulse in the red zone delivers a thriller that will stun the senses--all six of them. This time a psychic special agent and a gritty cop must stop a brutal killer with a chilling M.O. and an unstoppable...Sense of Evil.The victims are always the same: beautiful, successful, and blond. Someone was able to coax these intelligent and confident women away from safety. Someone was able to gain their trust long enough to do the unthinkable. Their shocking murders have terrified the inhabitants of a small, peaceful town where such heinous crimes are simply not supposed to happen. Police Chief Rafe Sullivan knows he has to find answers fast before another woman is lured to her death--but Sullivan literally doesn't have a clue. And when the FBI sends one of their top profilers to help, he's more than a little surprised that his new partner is nothing like the straight-by-the-book "suit" he expects.Special Agent Isabel Adams is tough, fearless, determined, and every bit Sullivan's equal. She's also psychic. And blond.Skeptical of his new partner's ability to get inside the mind of a killer, Sullivan can't deny that Isabel has tuned in to the killer's wavelength, is following the twisted thoughts of a murderer obsessed with stalking, seduction, and death. But in getting so close, Isabel has set herself up as the next victim. Now, with time running out, she and Rafe will find themselves forced to take the greatest risk of all, because this psychopath is playing for keeps and Isabel is the perfect trophy. Unable to turn back, Isabel may have already gone too far. Smart, savvy, and confident, she may find that the very qualities that have kept her alive could turn out to be her undoing. For Isabel has entered the world of a cold-blooded monster who kills without mercy and eludes every sense but one...the sense of evil.From the Hardcover edition.

The bestselling master of astonishing adventure James Rollins delivers his most relentlessly exciting page-turner to date -- a gripping and explosive novel of an ancient conspiracy to create a terrifying new world order out of the ashes of modern civilization.The crime is inhumanly cruel with horrific consequences both unthinkable and inevitable. During a service at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, a band of armed intruders dressed in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and terror, ruthlessly gunning down worshippers and clergy alike. The killers haven't come for the church's gold and valuable artwork, but for a priceless treasure secreted within: the preserved bones of the Three Magi who once came to pay homage to a newborn savior. As they flee the carnage they have wrought, they carry a prize that could reshape the world.The Vatican is in turmoil, and Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri is assigned to lead the investigation. But no ordinary police organization alone can deal with the bizarre theft and massacre, and SIGMA Force -- an elite covert arm of the U.S. Defense Department -- is called in under the command of Grayson Pierce. New to SIGMA, Pierce assembles a crack team of scientific and Special Forces operatives to unravel the mystery of the stolen bones, and together they set out on a twisting trail through a labyrinth of clues and dark revelations that carry them to the sites of the Seven Wonders of the World -- and to the doorstep of the mystical and terrifying Dragon Court.An ancient, secret fraternity of alchemists and assassins, the master-adepts of the Dragon Court have plans for the sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind in devastating ways that only the maddest of zealots could desire -- and they will let nothing and no one stand in their way. Suddenly Pierce, Verona, and the SIGMA team are the hunted as well as the hunters, forced to use every skill they possess to survive as they follow the bones to the ultimate confrontation between darkness and light -- in a lost place of history where science and religion will unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.A masterful novel that combines the exhilarating mysticism of The Da Vinci Code with the pulse-pounding action of a Tom Clancy thriller, James Rollins's Map of Bones is destined to be a modern classic that will stand among the very best adventure tales ever written.

"As diverse as we are, as complacent as we sometimes seem, Americans are united by a common mentality, which we have inherited from our ancestors and pass on, sometimes unreflectingly, to our kids." "We are united by future-mindedness. We see the present from the vantage point of the future. We are tantalized, at every second of the day, by the awareness of grand possibilities ahead of us, by the bounty we can realize just over the next ridge." "This mentality leads us to work feverishly hard, move more than any other people on earth, switch jobs, switch religions. It made us anxious and optimistic, manic and discombobulating." "Even in the superficiality of modern suburban life, there is some deeper impulse still throbbing in the heart of average Americans. That impulse is the subject of this book."--BOOK JACKET.

Her legacy has just gone up in flames Sheila Lindstrom is reeling from the aftermath of the devastating fire that claimed the life of her father and all but destroyed the Cascade Valley Winery, the family's pride and joy. Without the insurance proceeds needed to rebuild the winery, Sheila risks losing everything to corporate monolith Wilder Investments. When she confronts company president Noah Wilder, an undeniable attraction hits both of them with the force of a tidal wave. Will mistrust and deceit undermine this volatile union -- or will love rise from the ashes?

Carrying her lover Tony Sonterra's child, Clare Westbrook has finally buried her commitment phobia and said "yes" to Tony's marriage proposal. So why is fear running through her veins and haunting her dreams? Sonterra is fired up to leave Phoenix for small-town Arizona, to target a lethal desert crime ring. Clare's willing to stand by her man, but he won't be the only one flirting with danger on the job: as a special investigator for the D.A.'s office, Clare is plunged into a race to find a missing child whose mother was murdered. And on a case this hot, the promise of Clare's bright future could vanish in the blink of an eye....

Offers a new look at Thomas Jefferson and his presidency, his election due to the "slave power" vote, the relationship between the power of the slave states and his administration's policies, and the opposition he faced.

Emerson Roth has one mission: protect her family by keeping their secrets. If the decision were left to Emerson, she would stop the lies and live with the consequences - but she has her sister and elderly grandparents to consider. Eli Garner has one job: uncover the truth about the Roths. And his reputation proves that he just might be able to do that. But what happens when Eli realizes that exposing the Roths means ruining the life of the only woman he's ever cared about?

Rene LeDeux returns home to southern Louisiana after quitting his job in Washington as an environmental lobbyist. Years of battling with the oil industry and land developers have left him completely burnt out, and now all he wants to do is work on his cabin on Bayou Black. But his peace of mind is disrupted by a few things. One, his great-aunt Tante Lulu is determined to get him hitched. Two, a couple of his activist friends have hatched a plot to bring national attention to their cause to save the bayou. They've kidnapped a TV celebrity and brought her to Rene's cabin. And three, the celebrity is none other than Valerie "Ice" Breux, Rene's nemesis while growing up. Talk about red-hot trouble!

And busting out of Chattahoochee State Hospital ... without his meds! The thrill-killing Floridaphile needs to get to the bottom of his bookie grandad's bizarre 1964 death -- not to mention launch "Serge & Lenny's Florida Experience," the new Miami specialty tour venture he's cooked up with his best brain-dead druggie-buddy. It's all good. For Serge A. Storms, anyway. Not so much for anyone else.

Marcia Muller, bestselling author of the acclaimed series starring San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone, returns to the remote northern California coast of Point Deception and Cyanide Wells with an exciting new novel. A riveting mystery full of atmosphere and suspense, this tale explores the dark heart of a small town where passion-and murder-runs as deep as the river that flows through it... Amid ancient redwoods and sun-dappled reeds, the Perdido River runs clear and cold from the mountains of Soledad County to the blue Pacific. A wildlife refuge and a pristine recreational area, the river brings tourists to the old lumber town of Cape Perdido...and flows through the memories and hearts of the rugged people who have settled there since the Gold Rush days. Now that is about to change. An out-of-state corporation wants to pump the river nearly dry and float the water to southern California's thirsty cities in huge rubber rafts. With lobbyists, lawyers, and dirty tricks, the company intends to get what it wants-any way it can. Against this corporate Goliath, a community protest group and four unusual individuals are drawing a line in the sand. Flying in from New York City, ecologist Jessie Domingo hopes to grab headlines for her cause. Environmentalist Joseph Openshaw has come back to the home, and the secrets, he left behind decades ago. His former lover, local restaurateur Steph Pace, fears both the emotions and the ghosts arriving to haunt her. And old man Timothy McNear, owner of the defunct mill that once employed most of the town, silently broods about the sins he has hidden for too long. But no one envisions what will happen when the crack of a sniper's bullet sets off a chain of desperate acts. As the peace of this small town is shattered, murder stains Cape Perdido, and one by one, those who stand tall for a cause may be swept away by the current of a town's ugly truths-and a killer's revenge.

Charleston, South Carolina, is alive with music, dancing, and the arts as the Spoleto festival gets underway. But Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning feels far from festive when the inaugural Poet’s Tea is forced into one of the Heritage Society’s austere halls by rain. And when it rains, it pours—as proven when a respected auction house owner plummets from the balcony, landing dead on Theodosia’s specially-prepared cake. Worse yet, it looks like someone helped him over the edge. With a full kettle of suspects, Theodosia pursues an investigation into the murky swamps of the Low Country, where she uncovers a thriving criminal enterprise of art forgery, fraud—and murder…

When serial-killing local Florida historian Serge A. Storms is off his meds, no one is safe -- not Russian hoods, Jamaican mobsters, spoiled frat boys, women's book clubs, drug dealers, bad Vegas-rejected local lounge acts -- especially when $5 million in cash in a bugged suitcase is still racing up and down the Eastern Seaboard. But in the oddball circus known as the Sunshine State, little things like astronomical body counts tend to get lost in the shuffle.

Recently widowed and struggling to find her fourteen-year-old runaway daughter, ice cream clerk Mary Lou signs up for a single-parenting class and soon finds the entire group enmeshed in her search.

""The winter of the year my father carried a gun for his own protection was the coldest on record in Chicago." So begins Ward Just's An Unfinished Season, the winter in question a postwar moment of the 1950s when the modern world lay just over the horizon. It was a time of rabid anticommunism, worker unrest, and government corruption. Even the small-town family could not escape the nationwide suspicion and dread of "the enemy within."" "In rural Quarterday, on the far margin of Chicago's North Shore, nineteen-year-old Wilson Ravan watches as his father's life unravels. Teddy Ravan - gruff, unapproachable, secure in his knowledge of the world - is confronting a strike and even death threats from union members who work at his printing business. Wilson, in the summer before college, finds himself straddling three worlds when he takes a job at a newspaper: the newsroom where working-class reporters find class struggle at the heart of every issue, the glittering North Shore debutante parties where he spends his nights, and the growing cold war between his parents at home. These worlds collide when he falls in love with the headstrong daughter of a renowned psychiatrist with a frightful past in World War II. Tragedy strikes her family, and the revelation of secrets calls into question everything Wilson once believed."--BOOK JACKET.

Dismas Hardy becomes involved in a case involving the teenage son of a prominent San Francisco family who has been arrested for the murders of his girlfriend and English teacher, while an unseen killer terrorizes the city.