Penguin Audio (Firm)

After thirteen years of international bestseller stardom with his works of violent crime fiction, author George Stark is officially declared dead--revealed by a national magazine to have been killed at the hands of the man who created him: the once well-regarded but now obscure writer Thad Beaumont. Thad's even gone so far as to stage a mock burial of his wildly successful pseudonym, complete with tombstone and the epitaph "Not a Very Nice Guy." Although...

"Smart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart. Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, tendency to wear the same clothes year in, year out), means that Eleanor...

"In Monterey, on the California coast, Sweet Thursday is what they call the day after Lousy Wednesday, which is one of those days that is just naturally bad. Returning to the scene of "Cannery Row", the weedy lots and junk heaps and flophouses of Monterey, John Steinbeck once more brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tears - from Fauna, new headmistress of the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter....

"Stone Barrington is looking forward to some quiet time in New York City, until he is asked to transport precious, top-secret cargo across the Atlantic. Taking on the challenge, Stone flies off unaware of what--or who--he is bringing with him. But his plans to lie low are quickly spoiled when a dangerous dispatcher tracks down Stone and his tantalizing mystery guest, intent on payback--and silencing anyone who poses a threat. From the English countryside...

Father Tim and Cynthia arrive in the west of Ireland, intent on researching his Kavanagh ancestry. The charm of their lakeside B&B is broken when Cynthia startles a burglar and sprains her already-injured ankle. Then a cherished and valuable painting is stolen from the lodge owners, and Cynthia's pain pales in comparison to the wound at the center of this bitterly estranged Irish family.

"The story follows Hetty 'Handful' Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family. The novel begins on Sarah's eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership over Handful, who is to be her handmaid. "The Invention of Wings" follows the next thirty-five years of their lives. Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke (a feminist, suffragist and, importantly, an abolitionist), Kidd allows herself to go...

"In southeast Minnesota, down on the Mississippi, a school board meeting is coming to a close. The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues. "Issues" is correct. The proposal up for a vote before them is whether a local reporter should die. And the vote is four to one in favor. Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers is doing a favor for a friend by looking into a dognapping, which seems to be turning...

Skandian outcasts Hal, Stig, and others do battle at sea against the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race across icy waters where not everyone thinks of the competition as play.

Hannah Smith, a tall, strong, formidable Florida woman, the descendant of generations of strong Florida women, all known for their resourcefulness and a touch of the wild side. Her friends, neighbors, and clients also know her as an uncommonly resourceful woman with a keen sense of justice, someone who can't be bullied, and they have taken to coming to her with their problems. She lives on the Gulf Coast just across the bay from Sanibel Island. When...

In 1908, a brilliant American battleship gun designer dies in a sensational apparent suicide. The man's grief-stricken daughter turns to the legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency to clear her father's name. Van Dorn puts his chief investigator on the case, and Isaac Bell soon realizes that the clues point not to suicide but to murder.