During childhood summers in Louisiana, Andre Dubus III's grandfather taught him that men's work is hard. As an adult, whether tracking down a drug lord in Mexico as a bounty hunter or grappling with privilege while living with a rich girlfriend in New York City, Dubus worked--at being a better worker and a better human being. In Ghost Dogs, Dubus's nonfiction prowess is on full display in his retelling of his own successes, failures, triumphs, and...

"How would you react in a life-or-death situation? It’s a question everyone asks themselves, but few have to face in real life. English teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent on harming others, but when Mark LeDrew shows up at Richard’s school with a bomb strapped to his chest, Richard immediately jumps into action. Thanks to some quick thinking, he averts a major tragedy and is...

"Boston Standard journalist Emily--Em--Kelton is desperate for a big story. As a new reporter Em covers the police beat, which has her responding to every crime that comes across the newsroom scanner. Despite the drudgery and the largely nocturnal hours, it's a beat that suits her--especially with her affinity for the low-level criminals she regularly interacts with and what she considers a healthy scepticism for the rules. But she's sick of filing...

"Abandoned by a man she barely knew and neglected by her alcoholic mother, the stakes were already stacked against Bella Goins. Faced with many struggles growing up, Bella was enticed by the power of the street. Trying to control the men in her life, she gets caught up in the dirt and grime of the dope game, quickly finding herself dancing with the devil. Will Bella turn away from the game before it’s too late? Or will the streets swallow her alive?"...

"Brooklyn Melody James has finally gotten the punishment she deserves after leaving a web of lies, heartache, and betrayal behind her. As her life slips away, Brooklyn remembers the events that shaped her into the cold, calculating creature she became. Brooklyn learned the art of hustling from her parents who used the church to get money. Idolizing her father and despising her mother, Brooklyn’s determined to be the type of woman who makes her own...

"For the past ten years, Alexis Fox had been living a double life. She is a successful real estate agent and investor by day and a drug queenpin known as Diamond by night. But everything changes after the murder of her right-hand man, Hedrick, causing her two worlds to collide. As a result, she was forced to assume a more hands-on role in her illicit side business, and for the first time, the drug life was beginning to creep into her real life. Consequently,...

"DI Sheridan Holler is used to solving crimes on Liverpool's streets, but after a decayed corpse turns up in a cemetery, she finds herself reopening not one but two cold cases. Seven years earlier, two women were gunned down and the only suspect, small-time drug dealer John Lively, was never seen again. Case closed. Until the body in the cemetery is identified as his. Holler needs to work out if Lively was killed out of revenge for the murders, or...

"V .I. Warshawski is famous for her cool under fire, her intelligence, her humor, her unflinching courage, and her love of good coffee. But even the strongest people sometimes need a break to recharge, so her friends send her to Kansas for a weekend of college basketball where Angela, one of her protégées, is playing. And that’s where trouble finds V.I. Sabrina, one of Angela’s roommates, disappears and V.I. agrees to try to find her. Finding...

New York, New High! After serving three years in the joint, the onetime suburban soccer mom is making a fresh start in New York City and going back to doing what she does best: selling pot. But when some old friends return, they could send everything up in flames.