From the author of LONG BRIGHT RIVER, a Barack Obama Pick and a New York Times bestseller, comes a once-in-a-generation story; a novel you'll never forget.

Some said it was tragic, what happened to the Van Laars.

Some said the Van Laars deserved it. That they never even thanked the searchers who stayed out for five nights in the freezing forest trying to help find their missing son.

Some said there was a reason it took the family so long to call for help. That they knew what happened to the boy.

Now, fifteen years later, the daughter the family had in their grief has gone missing in the same wilderness as her brother. Some say the two disappearances aren’t connected.

Some say they are.

KENSINGTON AVE, PHILADELPHIA:

THE FIRST PLACE YOU GO FOR DRUGS OR SEX.
THE LAST PLACE YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR YOUR SISTER.

Mickey Fitzpatrick has been patrolling the 24th District for years. She knows most of the working women by name. She knows what desperation looks like and what people will do when they need a fix. She’s become used to finding overdose victims: their numbers are growing every year. But every time she sees someone sprawled out, slumped over, cold to the touch, she has to pray it’s not her sister, Kacey.

When the bodies of murdered sex workers start turning up on the Ave, the Chief of Police is keen to bury the news. They’re not the kind of victims that generate a whole lot of press anyway. But Mickey is obsessed, dangerously so, with finding the perpetrator - before Kacey becomes the next victim.

Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn t left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career if he can untangle himself from his difficult family life. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel s mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur s. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene s unexpected phone call to Arthur a plea for help that shatters their isolation. Told with warmth and intelligence through Arthur and Kel s own quirky and lovable voices, Heft is the story of two improbable heroes whose connection transforms both their lives. It is a memorable, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive novel about finding sustenance and friendship in the most surprising places."

'A staggeringly beautiful meditation on love, legacy and the emotional necessities that make life worth living.' Tea Obreht, author of The Tiger's Wife BOSTON, 1980 Ada Sibelius is twelve years old and home-schooled. Her days are spent in a lab with her father David, a computer science professor, and the brilliant minds of his colleagues. David is widely regarded as one of best in his field. That is, until he starts to forget things. When David is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Ada's world falls apart. But when he leaves a floppy disk for his beloved daughter, she has no idea that the coding within it holds the key to a past that her father refused to talk about. Navigating her teenage years without his guidance, will Ada be able to piece together the father she lost?

__________________________________ 'A remarkable novel, elegant, wise, and beautifully constructed.' Roddy Doyle Tommy Mays, Titan Records' biggest act, is verging on a mid-life crisis; learning the hard way that a life of fame and fortune comes at a price. But things are looking up for his support band, The Burn, which could be a career-changer for Theo, Titan's young A&R executive. Meanwhile, secretary Cynthia has her eyes on Titan's latest rising star, singer-songwriter Lenore Lamont. But with a billboard in Times Square, is Lenore starting to feel the pressure? Set in the sleek offices, high-tech recording studios and hip downtown clubs of New York, The Words of Every Song depicts the realities of making it in an industry where glamour and fame can often conceal the harsh realities for those hoping to hit the big-time.

Ada Sibelius is raised by David, her brilliant, eccentric, socially inept single father, who directs a computer science lab in 1980s-era Boston. Home-schooled, Ada accompanies David to work every day; by twelve, she is a painfully shy prodigy. The lab begins to gain acclaim at the same time that David's mysterious history comes into question. When his mind begins to falter, leaving Ada virtually an orphan, she is taken in by one of David's colleagues. Soon she embarks on a mission to uncover her father's secrets: a process that carries her from childhood to adulthood. What Ada discovers on her journey into a virtual universe will keep the reader riveted until The Unseen World's heart-stopping, fascinating conclusion.

Have you ever wanted to "run away" for a while? Where would you go? How would you live life differently? In the year she turned 50, Liz Moore acted on a long-time daydream. She loaded up her car and left home for a year. Her goal was to randomly find a nice town far away, move in, get a job, and live life without a plan and away from all things familiar. After a month to two months, it would be time to leave for the next town and a new set of adventures, until she had completed a tour of America. She had not imagined where the roads would lead: to work "in security" at the lip of the Grand Canyon, and fun in the concrete canyons of New York, to sharing a house with a globe-trotting professor, to over-coming chaos in a New England waitressing job. "Making it home" refers to making each town home for the time she was there. "Making it home" also means rushing home to deal with crises, including a devastating betrayal and family tragedy.

** SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING RENEE ZELLWEGER, LOUIE ANDERSON AND OWEN TEAGUE ** Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising sporting career - if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel's mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur's. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene's unexpected phone call to Arthur - a plea for help - that jostles them into action.

"The Words of Every Song" is a literate and original debut novel in the form of fourteen linked episodes, each centered on a character involved with the music industry in some fashion. There's the arrogantly hip, twenty-six-year-old A&R man; the rising young singer-songwriter; the established, arena-filling rock star on the verge of a midlife crisis; the type-A female executive with the heavy social calendar; and other recognizable figures.
Set in the sleek offices, high-tech recording studios, and grungy downtown clubs of New York, "The Words of Every Song" offers an authenticity drawn from Liz Moore's own experience and brings an insider's touch to its depiction of the music industry and its denizens.