The Secret Hour

Now in paperback--the first volume in a mesmerizing new trilogy which introduces a group of teens, who call themselves Midnighters, living in a world that is frozen in time and inhabited by dark creatures that lurk in the shadows.

"It's history that reads like a race-against-the-clock thriller." —Harlan Coben Daniel Stashower, the two-time Edgar award–winning author of The Beautiful Cigar Girl, uncovers the riveting true story of the "Baltimore Plot," an audacious conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War in THE HOUR OF PERIL. In February of 1861, just days before he assumed the presidency, Abraham Lincoln faced a "clear and fully-matured" threat of assassination as he traveled by train from Springfield to Washington for his inauguration. Over a period of thirteen days the legendary detective Allan Pinkerton worked feverishly to detect and thwart the plot, assisted by a captivating young widow named Kate Warne, America's first female private eye. As Lincoln's train rolled inexorably toward "the seat of danger," Pinkerton struggled to unravel the ever-changing details of the murder plot, even as he contended with the intractability of Lincoln and his advisors, who refused to believe that the danger was real. With time running out Pinkerton took a desperate gamble, staking Lincoln's life—and the future of the nation—on a "perilous feint" that seemed to offer the only chance that Lincoln would survive to become president. Shrouded in secrecy—and, later, mired in controversy—the story of the "Baltimore Plot" is one of the great untold tales of the Civil War era, and Stashower has crafted this spellbinding historical narrative with the pace and urgency of a race-against-the-clock thriller. A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2013 Winner of the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Winner of the 2013 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction Winner of the 2014 Anthony Award for Best Critical or Non-fiction Work Winner of the 2014 Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction

From internationally bestselling author Santa Montefiore, whose books have sold more than six million copies worldwide, comes The Secret Hours, a new story in the sweeping generational saga, The Deverill Trilogy, about the sister who left the family’s castle and never came back. Let the wind take me and the soft rain settle me into the Irish soil from where I came. And may my sins be forgiven. Faye Clayton is a dutiful wife and mother to three grown children. She’s not given to flights of fancy, but when her mother passes away, she begins to dream of a strange, yet familiar, castle set on rolling hills of grass and heather. When Faye learns that her mother has requested her ashes be scattered on the hills above a place called Castle Deverill in Ireland, she is shocked but intrigued. Her mother never spoke fondly of her childhood on a farm in Ireland, so why in death would she want to return to a castle Faye has never heard of? Against her husband’s wishes, Faye sets out for Ireland where she uncovers a heartbreaking story of love, prejudice, and lifelong secrets that have touched those closest to her. Spanning decades and continents, The Secret Hours is a poignant tale about the meaning of family, the power of forgiveness, and the ties we all have to the place we call home.

YA. SCIENCE FICTION. Imagine falling for someone who can fly you through the air. Imagine loving someone who can see your darkest thoughts. Imagine having secrets that could destroy the things you cherish ... Midnight in Bixby hides more than one secret, and uncovering them will put Jessica and her friends in more danger than they could have imagined. The Midnighters aren't the only ones seeking truth in the darkness. And if the group allow their own secrets to come between them they risk losing one of their own? forever. Ages 12+.

This third book of Westerfield's acclaimed series is a tale of pulse-pounding danger, electrifying power, and a race against time that may require the ultimate sacrifice.

Edie Burchill visits Milderhurst Castle where her mother stayed during World War II, discovering the three elderly sisters of the castle still alive but haunted by the secrets of their past life with their father, a famous children's author.

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a web-design drone, and serendipity, sheer curiosity and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey have landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than its name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything. Instead they “check out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he has embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behaviour and roped his friends into helping him figure out just what’s going on. But once they take their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the secrets extend far beyond the walls of the bookstore. Evoking both the fairy-tale charm of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or Umberto Eco, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like—an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave.

Master spy, Nazi hunter—and werewolf on the prowl—in occupied Paris: A classic of dark fantasy from a Bram Stoker Award—winning author. Allied Intelligence has been warned: A Nazi strategy designed to thwart the D-Day invasion is underway. A Russian émigré turned operative for the British Secret Service, Michael Gallatin has been brought out of retirement as a personal courier. His mission: Parachute into Nazi-occupied France, search out the informant under close watch by the Gestapo, and recover the vital information necessary to subvert the mysterious Nazi plan called Iron Fist. Fearlessly devoted to the challenge, Gallatin is the one agent uniquely qualified to meet it—he’s a werewolf. Now, as shifting as the shadows on the dangerous streets of Paris, a master spy is on the scent of unimaginable evil. But with the Normandy landings only hours away, it’s going to be a race against time. For Gallatin, caught in the dark heart of the Third Reich’s twisted death machine, there is only one way to succeed. He must unleash his own internal demons and redefine the meaning of the horror of war. From the award-winning author of Swan Song and Boy’s Life, this is a “powerful novel [that] fuses WWII espionage thriller and dark fantasy. Richly detailed, intricately plotted, fast-paced historical suspense is enhanced by McCammon’s unique take on the werewolf myth” (Publishers Weekly).