“[An] account of the decades-long attempt to solve the murder of Adam Walsh . . . as relentlessly suspenseful as anything I’ve ever read.” —Dennis Lehane, author of Small Mercies Before Adam Walsh there were no faces on milk cartons, no Amber Alerts, no federal databases of crimes against children. The six-year-old’s 1981 abduction and murder in Hollywood, Florida—unsolved for more than a quarter of a century—forever changed America. His parents went on to become fierce advocates for missing children, and his father, John Walsh, served as host of America’s Most Wanted. From New York Times-bestselling author Les Standiford, Bringing Adam Home is a harrowing account of the terrible crime and its dramatic consequences, the emotional story of a father and mother’s efforts to seek justice and resolve the loss of their child, and a compelling portrait of Miami Beach Homicide Detective Joe Matthews, whose unwavering dedication brought the Adam Walsh case to its resolution. “The most significant missing child case since the Lindbergh [kidnapping]. . . . A taut, compelling and often touching book about a long march to justice.” —Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent “Compelling.” —Miami Herald “[A] page-turner . . . tough to forget.” —People “The definitive account.” —The Washington Post

As the host of the immensely popular America's Most Wanted, John Walsh has been instrumental in the capture of nearly four hundred and fifty of this country's most dangeroues fugitives. However, few know the full story of the personal tragedy behind his public crusade: the 1981 abduction and murder of his six-year-old son, Adam. Here, for the first time, Walsh, his wife Revé, and their closest friends tell the wrenching tale of Adam's death -- and the infuriating conspiracy of events that have kept America's No. 1 crime fighter from obtaining justice and closure for himself and his family. "I've never really spoken about these things to anyone before, but I want to talk about Adam before he died. I want people to know just exactly how horrible it is to lose your child, how painful it is. But I also want to talk about how people can help you, and how you can help yourself. About how to come to terms with life when you think you're dying of a broken heart." -- John Walsh "I remember thinking, 'our son's been murdered, and now we've got to be the ones to do something about it' It was a sad thing for this country that the fight had to be led by two broken-down parents of a murdered child. But we had to, because no one else was going to do it." -- Revé Walsh

“Les Standiford takes us under the big top and behind the curtain in this richly researched and thoroughly engaging narrative that captures all of the entrepreneurial intrigue and spirit of the American circus.” —Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times–bestselling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings—James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling—all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus. Ultimately, the rivalry of these three men resulted in the creation of an institution that would surpass all intentions and, for 147 years, hold a nation spellbound. Filled with details of their ever-evolving showmanship, business acumen, and personal magnetism, this Ragtime-like narrative will delight and enchant circus-lovers and anyone fascinated by the American experience.

Why? Two unforgettable names, Adam Walsh and Jeffrey Dahmer, one tragic case: The author's goal is justice for little Adam Walsh. A wall of evidence points to America's most notorious serial killer and pedophile Jeffrey Dahmer murdering and decapitating Adam. Accordingly, the author wants the Hollywood Police Department (HPD) to reopen the case and close it correctly. This will finally bring proper closure for the Walsh family, which includes Adam's father, John, who channeled his rage by becoming the crime-fighting host of the popular TV show America's Most Wanted. Who? The author describes how he encountered Dahmer at length near the time and place little Adam was abducted. This book has consumed well over three decades of the author's life, with at least one decade investigating and writing this book. He has appeared on many TV shows and in numerous print publications as a witness. In 2010 he filed a lawsuit against the HPD, State Attorney's Office, and one of the detectives involved in the Adam Walsh case. What? As much as this book is a case for Dahmer being Adam's murderer, it is equally a study of how the HPD conducted the homicide investigation, becoming the greatest ally and defender of America's most notorious serial killer. I have a problem with facts that don't fit, with witnesses not called or used, with bungled investigations, and with cover-ups after the fact, the author writes. The author presents many, many witnesses who know they saw Dahmer. Packed with charts, diagrams, photos, and letters, this is the most extensive collection of records to date of the Adam Walsh case.

Connor Major's summer break is turning into a nightmare. When he comes out to his religious zealot mother, she has him kidnapped and shipped off to a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.” Connor plans to escape, but first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are—and taking the place down.

Twenty years after witnessing the violent disappearances of two companions from their small Dublin suburb, detective Rob Ryan investigates a chillingly similar murder that takes place in the same wooded area, a case that forces him to piece together his traumatic memories.

A couple years back, I was at the Phoenix airport bar. It was empty except for one heavy-set, gray bearded, grizzled guy who looked like he just rode his donkey into town after a long day of panning for silver in them thar hills. He ordered a Jack Daniels straight up, and that's when I overheard the young guy with the earring behind the bar asking him if he had ID. At first the old sea captain just laughed. But the guy with the twinkle in his ear asked again. At this point it became apparent that he was serious. Dan Haggerty's dad fired back, "You've got to be kidding me, son." The bartender replied, "New policy. Everyone has to show their ID." Then I watched Burl Ives reluctantly reach into his dungarees and pull out his military identification card from World War II. It's a sad and eerie harbinger of our times that the Oprah-watching, crystal-rubbing, Whole Foods-shopping moms and their whipped attorney husbands have taken the ability to reason away from the poor schlub who makes the Bloody Marys. What we used to settle with common sense or a fist, we now settle with hand sanitizer and lawyers. Adam Carolla has had enough of this insanity and he's here to help us get our collective balls back. In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks is Adam's comedic gospel of modern America. He rips into the absurdity of the culture that demonized the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, turned the nation's bathrooms into a lawless free-for-all of urine and fecal matter, and put its citizens at the mercy of a bunch of minimum wagers with axes to grind. Peppered between complaints Carolla shares candid anecdotes from his day to day life as well as his past—Sunday football at Jimmy Kimmel's house, his attempts to raise his kids in a society that he mostly disagrees with, his big showbiz break, and much, much more. Brilliantly showcasing Adam's spot-on sense of humor, this book cements his status as a cultural commentator/comedian/complainer extraordinaire.

"Adam Nicolson writes popular books as popular books used to be, a breeze rather than a scholarly sweat, but humanely erudite, elegantly written, passionately felt...and his excitement is contagious."—James Wood, The New Yorker Adam Nicolson sees the Iliad and the Odyssey as the foundation myths of Greek—and our—consciousness, collapsing the passage of 4,000 years and making the distant past of the Mediterranean world as immediate to us as the events of our own time. Why Homer Matters is a magical journey of discovery across wide stretches of the past, sewn together by the poems themselves and their metaphors of life and trouble. Homer's poems occupy, as Adam Nicolson writes "a third space" in the way we relate to the past: not as memory, which lasts no more than three generations, nor as the objective accounts of history, but as epic, invented after memory but before history, poetry which aims "to bind the wounds that time inflicts." The Homeric poems are among the oldest stories we have, drawing on deep roots in the Eurasian steppes beyond the Black Sea, but emerging at a time around 2000 B.C. when the people who would become the Greeks came south and both clashed and fused with the more sophisticated inhabitants of the Eastern Mediterranean. The poems, which ask the eternal questions about the individual and the community, honor and service, love and war, tell us how we became who we are.

“[An] account of the decades-long attempt to solve the murder of Adam Walsh . . . as relentlessly suspenseful as anything I’ve ever read.” —Dennis Lehane, author of Small Mercies Before Adam Walsh there were no faces on milk cartons, no Amber Alerts, no federal databases of crimes against children. The six-year-old’s 1981 abduction and murder in Hollywood, Florida—unsolved for more than a quarter of a century—forever changed America. His parents went on to become fierce advocates for missing children, and his father, John Walsh, served as host of America’s Most Wanted. From New York Times-bestselling author Les Standiford, Bringing Adam Home is a harrowing account of the terrible crime and its dramatic consequences, the emotional story of a father and mother’s efforts to seek justice and resolve the loss of their child, and a compelling portrait of Miami Beach Homicide Detective Joe Matthews, whose unwavering dedication brought the Adam Walsh case to its resolution. “The most significant missing child case since the Lindbergh [kidnapping]. . . . A taut, compelling and often touching book about a long march to justice.” —Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent “Compelling.” —Miami Herald “[A] page-turner . . . tough to forget.” —People “The definitive account.” —The Washington Post

“Popular history in its most vital and accessible form. Standiford has recovered the mentality of America’s first group of young radicals, the Sons of Liberty, and tells their story with flair and grace.” —Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers Les Standiford’s Last Train to Paradise, the fascinating true account of the building of a railroad “across the ocean” from Miami to Key West, is already a classic of popular history. With Desperate Sons, the New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Adam Home tells the remarkable story of America’s first patriots, the Sons of Liberty, whose revolutionary acts have become legend. With all the suspense and power of a historical action thriller, Standiford’s Desperate Sons recounts the courage and tenacity of a hardy group that included Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock—radical activists who were responsible for some of the most notorious events leading up to the American Revolution, from the Boston Tea Party to Paul Revere’s fabled midnight ride. Fans of David McCullough’s John Adams and 1776 will be riveted by this true history of young men inflamed by the fires of common purpose who helped a new nation to rise up against its British oppressor.