The story of Texas is the story of struggle and triumph in a land of extremes. It is a story of drought and flood, invasion and war, boom and bust, and of the myriad peoples who, over centuries of conflict, gave rise to a place that has helped shape the identity of the United States and the destiny of the world. “I couldn’t believe Texas was real,” the painter Georgia O’Keeffe remembered of her first encounter with the Lone Star State. It was, for her, “the same big wonderful thing that oceans and the highest mountains are.” Big Wonderful Thing invites us to walk in the footsteps of ancient as well as modern people along the path of Texas’s evolution. Blending action and atmosphere with impeccable research, New York Times best-selling author Stephen Harrigan brings to life with novelistic immediacy the generations of driven men and women who shaped Texas, including Spanish explorers, American filibusters, Comanche warriors, wildcatters, Tejano activists, and spellbinding artists—all of them taking their part in the creation of a place that became not just a nation, not just a state, but an indelible idea. Written in fast-paced prose, rich with personal observation and a passionate sense of place, Big Wonderful Thing calls to mind the literary spirit of Robert Hughes writing about Australia or Shelby Foote about the Civil War. Like those volumes it is a big book about a big subject, a book that dares to tell the whole glorious, gruesome, epically sprawling story of Texas.

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Anderson will touch your emotions with the story of woman who brings out the best in a daredevil cowboy in this Harrigan Family novel. At twenty-eight, Mandy Pajeck has spent most of her life taking care of others. Since the accident that took her younger brother's sight, Luke's complete reliance on Mandy's care has left both of them feeling trapped. But when Mandy meets handsome Zach Harrigan, she thinks she’s found the ticket to her brother’s happiness. Of the five Harrigan siblings, Zach was the hellion who partied hard and took nothing seriously. But when his life starts to feel empty, Zach decides to employ his skills as a horseman to train a mini guide horse for the blind—never expecting the project will lead him to beautiful, tender-hearted Mandy. Even though she’s charmed by Zach’s patience and compassion, Mandy can’t bring herself to fully trust him. And when Zach urges her to confront the truth about her mother’s disappearance, the secrets they uncover are so shocking that even Zach’s steadfast devotion may not be enough to win her heart...

A New York Times bestselling novel, modern historical classic, and winner of the TCU Texas Book Award, The Spur Award and the Wrangler Award for Outstanding Western Novel It’s 1836, and the Mexican province of Texas is in revolt. As General Santa Anna’s forces move closer to the small fort that will soon be legend, three people’s fates will become intrinsically tied to the coming battle: Edmund McGowan, a proud and gifted naturalist; the widowed innkeeper Mary Mott; and her sixteen-year-old son, Terrell, whose first shattering experience with love has led him into the line of fire. Filled with dramatic scenes, and abounding in fictional and historical personalities—among them James Bowie, David Crockett, William Travis, and Stephen Austin—The Gates of the Alamo is a faithful and compelling look at a riveting chapter in American history.

Abiah's Heart Waged A Battle Of Its Own Abiah Calder had always loved Thomas Harrigan. Always. But the war had contrived to make them enemies. Now that same war had bound them as man and wife. Yet did Thomas' heart's desire truly match her own? When Thomas Harrigan found Abby dying in an abandoned house, he risked everything to see her safe. No matter that he was a Yankee captain and she a loyal Rebel. She was all that had been good and true in his life—and he would claim her as his own; and damn the consequences.

Christian Bauer’s short stories range from out-of-control Thanksgiving turkeys to a fighter pilot’s fateful flight and take the reader from a pizza delivery joint to a homemade backyard rocket ship. Machines have minds of their own with a love for pranks (or even more deadly plans). Sometimes, if you just wait, serendipity solves the problem. This collection highlights some of Bauer’s most loved previously-published short stories including “Fresh, Never Frozen” and “Harrigan’s Price,” while introducing several never-before-published titles, created especially for this collection.

The fragile, 1952 postwar tranquility of a young boy’s world explodes one summer day when a leopard escapes from the Oklahoma City zoo, throwing all the local residents into dangerous excitement, in this evocative story of a child’s confrontation with his deepest fears For Grady McClarty, an ever-watchful but bewildered five-year-old boy, World War II is only a troubling, ungraspable event that occurred before he was born. But he feels its effects all around him. He and his older brother Danny are fatherless, and their mother, Bethie, is still grieving for her fighter-pilot husband. Most of all, Grady senses it in his two uncles: young combat veterans determined to step into a fatherhood role for their nephews, even as they struggle with the psychological scars they carry from the war. When news breaks that a leopard has escaped from the Oklahoma City Zoo, the playthings and imagined fears of Grady’s childhood begin to give way to real-world terrors, most imminently the dangerous jungle cat itself. The Leopard Is Loose is a stunning encapsulation of America in the 1950s, and a moving portrait of a boy’s struggle to find his place in the world.

Originally published in 1984, Stephen Harrigan's passionate, emotionally intense second novel takes readers deep into the mysterious passageways of a Central Texas aquifer—and of the human heart. This edition includes a new afterword by the author.

"Harrigan's novel, part mystery and part coming-of-age, explores the process of healing from tragedies and misunderstandings."—Publishers Weekly An atmospheric novel about a young woman who uncovers devastating secrets that will resurrect the people she lost and the lies she buried—a suspenseful spin on the tender Southern novel. Ten years ago, Julie Portland accidentally killed her best friend, Reba. What's worse is she got away with it. Consumed by guilt, she left the small town of Lawrence Mill, Mississippi, and swore nothing would ever drag her back. Now, raising her daughter and struggling to make ends meet, Julie still can't forget the ghost of a girl with golden hair and a dangerous secret. When August, Reba's first love, begs Julie to come home to find the diary that Reba kept all those years ago, Julie's past comes creeping back to haunt her. That diary could expose the shameful memories Julie has been running from, but it could also unearth the truths that Reba left buried...and reveal that Julie isn't the only one who feels responsible for Reba's death. A Southern mystery perfect for fans of Diane Chamberlain and Ellen Marie Wiseman, Secrets of Southern Girls, is a thriller that delivers suspense, romance, and healing. "Harrigan is a great prose stylist who knows how to sustain the tension and tone required of a Southern Gothic novel."—ForeWord

Many companies refuse to face the reality that their businesses are in trouble or that their strategic positions are wrong. Whether a product line is no longer profitable, foreign competition has slowed growth, or technological changes have left them behind, many otherwise well-managed companies hang on for too long to the status quo. In this inflexible posture, managements time and talent go to waste, assets grow sterile, and technology falls behind. This book will help managers overcome the exit barriers that hamper strategic flexibility. Based on innovative studies of 192 firms within Sixteen industries, the ideas presented here are applicable to almost any industry and any type of firm. Harrigan discusses the major strategic decisions facing executives today, including guerrilla strategies of underdog competitors, entry and exit barriers, the use of joint ventures to cope with the uncertainties created by erratic growth, and the management of change. She focuses on the shortcomings of vertical integration, developing a framework for better make-or-buy decisions. The effects of exit barriers on firms' strategic flexibility are detailed, and managerial tools to cope with high barriers and declining businesses are introduced. "Strategic Flexibility" is organized to provide easy reference for managers seeking to find out what strategies have worked and why. This book offers practical, proven ways for managers to expand the flexibility and responsiveness of their companies to new competitive conditions.

Growing up, identical twins Paula and Artis speak in one voice--until they can't. After years apart, with lives, partners, and children of their own, they are reunited on the occasion of their father's funeral. Seeking to repair the damage wrought upon their relationship by outside forces, the twins retrace their early lives to uncover what happened--but risk unraveling their carefully constructed cocoons. Written in spare,lyrical prose,Halfis an achingly beautiful story of intimacy and loss, revealing the complexity--and cost--of sharing your life entirely with someone else. Sharon Harrigan deftly explores how fierce lovecanalso be the very thing that leadsto heartbreak and betrayal.