“Mr. Gross's direct style is full of sentiment but never maudlin and well-suited to scenes of violent action. Button Man has plenty of zip–and lots of moxie, too." –Wall Street Journal "This is a big, heartfelt handshake of a book, with all the street-scrambling energy that distinguishes the best fiction of Jeffrey Archer and Mario Puzo." –USA Today Following up The One Man and The Saboteur, Gross's next historical thriller brings to life the drama of the birth of organized crime in 1930s New York City from the tale of one family. After a string of New York Times bestselling suburban thrillers, Andrew Gross has reinvented himself as a writer of historical thrillers. In his latest novel, Button Man, he delivers a stirring story of a Jewish family brought together in the dawn of the women's garment business and torn apart by the birth of organized crime in New York City in the 1930s. Morris, Sol, and Harry Rabishevsky grew up poor and rough in a tiny flat on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father thrust them into having to fend for themselves and support their large family. Morris, the youngest, dropped out of school at twelve years old and apprenticed himself to a garment cutter in a clothing factory; Sol headed to accounting school; but Harry, scarred by a family tragedy, fell in with a gang of thugs as a teenager. Morris steadily climbs through the ranks at the factory until at twenty-one he finally goes out on his own, convincing Sol to come work with him. But Harry can't be lured away from the glamour, the power, and the money that come from his association with Louis Buchalter, whom Morris has battled with since his youth and who has risen to become the most ruthless mobster in New York. And when Buchalter sets his sights on the unions that staff the garment makers' factories, a fatal showdown is inevitable, pitting brother against brother. This new novel is equal parts historical thriller, rich with the detail of a vibrant New York City in the 1920s and 1930s, and family saga, based on Andrew Gross's own family story and on the history of the era, complete with appearances by real-life characters like mobsters Louis Lepke and Dutch Schultz and special prosecutor Thomas Dewey, and cements Gross's reputation as today's most atmospheric and original historical thriller writer.

The Doll’s Head By: Paul C. Herndon It is the 1950s, rural Tennessee. Cold, conniving Tad Caudell has taken over the farm of his orphaned younger cousin, Charles “Bimbo” Benton. Tad bullies and brutalizes Bimbo, treating him no better than a hired hand. And when Bimbo brings home his new bride, Tad has no compunction about taking her, as well as the farm, away from Bimbo.

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Every parent’s worst fear has become her reality... SOME LIES It only takes a minute for Amy McMurray to run from her car to the cash machine. That brief, unforgivable minute is enough time for her infant son to be snatched from the back seat and for Amy’s family, her marriage, and her peace of mind to be shattered beyond repair. ARE TOO CLOSE To everyone who meets him, Carl Jorgenson seems an exemplary single father. His son, Sam, is bright, considerate, and devoted to his dad. Only Carl knows about Sam’s real identity and about his own unthinkable crime. TO BE SEEN One careless slip, one chance meeting is all it will take for the devastating truth to be revealed. Sam is growing up, asking questions, increasingly suspicious that the life he believes in is a lie. But with that knowledge comes dread. Because when someone has risked everything to create a family, how far will they go to protect it? “A fast-paced, powerful novel.” --Seattle Post Intelligencer

The untold story of Sammy Davis, Jr.: This incisive biography and sweeping cultural history conjures "the many worlds [Davis, Jr.] traversed, and shows how the issue of race, in his own mind and in the minds of his fans and detractors, shaped his career and life" (The New York Times). For decades one of America’s most recognizable stars, the real Sammy Davis, Jr. has long remained hidden behind the persona the performer so vigorously generated—and so fiercely protected. Here Wil Haygood brings Davis’s life into full relief against the backdrop of an America in the throes of racial change. He made his living entertaining white people but was often denied service in the very venues he played, and in his broad and varied friendships—not to mention his romances—Davis crossed racial lines in ways few others had. In Black and White vividly draws on painstaking research and more than two hundred and fifty interviews to trace Davis, Jr.’s journey from the vaudeville stage to Broadway, Hollywood, and, of course, Las Vegas. It is an important record of a vanished America—and of one of its greatest entertainers.

Private Investigator Sam Marlowe was enjoying a dry martini at his usual bar in North Beach. He then got a call from Cosette, a dazzling dame who was nothing but trouble. As a man once burned, he knew he should stay away from her. However, as a PI he was interested in what she had to say. Cosette's friend, an exotic dancer in San Francisco, was murdered in Washington Square. Two underage girls from the Broadway strip joints also went missing at the same time. Sam suspected a connection between these crimes. Before he knew it, he was embroiled in the sordid underbelly of the city's sex trade. Sam runs into opposition from corrupt cops and city officials who don't want him conducting his investigation. But despite being followed by hired goons every step of the way, nothing can dissuade this hard-boiled detective from closing a case. This mystery also includes Sam's remembrances of previous cases, accounts of San Francisco's historical figures, observations of city life, and walking tours covering the story's locations.

Land of Magic Spell, by Larry Zacharko; Which Witch is Which? by Beth McMaster; The Clam Made a Face, by Eric Nicol; Nuts & Bolts & Rusty Things, by Fred Thury; King Grumbletum and the Magic Pie, by David Kemp; Professor Fuddle's Fantastic Fairy Tale Machine, by Alan E. Ball; Cyclone Jack, by Carol Bolt; Billy Bishop and the Red Baron, by Leonard Peterson; Masque, by Ron Cameron; Catalyst, by John Ibbitson.

It all seemed so routine, the old lady dead in her bed, the grieving nephew and his lovely wife arranging a quick and quiet burial, with the seasoned undertaker and his policeman pal lending sympathetic service to their visitors from out of town. But then Sammy Vanderhove and Chief Earl stir up the whole thing by finding the old Caddy with its trunk full of shiny gold bars in the garage behind the former movie star's house. When Nathan Corso's gorgeous wife finds out about the diamonds, the ones the old lady had secretly stashed, well, she just has to have them. After all, Nathan is the only heir, and they belong to him, and she...er, he, should have them at any cost. Problem is, others feel the same way, and they want the diamonds just as badly. When bodies start turning up it's up to Chief Earl and his counterpart in small town Iowa to begin sorting it all out. They quickly find that nothing is as it appeared, and the chase is on, a chase that will leave one of them risking everything he had thought was dear. Diamonds Aren't... is a tale of greed, lust, murder and mayhem, but most importantly, a tale of begrudged friendship with a heavy dose of wry humor. Chuckle along with Sammy, Earl and Johnny as they ogle and slog through the adventure to arrive at its bizarre and warmly satisfying conclusion.