One powerful man . . .has always controlled this small Southern town.

Unchallenged, until now.

Like everyone else in Cane Creek, Mississippi, Chantry Callahan grew up in the shadow of town boss Bert Quinton. Quinton held the lives of local people in his harsh grasp, never letting go. He knew where all their secrets were buried, along with the bodies of anyone who had dared to defy him.

As a boy, Chantry couldn't best Quinton. Couldn't protect the people he loved, including his own mother. But now Chantry is grown. He's come back for answers.

And for justice.

"A marvelous coming-of-age saga in the new Old South. I couldn't stop reading."-Bertrice Small, author of The Border Chronicles

"A page-turner filled with small-town passions, dark secrets and danger. I loved it."-Janelle Taylor, bestselling author of the Lakota Skies Series

Virginia Brown writes the bestselling Dixie Divas Mystery Series and the Blue Suede Memphis Mysteries.

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows — her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for a good life and out of harm’s way. But senior year of high school tests them all, and on a hot summer’s night, one bad decision will change the course of all their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget...or the courage to forgive. Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love. "You cannot read Night Road and not be affected by the story and the characters. The total impact of the book will stay with you for days to come after it is finished." — The Huffington Post

Emily Giffin (left) is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels, including Something Borrowed, which has been adapted as a major motion picture that will be in theaters in summer 2011. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law, she lives in Atlanta with her family.

Kristin Hannah (right) is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including Winter Garden. She is a former lawyer turned writer and the mother of one son. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.

Kristin Hannah: Well, first, I have to say, Emily, that I am just the tiniest bit irritated with you. When I got the call to do this interview, I was thrilled, to say the least. It came at a really busy time for me--right after the holidays and we all know how crazy that is--and my work in progress was giving me fits. Then I picked up Heart of the Matter, and lost myself. No more writing, no more cooking, no getting my hair done or reading my email. Once I started the story I literally couldn't put it down. Brava, girlfriend, I say. Your characters are so real and compelling, and they always say exactly the right thing. With so much honest emotion, I just have to ask how much of your work comes from your own life?

Emily Giffin: It never fails to thrill me when someone responds to one of my novels--especially when it's another writer. Writers understand the alchemy involved in making up something from nothing. And I just finished your book, Night Road, and I found it so emotional, so moving, and so terrifying--especially since I have three young children who will someday be teenagers. In terms of how much does my work come from my own life, I would say that I'm absolutely inspired by people, places, conversations, relationships, and issues that I observe, and that the "what if" part of my novel is very much inspired by these things in my life. But the details of my plots and the specifics of my characters come from my own head. How about you, Kristin? I'll ask you the million-dollar question that every author gets asked: where do you get your ideas?

Kristin: Ah, the idea question. I don't want to sound coy, but the truth is, I don't quite know. It's the most magical part of the process for me. I'm a pretty analytical gal, and I approach writing in the same just-the-facts-ma'am way I approach most things. I need to find an issue that engages me on an intellectual level, and then I need to marry that curiosity with a kind of passion. I need to feel genuinely passionate about each story before I ever write a word, and I have to actually have something to say. It takes me at least a year to research and write a novel, and so I have to really adore each part of it--the characters, setting, story. Most of all, it has to make me feel something genuine. That's really the most important component. Usually it begins with a single "what if" question--what if you discovered your mother had a whole secret life about which you knew nothing (Winter Garden) or what if your husband were accused of a crime you believed he hadn't committed (True Colors)--and then I write and re-write until the characters seem as real to me as old friends.

Kristin: I'm amazed by how much we have in common. We're both moms, both lawyers, both lived in London for a time. You're like a younger, cooler version of me. How did you make the transition from lawyer to writer, and do you think you'll ever practice law again?

Emily: I would hardly say I'm cooler than you, Kristin! I hear you live in Hawaii part time! What is cooler than that? I made the transition from lawyer to writer because I was so miserable being a lawyer that I needed some escape from the day-to-day of it. And inventing stories was that escape. I can say, without hesitation, that I will never practice law again. Would you? What kind of law did you practice, and for how long? What did you find appealing (or discouraging) about law? Did you find that it gave you fodder for any of your novels?

Kristin: Honestly, I have met very few lawyers who don't say that what they really want to do is write. Like you, I can say with certainty that I will never practice law again. Not that anyone would want me to. But I still keep my Bar membership up...just in case this whole writing thing doesn't work out. And yes, in the past few years, I have finally begun to put some of that law school education to work for me. I find that I'm really enjoying adding legal issues to my work. Of course, I have to talk to real lawyers to make sure I'm getting it right...

The story is a tapestry of fantasy woven by the threads of reality. In the story, God takes the female lead character, Liz, on a road trip. On the trip, Liz interacts with many different and whimsical characters in fantastical locations. Each location is vastly different from the other, but each time she leaves a location, she receives a very important, relevant, and useful spiritual life lesson. The story is imaginative, entertaining, and humorous.

Four years after the unsolved disappearance of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Lauren Lawton is the only one still chasing the ghosts of her perfect Santa Barbara life. The world has given her daughter up for dead. Her husband ended his own life in the aftermath. Even Lauren’s younger daughter is desperate to find what’s left of the childhood she hasn’t been allowed to have.
     Lauren knows exactly who took her oldest child, but there is not a shred of evidence against the man. Even as he stalks her family, Lauren is powerless to stop him. Looking for a fresh start in a town with no memories, Lauren and her younger daughter, Leah, move to idyllic Oak Knoll. But when Lauren’s suspect turns up in the same city, it feels to all the world that history is about to repeat itself. Leah Lawton will soon turn sixteen, and Oak Knoll has a cunning predator on the hunt.  
     Sheriff’s detective Tony Mendez and his team begin to close in on the suspected killer, desperate to keep the young women of their picturesque town safe. But as the investigators sift through the murky circumstances of an increasingly disturbing case, a stunning question changes everything they thought they knew.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with the latest entry in her riveting Oak Knoll series.

Deeper Than the Dead introduced Tami Hoag's millions of fans to Oak Knoll, a small California town that, in the mid-eighties, seemed as idyllic as any . . . until the See-No-Evil killer shattered that notion. It took FBI agent Vince Leone and a new technique called profiling" to put an end to the trauma.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with the latest entry in her riveting Oak Knoll series.

Deeper Than the Dead introduced Tami Hoag's millions of fans to Oak Knoll, a small California town that, in the mid-eighties, seemed as idyllic as any . . . until the See-No-Evil killer shattered that notion. It took FBI agent Vince Leone and a new technique called profiling" to put an end to the trauma.

Emory Maxwell has come home to the small town of Sweetness, Georgia, with one goal in mind—to get his childhood sweetheart Shelby Moon to marry him. They've been in love with the second grade, but Shelby's father is determined to keep his daughter in Sweetness, not moving around the country as a soldier's wife. No matter what she chooses, Shelby knows she'll hurt one of the men she loves.

But when a tornado rips through town, will she and Emory lose their chance to be together forever?

Get ready to fall in love with the town of Sweetness, Georgia, in this prequel to Stephanie Bond's Southern Roads trilogy.

Emory Maxwell has come home to the small town of Sweetness, Georgia, with one goal in mind—to get his childhood sweetheart Shelby Moon to marry him. They've been in love with the second grade, but Shelby's father is determined to keep his daughter in Sweetness, not moving around the country as a soldier's wife. No matter what she chooses, Shelby knows she'll hurt one of the men she loves.

But when a tornado rips through town, will she and Emory lose their chance to be together forever?

Get ready to fall in love with the town of Sweetness, Georgia, in this prequel to Stephanie Bond's Southern Roads trilogy.

A Tale of Courage, Conquest, Intrigue, and Honor 

What starts as an adventure for Sasha Mills turns into a terrifying fight for survival...

Emotionally blackmailed by the cold-footed fiancé she hasn't seen in a year, Sasha abandons her life in London to track him down in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he's teaching.

While in Bangkok, locals react strangely to her request to travel the following day, insisting it is a not a good day to travel. Ignoring the warnings, Sasha assumes some kind of bank holiday and offers a large amount of money, securing a seat on the solitary bus heading for Siem Reap.

Thrown together with a random group of international backpackers, including the handsome Josh, Sasha is no longer certain of what lies ahead as they cross the Cambodian border and the roads turn into dirt tracks.

Soon after, a storm like none she's ever witnessed before descends upon them. When one of their group disappears off the side of the road, Sasha realizes she has more than just the warnings of land mines to worry about.

One by one, the travelers lose their minds and their lives as they are plunged into the terrifying secrets of The Dark Road.

What starts as an adventure for Sasha Mills turns into a terrifying fight for survival...

Emotionally blackmailed by the cold-footed fiancé she hasn't seen in a year, Sasha abandons her life in London to track him down in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he's teaching.

While in Bangkok, locals react strangely to her request to travel the following day, insisting it is a not a good day to travel. Ignoring the warnings, Sasha assumes some kind of bank holiday and offers a large amount of money, securing a seat on the solitary bus heading for Siem Reap.

Thrown together with a random group of international backpackers, including the handsome Josh, Sasha is no longer certain of what lies ahead as they cross the Cambodian border and the roads turn into dirt tracks.

Soon after, a storm like none she's ever witnessed before descends upon them. When one of their group disappears off the side of the road, Sasha realizes she has more than just the warnings of land mines to worry about.

One by one, the travelers lose their minds and their lives as they are plunged into the terrifying secrets of The Dark Road.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America, heading through the ravaged landscape to the coast. This is the profoundly moving story of their journey. The Road boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which two people, 'each the other's world entire', are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation. 'The first great masterpiece of the globally warmed generation. Here is an American classic which, at a stroke, makes McCarthy a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature . . . An absolutely wonderful book that people will be reading for generations' Andrew O'Hagan 'A work of such terrible beauty that you will struggle to look away' Tom Gatti, The Times 'So good that it will devour you, in parts. It is incandescent' Niall Griffiths, Daily Telegraph 'You will read on, absolutely convinced, thrilled, mesmerised. All the modern novel can do is done here' Alan Warner, Guardian

Best known for his Border Trilogy, hailed in the San Francisco Chronicle as "an American classic to stand with the finest literary achievements of the century," Cormac McCarthy has written ten rich and often brutal novels, including the bestselling No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Profoundly dark, told in spare, searing prose, The Road is a post-apocalyptic masterpiece, one of the best books we've read this year, but in case you need a second (and expert) opinion, we asked Dennis Lehane, author of equally rich, occasionally bleak and brutal novels, to read it and give us his take. Read his glowing review below. --Daphne Durham