The lonely, rockbound island of Tsunojima is notorious as the site of a series of bloody unsolved murders. Some even say it’s haunted. One thing’s for sure: it’s the perfect destination for the K-University Mystery Club’s annual trip. But when the first club member turns up dead, the remaining amateur sleuths realise they will need all of their murder-mystery expertise to get off the island alive. As the party are picked off one by one, the survivors grow desperate and paranoid, turning on each other. Will anyone be able to untangle the murderer’s fiendish plan before it’s too late?

The lonely, rockbound island of Tsunojima is notorious as the site of a series of bloody unsolved murders. Some even say it’s haunted. One thing’s for sure: it’s the perfect destination for the K-University Mystery Club’s annual trip. But when the first club member turns up dead, the remaining amateur sleuths realise they will need all of their murder-mystery expertise to get off the island alive. As the party are picked off one by one, the survivors grow desperate and paranoid, turning on each other. Will anyone be able to untangle the murderer’s fiendish plan before it’s too late?

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step. Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone. Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken. Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own. Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed. In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women, mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends, view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't. Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

▶ Alternative Cover Edition #1 Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Do you feel like you’re swimming in shark-infested waters? Life is rarely a leisurely swim. Weaknesses surround us, threatening to pull us under and take us out. How can you face these life challenges with the strength and wisdom needed to escape the sharks and emerge victorious from the waters? Dr. Jeremy McGarity, former professional baseball player, and now lead pastor of Skyline Church in greater San Diego, is a devoted follower of Christ who brings the truths of God’s Word into the everyday realm. In this practical book, Dr. McGarity answers the following timely How do you get back to God when you have drifted away from Him?How can you keep worry from dragging you under?What can you do when you are surrounded by temptations?What are the consequences of “biting” others through anger, complaining, and harsh words?How can you stop feeding the bad habits in your life and live in victory?Each chapter concludes with application-focused questions, a journal prompt, and an action step so you can allow the truths you are learning to impact you in a personal, powerful way. God’s Word has the answers for the problems and weaknesses that are damaging your life. If you are ready to get out of shark-infested waters and onto the solid rock of faith, Shark Weak will give you practical tools to change your thinking, your feeling, and your living so that you can enjoy the freedom and peace God has planned for you.

In the remote forests of Stillwater, Minnesota, you can scream for days and no one will hear you. So when the bodies of two fifteen-year-old girls are discovered frozen in the snow, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is sure the killer is local: someone knew where to hide them and thought they'd never be found. Home for the first time in twenty years, Nikki sees that the whole town had been frantically searching for missing best friends Madison and Kaylee, and when she finds out who Madison’s step-father is, she becomes desperate to lead the case. John was once the person she trusted most in the world, who stood by her when she was just sixteen and her parents were murdered. Who supported her when she identified their killer, Mark Todd. But when Nikki arrives at the Sheriff’s office, she’s confronted by protesters eager to see Mark freed. With new evidence that could clear his name, Mark has appealed his conviction and his brother Rory begs Nikki to take a look at what they’ve found. Nikki knows she must focus on the killer at large, but Rory makes her wonder if she put her trust in the right people all those years ago. Are Madison and Kaylee’s deaths connected to her parents’ murders? And can she face up to her past before another life is taken?

Do you feel like you’re swimming in shark-infested waters? Life is rarely a leisurely swim. Weaknesses surround us, threatening to pull us under and take us out. How can you face these life challenges with the strength and wisdom needed to escape the sharks and emerge victorious from the waters? Dr. Jeremy McGarity, former professional baseball player, and now lead pastor of Skyline Church in greater San Diego, is a devoted follower of Christ who brings the truths of God’s Word into the everyday realm. In this practical book, Dr. McGarity answers the following timely How do you get back to God when you have drifted away from Him?How can you keep worry from dragging you under?What can you do when you are surrounded by temptations?What are the consequences of “biting” others through anger, complaining, and harsh words?How can you stop feeding the bad habits in your life and live in victory?Each chapter concludes with application-focused questions, a journal prompt, and an action step so you can allow the truths you are learning to impact you in a personal, powerful way. God’s Word has the answers for the problems and weaknesses that are damaging your life. If you are ready to get out of shark-infested waters and onto the solid rock of faith, Shark Weak will give you practical tools to change your thinking, your feeling, and your living so that you can enjoy the freedom and peace God has planned for you.