Holly Gibney (from Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy and The outsider) must face her fears and possibly another outsider--this time on her own. In "Mr. Harrigan's Phone," an intergenerational friendship has a disturbing afterlife. "The Life of Chuck" explores, beautifully, how each of us contains multitudes. And in "Rat," a struggling writer must contend with the darker side of ambition. If these stories show King's range, they also prove that certain...

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.

"When five hypersuccessful women agree to appear on a reality series set in New York City called Goal Diggers, the producers never expect the season will end in murder ... Brett's the fan favorite. Tattooed and only 27, the meteoric success of her spin studio, and her engagement to her girlfriend, has made her the object of jealousy and vitriol from her castmates. Kelly, Brett's older sister and business partner, is the most recent recruit, dismissed...

"In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old Eve Rosen is an aspiring writer languishing in a low-level assistant job, unable to shake the shadow of growing up with her brilliant brother. With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Dazzled by the guests and her burgeoning crush on the hosts' artistic son, Eve lands...

Poppy is a waddling, toddling pig with big dreams. She wants to be a star! But she soon discovers that's not as easy as it sounds. It's only when Poppy feels the magic of gliding and sliding, swirling and twirling on ice that our most persistent pig truly believes in herself: Poppy, star of the rink

"Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power: 1) Woo the Shadow King. 2) Marry him. 3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself. No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King's power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she's going to do everything...

Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action, life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen...

"Celebrated by the Boston Globe as "a brilliant anthropologist of the suburbs," the seductively weird and darkly offbeat Lauren Acampora returns to the lush world that got us all hooked on the NPR Best Book of the Year The Wonder Garden, drawing us into the secret lives of a polished Connecticut haven and jolting us with the sparks that fly when those lives collide. Formerly a model and photographer trying to make it in New York, Louisa Rader is back...

""Like Big Little Lies with standardized testing, this addictive novel digs hard into the culture of striving parents and anxious children, exploring privilege, competition and the elusiveness of happiness. A deeply pleasurable read."--Meg Wolitzer Smart and juicy, a compulsively readable novel about a previously happy group of friends and parents that is nearly destroyed by their own competitiveness when an exclusive school for gifted children opens...

"Two women's lives unexpectedly intertwine in this intriguing dual timeline novel from the #1 internationally bestselling author"-- A 1970s feminist facing the costs of loss and autonomy strives to create a better future for women at her Adirondacks camp; the other woman, an aspiring screenwriter of today, makes a shocking discovery that sets her on a course of rewriting her own story. Rowan is stuck. Her dreams of becoming a screenwriter are stalled,...