Spenser reflects back to when he was fourteen years old and how he helped his best friend Jeannie when she was abducted by her abusive father.

Jonah Steel has fallen in love with Melanie Carmichael but still lives with the guilt that consumes him as he tries to unravel the mystery of his family's past. A new threat has surfaced, and he finds himself trapped in a web of deceit and lies.

The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys' best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling...

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis' parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there's no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - who got to this place the same...

A twelve-year-old boy is confined to his basement without food or clothing.

When her older brother Art--a Catholic priest and the popular pastor of a large suburban parish--finds himself at the center of a scandal, Sheila McGann, estranged from her family for years, returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation.

It's the summer of 1994 in Claypot, Wisconsin, and the lives of ten-year-old Fischer "Fish" Branson and Dale "Bread" Breadwin are shaped by the two fathers they don't talk about. One night, tired of seeing his best friend bruised and terrorized by his no-good dad, Fish takes action. A gunshot rings out and the two boys flee the scene, believing themselves murderers. They head for the woods, where they find their way onto a raft, but the natural terrors...

Mary Claire has always hidden. During the week, she feels like every other child-but on Fridays, she slowly becomes invisible. Hiding is how she remains safe. At ten-years old, Mary Claire begs God to take her father away, but someone else has plans for him. Years later, Claire Stanton struggles with the secrets of her past. After her daughter becomes sullen and angry, she fears history may be repeating itself, and she takes matters into her own hands,...

In Oregon, eleven-year-old Hope begins coping with her mother's verbal abuse by devising survival strategies for herself based on a history unit about the Holocaust, and meanwhile she works toward buying a pair of purple hiking boots by helping at a second-hand shop. Includes "Hope notes" and readers' guide.

Emma Townsend lives with her cruel mother and clueless father, retreating into her own world of quiet and solitude. When a chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah Walker takes her. Has Emma been stolen, or rescued? Amy Townsend is unsure whether she wants her daughter back. She had physically and mentally tortured her own daughter-- but did that make her a bad mother? -- adapted from back cover