Wicked Business

Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times mega-bestselling author, is back and better than ever, proving that when it comes to hunting down bad guys and hidden treasure, the real fun is in the chase. When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the-wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth-floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust. Following clues contained in a cryptic nineteenth-century book of sonnets, Lizzy and Diesel tear through Boston catacombs, government buildings, and multimillion-dollar residences, leaving a trail of robbed graves, public disturbances, and spontaneous seduction. Janet Evanovich does it again and gives us another exciting un-put-down-able read that is striking a chord with readers everywhere! Get a sneak peek of The Heist, the first book in an exciting brand-new series from Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg—inside!

The Story of a Country Town is both a pioneering triumph of realistic fiction and a landmark in the development of American literature. Written at night after a hard day's work as editor and publisher of an evening newspaper in Aitchison, Kansas, this novel represents a retreat from the nineteenth-century romantic image of rural life in the American Midwest. Edgar Watson Howe's portrait of a small town, the fictional Twin Mounds, is a damning indictment of an environment that cripples the mind and corrodes the spirit. His view of village and farm is colored by a sense of harsh pessimism and filled with a pervading sense of lost opportunities. The Story of a Country Town marks the moment the myth of small-town America gave way to the wasteland of broken dreams.