Book picks similar to
The Stolen Child by Jennie Felton


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Girl at the Window


Declan Conner - 2017
    Only this family’s past is darker than most18-year-old Clara is trapped in an abusive life by her Pa who is hiding a dark secret. Home schooled and with no outside social contact – constantly on the move – she wishes him dead.After they move to a small town, local youths vie for her attention against his wishes. When her Pa is found murdered by the town sheriff, the circumstances point firmly to Clara as the guilty party. Assigned to the case, a personal conflict causes Detective Alana Bossé to dig deeper. As her suspect list grows, it looks as though there is a slim chance that Clara could be innocent.But is everything as it seems? Or should they lock Clara up and throw away the key?

Night of the Hunter


Rick Jones - 2016
    When he returns stateside to begin life anew, he quickly finds himself caught up in a scandal involving the appropriation of documents for an undetectable state-of-the-art ICBM by the Islamic State. But what if Jon Jericho discovers something different? What if he learns that the plans were appropriated by American and Israeli intelligence, and then proffered to the Islamic State? As Jericho digs deeper he quickly draws the attention of certain CIA principals. So when a CIA paramilitary group gives chase to terminate Jericho with extreme prejudice to keep the conspiracy safe, the Hunter must utilize his special skill set not only to survive, but to bring forward the hidden truth before the world erupts into global war.

How We Started


Luanne Rice - 2012
    "Paul and Clare" introduces the heroine of her upcoming novel, Little Night, and offers a glimpse into how she met the love of her life—and the beginning of her life-long passion for birds and nature, even in New York City. "Miss Martha's Vineyard" is a snapshot of the quirky, unconditional friendship with larger-than-life blueblood Harrison Thaxter that has kept Rory McCarthy from The Silver Boat afloat even in rough romantic seas.

Cry Macho


N. Richard Nash - 1975
    There was a time when he was the best rider in the circuit, but a divorce and years of hard living have worn his body down. After an accident, his career comes to an abrupt end, but his boss gives him one last job: he must cross the border into Mexico, kidnap his boss's son, Rafo, from his boss's ex-wife, to be used as leverage in their ongoing divorce. Mike arrives to find the boy has already run away, and his plan is immediately exposed to the local police. When he finds Rafo living on the streets of Mexico city, supporting himself though petty crime and winnings from the occasional cockfight, Mike convinces the boy to come back to Texas. Still running from the law, the two set out on a journey northward that forges an unlikely friendship and forces both to reckon with the choices they've made in pursuit of being "macho." Originally published in 1976, N. Richard Nash's novel of friendship and the search for identity is now being adapted for the big screen.

Lincoln's Story: The Wayfarer


Vel - 2012
    He did not claim he was God’s agent. Did he believe in God? Did he look for a sign when he was desperate? Did he follow the Divine Will? Many believers are not followers; many followers are not believers. Is he a believer or a follower or both?

Verses for the Dead, Free Preview: The First Four Chapters (Agent Pendergast #18)


Douglas Preston - 2018
    X. L. Pendergast is abruptly forced to accept an unthinkable condition of continued employment: the famously rogue agent must now work with a partner. Pendergast and his new colleague, junior agent Coldmoon, are assigned to investigate a rash of killings in Miami Beach, where a bloodthirsty psychopath is cutting out the hearts of his victims and leaving them with cryptic handwritten letters at local gravestones. The graves are unconnected save in one bizarre way: all belong to women who committed suicide. But the seeming lack of connection between the old suicides and the new murders is soon the least of Pendergast's worries. Because as he digs deeper, he realizes the brutal new crimes may be just the tip of the iceberg: a conspiracy of death that reaches back decades.

The Empty Nesters


Nina Bell - 2011
    Along with Clover's stylish, powerful friend, Alice, they share holidays, sleepovers, school runs and childcare. They're like one big family. But all families have their secrets. When the children leave home, Clover and Laura's lives and marriages change forever, and the old rules on love and loyalty no longer apply. And when Alice decides she wants what they've got, Clover and Laura have to find out who they really are. Without the children, can their marriages - and friendship - survive?

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon


John Escott - 2005
    I’m lost...” Nine year old Trisha McFarland becomes lost in the forest while hiking with her mother and brother along the Appalachian Trail in Maine. As Trisha starts to cry, she remembers Tom Gordon. Tom Gordon is a professional baseball player. He has never met Trisha McFarland. This is the story of Trisha McFarland and Tom Gordon, and how a man she never met, saved her life.

At Home by the Sea


Pam Weaver - 2021
    And when their father’s temper flares up, Izzie knows the girls are better off on their own.   But when a handsome Italian chef moves to Worthing and offers Izzie a job in his cafe, she is forced to choose between her responsibilities and her desires. Then her mother resurfaces, and Izzie discovers there’s more to her abandonment than meets the eye.   Will Izzie be able to come to terms with the past in order to pursue the future she deserves?

Siena Summer


Teresa Crane - 1999
    When Poppy arrives, she finds a disturbing undercurrent in Isobel and husband Kit’s relationship, then accidentally uncovers a terrible secret.Against the backdrop of a verdant 1920s Tuscany, Poppy’s own journey into love is overshadowed by the insanity of a war long-ended, and a desire for revenge that, with tragic consequences, inevitably damages the innocent… Perfect for readers of Rosanna Ley and Lucinda Riley, and brimming with atmosphere, this is an enthralling and dramatic story of romance, war and jealousy. ‘A writer of great skill and vitality’ Sarah Harrison‘A moving, passionate and treacherous tale’ Essex Chronicle‘A wonderful storyteller’ Daily Mail

The Eight Walls of Rogar


William Woodward - 2006
    The story unfolds in the weeks following Andaris’ seventeenth name day: Desperate to escape a life of meaningless drudgery behind the plow, he leaves the safety of his secluded valley town and ventures alone into the uncharted depths of an ancient forest, the heart of which is said to be twisted and black. Choosing to ignore the counsel of his more sensible nature, he is drawn ever onward, lured by the tantalizing splendor of distant mountains, the sheer peaks of which purportedly stand sentinel over a land long steeped in mystery. What ensues is more remarkable than anything even he could have envisioned. Andaris goes looking for adventure.... What he finds is a world in the midst of tidal change, an extraordinary place where he encounters all manner of extraordinary things—vast landscapes teeming with flora and fauna capable of firing the most malnourished of imaginations. To be sure, danger lurks around every bend, a heady amalgam of sword and sorcery which threaten to bring his young life to an abrupt end. Indeed, if not for a very fortuitous encounter, namely the crossing of paths with a band of travelers who turn out to be much more than meets the eye, it surely would have. Gaven, Ashel, and Trilla seem fated to become fast friends, the sort of companions he’d always wanted, but never thought he’d have. The Lost One and his army of shapelings are preparing to march against Rogar’s western border—the only thing standing between them and the green, fertile lands to the East. The balance of power is shifting. Despite the debt of blood owed them by their Sokerran neighbors, the Alderi Shune fear they will be made to stand alone. No one speaks of defeat, but it is on the tip of every tongue. For the first time since they were erected, more than a thousand years ago, the impossible is about to happen: The Eight Walls of Rogar are about to fall. The scales could tip in either direction, depending, oddly enough, on the choices of a rather bookish young man named Andaris Rocaren. You will forgive me, intrepid reader, if I now take the opportunity to formally invite you to join in the fun, to accompany young Andaris and his fellows into and out of the kingdoms of Nelvin, Mindere, Sokerra, and Rogar. Over hill, dell, and stream you shall go, hiking through rugged mountain ranges heavy with snow, into subterranean catacombs whose unplumbed fathoms are illumined by naught but the guttering flames of your makeshift torch, until you reach, at long last, and in just the nick of time, the battered gates of a once great civilization on the brink of war.

Him Downstairs: Laugh-out-loud British Chick Lit


Sherill Turner - 2017
    Yes, she’s thirty-three, single, and has had to work as a waitress and children’s party entertainer since her social worker salary suffered from budget cuts, but she stays positive and manages to pay the mortgage on her flat. Her home is her sanctuary – until Tom moves in downstairs. Lucy and Tom quickly fall in love and into a serious relationship, which is complicated by Tom’s recent separation from his wife, who he has two young sons with. Lucy is heartbroken when Tom breaks up with her, saying that something has to give in his busy life. Encouraged/coerced/badgered by her friends into getting ‘back on that horse’, Lucy finds herself at a tacky Singles Night; dating Danny, a Justin Timberlake impersonator; and attempting a rendezvous with her ‘special friend’. Lucy’s quest to move on from Tom would be a whole lot easier if she didn’t have to hear everything he does. After all, how on earth do you get over someone when you can hear them peeing? Him Downstairs is relatable Chick Lit for readers 18+ who have dipped their toe into the world of modern dating and relationships. It contains adult language and humour, and is written in ‘British English’.

From this Day Forth


Lyn Andrews - 1997
    Lizzie and Celia are the best of friends. But their families, the Miltons and the Slatterys, are the worst of enemies, divided by religion and by status. So their friendship is a carefully guarded secret, for if Celia's father Charlie ever heard of it he would beat her to within an inch of her life.Then one day the unthinkable happens. Joe Slattery, Lizzie's brother, does a good turn for the Milton family and rescues their youngest from a grievous accident. From that day forth, Celia Milton just can't get Joe out of her mind. And, despite himself, Joe Slattery is increasingly drawn to Celia and to a love that seems doomed to heartbreak - unless they can find a way around the prejudice of generations and the terrifying bigotry of Charlie Milton...

Dumped


B. Delores Max - 2002
    But what of its opposite -- the moment when it becomes clear that things are indisputably over? Dumped is a survey of every type of romantic crack-up, a group of stories full of the hilarity, wisdom, insight, and sometimes, yes, fierce revenges of some of the most memorable broken hearts in recent literature. Dumped sheds light on what can be the toughest part of human relations -- whether newly elucidating the misery we've all endured, or merely reminding us that others have had it far worse -- from the mother in Elizabeth Berg's Open House absurdly attempting to tell her son his father has left, to the betrayed wife in Roald Dahl's "Lamb to Slaughter," who beats her husband to death with a leg of lamb, then cooks it for the police. With contributions from such notable authors as Will Self, Saul Bellow, Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, Lorrie Moore, Dorothy Parker, Andre Dubus, and Tobias Wolff, as well as rising stars like Lucinda Rosenfeld and Steve Almond, Dumped spans every variety of romantic catastrophe and every possible response to it; from the wise to the hilarious, the bitter to the bittersweet. This book is the panacea for problems of the heart.

Heartbreak in the Valleys


Francesca Capaldi - 2020
    For young housemaid, Anwen Rhys, life is hard in the Welsh mining village of Dorcalon, deep in the Rhymney Valley. She cares for her ill mother and beloved younger sister Sara, all while shielding them from her father’s drunken, violent temper. Anwen comforts herself with her love for childhood sweetheart, Idris Hughes, away fighting in the Great War.Yet when Idris returns, he is a changed man; no longer the innocent boy she loved, he is harder, more distant, quickly breaking off their engagement. And when tragedy once again strikes her family, Anwen’s heart is completely broken.But when an explosion at the pit brings unimaginable heartache to Dorcalon, Anwen and Idris put their feelings aside to unite their mining community.In the midst of despair, can Anwen find hope again? And will she ever find the happiness she deserves?