Alan is a young college student who is trying to get home to see his mother. She has just had a stroke and is in the hospital, and Alan has this underlying fear that he needs to get to her in case she passes away. So, Alan embarks on a 100 mile hitchhike. Along the way, he must confront his many demons - both living and dead - and in the end Alan must make the ultimate choice that will mean life or death for him and his mother.

As he gets into bed, Timmy Bear asks his mother to play a game with him in which they remember everything he did during the day, but in reverse order.

Recently released from prison, mild-mannered Carl quietly attempts to move on with his life. Just as he embarks on his first date in fifteen years, Carl's fresh start is shattered by the sudden reappearance of his domineering mother, whose presence awakens within him a deep-seated trauma. What unfolds is a brain-warping puzzle as reality and illusion, past and present collide and explode in violence.

While fourteen year old Duncan is being dragged on a family trip with his mom and her overbearing boyfriend, he finds a gregarious friend at a local water park. The two form a powerful bond as Duncan learns to swim through the challenges of life, love, family and friendship, resulting in a vacation he'll never forget.

This book is about four individuals who pursued the American Dream. In this searing novel, two young hoods, Harry and Tyrone, and a girlfriend fantasize about scoring a pound of uncut heroin and getting rich. But their heroin habit gets the better of them, consumes them and destroys their dreams and Harry's mother's addiction to diet pills lands her in a state mental hospital.

"Sonya used to perform on stage. She used to attend glamorous parties, date handsome men, ride in fast cars. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights Sonya lived for dimmed for good. And then, in their absence, came darkness: blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she can't remember. Haunted by her failed career and unresolved childhood trauma, Sonya has fallen deep into an alcoholic abyss. What keeps Sonya from losing herself completely is...

"From the acclaimed author of Malice and Newcomer, a confounding murder in Tokyo is connected to the mystery of the disappearance and death of Detective Kaga's own mother. A decade ago, Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga went to collect the ashes of his recently deceased mother. Years before, she ran away from her husband and son without explanation or any further contact, only to die alone in an apartment far away, leaving her estranged son with...

"Darlene, once an exemplary wife and a loving mother to her young son, Eddie, finds herself devastated by the unforeseen death of her husband. Unable to cope with her grief, she turns to drugs, and quickly forms an addiction. One day she disappears without a trace. Unbeknownst to eleven-year-old Eddie, now left behind in a panic-stricken search for her, Darlene has been lured away with false promises of a good job and a rosy life. A shady company...

Alex Knight, a twelve-year-old in training to be a supervillain in the elite Cloak Society, becomes friends with a young superhero and begins to question where his loyalty lies.