The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other.Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and the perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother. Karen, Max’s mother, is a highly successful criminal lawyer, determined to maintain the façade of effortless excellence she has constructed through the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the façade might soon begin to crumble. Adding to the tension, her husband, Steve, has chosen this moment to stand for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.The Walkers are hiding something, you see. Max is special. Max is different. Max is intersex. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of his past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? What else are they hiding from Max about his condition and from each other? The deeper Max goes, the more questions emerge about where it all leaves him and what his future holds, especially now that he’s starting to fall head over heels for someone for the first time in his life. Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Will anyone ever want him—desire him— once they know? And the biggest one of all, the question he has to look inside himself to answer: Who is Max Walker, really?Written by twenty-five-year-old rising star Abigail Tarttelin, Golden Boy is a novel you’ll read in one sitting but will never forget; at once a riveting tale of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity and a coming-of-age story like no other.Review“Abigail Tarttelin is a fearless writer. In Golden Boy, she balances a harrowing coming of age with a deeply compassionate portrait of a family in crisis, and the result is sometimes brutal, often tender, and always compelling. This is a gripping and fully-realized novel.” (Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Lola Quartet )“Abigail Tarttelin has written an unforgettable novel. Golden Boy pulls you in from the very first page and holds you tight, gripping you by the throat and not letting go until it reaches its brilliant and masterful conclusion. Max Walker is the golden boy, and you will root for him, cry for him, fear for him, at times get angry at him but guaranteed you will never forget him. Not ever. The characters who make up Max's universe, from determined Karen, to distant Steve, to a deceitful Hunter, are all written in a perfect pitch. The dialogue is real, the pace is stealth bomber fast, and the plot never lets up. Tarttelin has blasted it out of the park in her first at bat here in the States. She has written a novel that goes beyond the page and reaches into a reader's heart and stays there, never to leave, never to be forgotten. Golden Boy is that good of a novel, and Tarttelin is that gifted of a writer. This book simply deserves to be read and treasured.” (Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers and Midnight Angels )“Golden Boy is at once meditative and swift, a coming-of-age tale about the difficulties of growing up amid shame and secrets and success. Abigail Tarttelin writes with a sharp-eyed grace in this fascinating, heartfelt gem of a novel.” (Dean Bakopoulos, author of My American Unhappiness )“Golden Boy is terrific. A poignant, brave and important book.” (S.J. Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep )“Gritty yet humane, startlingly modern yet utterly timeless, Golden Boy hits all the deepest, biggest novelistic notes—family, identity, tragedy and hope—without the merest hint of strain. In Abigail Tarttelin's American debut, she has already proven herself to be a writer of extraordinary empathy and incredible wisdom... and she makes it look so easy. Tarttelin is the real deal.” (Rachel Shukert, author of Starstruck and Everything Is Going To Be Great )“A dramatic, thoroughgoing investigation of the complexities of sexuality and gender.... A warmly human coming-of-age story, thanks to the fact that Max is such an appealing character. And so his desperate search for identity is gripping, emotionally engaging, and genuinely unforgettable.” (Booklist (starred) )“Gripping and beautifully-written, Abigail Tarttelin's Golden Boy is a courageous and profound exploration of social and sexual identity and its world of manifold complexities and challenges." (Sahar Delijani, author of Children of the Jacaranda Tree ) About the AuthorAbigail Tarttelin is a twenty-four-year-old writer and actress. The book editor for Phoenix magazine in the UK, she lives in London. Views: 66
An intense psychological drama that echoes sophisticated entertainments like Gorky Park and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Nick Platt is a British lawyer working in Moscow in the early 2000s--a place where the cascade of oil money, the tightening grip of the government, the jostling of the oligarchs, and the loosening of Soviet social mores have led to a culture where corruption, decadence, violence, and betrayal define everyday life. Nick doesn't ask too many questions about the shady deals he works on--he's too busy enjoying the exotic, surreally sinful nightlife Moscow has to offer. One day in the subway, he rescues two willowy sisters, Masha and Katya, from a would-be purse snatcher. Soon Nick, the seductive Masha, and long-limbed Katya are cruising the seamy glamour spots of the city. Nick begins to feel something for Masha that he is pleased to think is love. Then the sisters ask Nick to help their aged aunt, Tatiana, find a new apartment.... Views: 66
Evie Wharton is a free spirit-the complete opposite of millionaire and single dad Justin Dane-but she wants to help his troubled son. Evie soon discovers, however, that behind Justin's dark and brooding demeanor hides a painful past. And, against her better judgment, she begins to fall for him… Can Evie be the one woman to help Justin face his demons? Can she help him find the family he never knew and, most importantly, show him how to love and trust again? Views: 66
In the third book in the spinoff of the Humphrey series, Og and Humphrey head to summer camp to see what's hopping in the wilderness!Og didn't know where he would end up when school was over, but it turns out Camp Happy Hollow is just about the best place ever. Lovely nature is all around, friends from Room 26 are there—including Humphrey!—and camp days are full of exciting activities. Og has lots of new responsibilities, like watching out for Humphrey, helping his fellow campers adjust to being away from home, and encouraging everyone to always try their best. But when one camper lets Og loose at the lake, he is in a tough spot. The lake sure does fell like home, but so does his tank. Plus his human friends need him—and so does Humphrey. Good thing Og has experience in the wild because—BING-BANG-BOING!—this is going to be one hopping summer! Og's frog's-eye view of summer camp is silly, caring, and adventurous—the perfect... Views: 66
Where can a middle-aged, Persian-American genderqueer dyke find love these days? Online dating, of course! "Only butch dykes need apply" Behrouz writes, eager to swap quiet evenings at home with a smoking jacket, a cat, and a Sunday afternoon's worth of well-used sex toys for a real relationship. Enter Lucky: younger, rougher, dominant, but far from perfect. Their first meeting explodes into powerful, rough, and panting sex, and Behrouz is soon determined not to let this captivator slip away. Their growing intimacy, set within a perfectly captured view of of contemporary gay, transgender and queer life in San Francisco, makes this debut novel a mesmerizing read for anyone who loves erotic romance. Views: 66
Elizabeth Gallagher has been balancing on the ragged edge for a while now. Then a rough case on the boards of her 911 operator's job collides with a family conflict at home, and Elizabeth finds herself finally coming apart at the seams. A four-state road trip—trapped in a car with her mother—is the last thing she needs. Their destination may be beautiful Hatteras Island, but the reason for going is anything by pleasant. After one disastrous hurricane, and with a second one working its way up the coast, it's time to convince Aunt Sandy to abandon her little seaside store on North Carolina's Outer Banks and return to the family fold in Michigan. But when the storm sweeps through, the three women will discover that sisterhood and the sea can change hearts, lives, and futures...often in the most unpredictable of ways. Views: 66
