Burlington Public Library

"It can happen in the best of families--even the Fergusons. When Lynn and Robert first meet, she's bright, fresh-faced twenty-year old; he's handsome, a bit older, a charming young executive on the fast track. From the start they fall deeply in love, thrilled by the discovery of their mutual desire. But as early as their honeymoon the gold begins to tarnish, when Robert's anger erupts into a physical assault, one for which Lynn blames herself. To...

Laurel Shields awakens to find her physician husband, Warren, in his study, wildly pulling books from the shelves. A home pregnancy test confirms Laurel's fear that she is pregnant, and she believes her lover is the father. Later that morning, Laurel is surprised to find her husband still at home, pale and fearful. Then, in come the children, innocent of it all. In less than five hours the Shields house becomes the vortex of a nerve-wracking siege....

"Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life-living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher-was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she...

The morning after Hurricane Leo rips through the town of Canaan, residents awaken to widespread destruction -- power outages, downed branches, uprooted trees, broken windows and damaged roofs. Four eighth-grade friends -- Evan, Jason, Mitchell, and CJ -- meet to explore the devastation. The tight-knit group is dismayed to find that Evan has brought along a stray -- Ricky, who is new to their town and school, and doesn't have any friends yet. Ricky...

Ten years ago, Caroline Shelby launched a career in the glamorous fashion world of Manhattan. But her success in New York imploded on a wave of scandal and tragedy, forcing her to flee to the only safe place she knows, Oysterville. And in the backseat of Caroline's car are two children who were orphaned in a single chilling moment--five-year-old Addie and six-year-old Flick. She's now their legal guardian--a role she's not sure she's ready for. Caroline...

Alicia Berenson's life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London's most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia's refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into...

An inspirational story; one child's courage to survive.

Victoria Oliver will do anything to ensure that her troubled son has some semblance of a childhood. Danielle Burton is a dedicated nurse at a locked-down pediatric psych ward. But she remains haunted by a family tragedy. The dark anniversary is approaching, and when veteran Boston police detective D. D. Warren shows up at the facility, Danielle realizes it has started again. The lives of these three women unfold and connect in unexpected ways, as...

Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possesions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just begining -- he has no place to call home. This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through...

"After surviving fourteen years of hell in a violently abusive marriage, Rosie Daniels finally summons the courage to flee for her life. But leaving her husband, Norman, for a new city and a new start is a very daunting prospect. It's hard for Rosie not to keep looking over her shoulder, and with good reason - Norman's a police officer with the instincts of a predator, a force of relentless terror and savagery... a man almost mythic in his monstrosity....