Mexican-born Cuauhtemoc and Pilar Martinez came to America so that their children Julia, Francisco, Marcos and Ismael could make something of themselves. While the children experience different journeys, at the center lay all the love and teachings from their parents that bind them together. With El Paso and Ysleta as the backdrop (though family members also find themselves in Boston, New Mexico, Jerusalem, Iraq...), this book offers a blend of short stories in chronological form to showcase the struggles of the Martinez family and explore issues of assimilation, immigration, religion, politics and war.

A Washington Post Notable Book When a young man is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi, his grief-stricken father and sister bring his body back to their crumbling home in the Kenyan drylands. But the murder has stirred up memories long since buried, precipitating a series of events no one could have foreseen. As the truth unfolds, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, hidden deep within the shared past of a family and their conflicted nation. Spanning Kenya’s turbulent 1950s and 1960s, Dust is spellbinding debut from a breathtaking new voice in literature.

A struggling sorcerer is caught in a web of murder, mystery, and corruption in this epic fantasy series opener set in the world of Flesh and Spirit. Civil war robbed Lucian de Rememni-Masson of most of his family and his fortune. As a pureblood sorcerer, he has a remarkable gift for portraiture and currently supports his surviving sister through painting for the Registry. But a brief dalliance in his past has returned to haunt Lucian. It was only an hour of youthful folly, but in that time, Lucian spoke with an ordinary, a young woman not of his own kind, allowed her to see his face, and performed magic for her. Now, the Registry has contracted Lucian out to a common coroner. Instead of painting living sorcerers, he must use his gift to help identify dead ordinaries hauled in from the streets. But having the power to capture the truth of dead men’s souls brings forth troubling consequences for Lucian. Especially when the dead have secrets worth killing for . . . “A tale of magic and politics, of intrigue and betrayal. Set in a rich world, told through the eyes of a compelling and sympathetic hero, her story twists and turns, building to a conclusion that satisfies while hinting at more adventures to come. I eagerly await the next Sanctuary novel.” —D. B. Jackson, author of the Thieftaker Chronicles “[A] captivating and satisfying fantasy epic, the first of a pair. . . . With an impressive command of language, sure-handed plotting, and perceptive characterizations, Berg traces the arc of Lucian’s arduous quest to solve the murders of several illegitimate royals.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A powerful, involving fantasy.” —Locus “With a plethora of fascinating characters and intense drama, Dust and Light is outstanding.” —RT Book Reviews(Top Pick)

Ask the Dust is a virtuoso performance by an influential master of the twentieth-century American novel. It is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown and disappears . . . and Bandini forever rejects the writer's life he fought so hard to attain.

Scorned for agreeing to help an Arab couple excavate allegedly haunted grounds under their house, archaeologist Page Brookstone finds what may be the tomb of the prophet Jeremiah, as well as the remains of a woman, and intriguing scrolls documenting their relationship.

Sorry. The single word was written on a mirror. In front of it hung the Minneapolis Internal Affairs cop. Was it suicide? Or a kinky act turned tragic? Either way, it wasn’t murder. At least not according to the powers that be. But veteran homicide detective Sam Kovac and his wisecracking, ambitious partner Nikki Liska think differently. Together they begin to dig at the too-neat edges of the young cop’s death, uncovering one motive and one suspect after another. The shadows of suspicion fall not only on the city’s elite, but into the very heart of the police department. Someone wants the case closed–quickly and forever. But neither Kovac nor Liska will give up. Now both their careers and their lives are on the line. From a murder case two months old to another case closed for twenty years, Kovac and Liska must unearth a connection the killer wants dead and buried. A killer who will stop at absolutely nothing to keep a dark and shattering secret . . .

Keep together. Keep your eyes open. Keep your wits about you. The desert is unkind in the best of times. And the decade since the Civil War has been anything but the best of times for Daisy Wilcox—call her Willie—and her family. This tense, heart-pounding alternate history about a young woman fighting to survive the unthinkable will keep fans of Westworld and The Walking Dead reading late into the night. A horrifying sickness has spread across the West Texas desert. Infected people—shakes—attack the living, and the surviving towns are only as safe as their perimeter walls are strong. The state is all but quarantined from the rest of the country. Glory, Texas, is a near ghost town. Still, seventeen-year-old Willie has managed to keep her siblings safe, even after the sickness took their mother. But then her good-for-nothing father steals a fortune from one of the most merciless shake hunters in town, and Willie is left on the hook for his debt. With two young hunters as guides, Willie sets out across the desert to find her father. And the desert holds more dangers than just shakes. This riveting debut novel blends True Grit with 28 Days Later for an unforgettable journey.