Twelve stories featuring odd characters. In A Note on the Type, a convict develops an interest in typography and on his escape proceeds to cover walls in graffiti, Zanduce at Second is on a baseball player whose balls kill people, and The Chromium Hook is on a killer madman. By the author of Betrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Prepare to be amused, moved, disturbed. These stories by a master of idiosyncrasy visit a world where wit has heft, charm has shadow, and human beings act out all the complicated nuances of love. In the title story, a young man waiting in the Hotel Eden discovers—as others have—that Eden is not a permanent domicile. In "Zanduce at Second," a baseball player turned killer-by-accident undergoes a surprising transformation. We root for escaped felon Ray (“A Note on the Type”) as he carves his name on a culvert wall. We drive the sweltering summer streets of Phoenix as a nineteen-year-old narrator goes through an unsettling sexual awakening ("Oxygen"). In these and other stories, whether his characters are getting sabotaged by nightcaps or encountering nudists on a rafting trip, Carlson takes us to new places in a new way.

"We lean closer and closer, eager to catch every last word." said The New York Times Book Review. "Bigger, richer, funnier, and more complex than any description of them can convey," said the San Francisco Chronicle. "Some of the funniest and saddest stories ever to cozy up together," said the Los Angeles Times. Welcome to the short stories of Ron Carlson, where strange beach towels turn up in your living room; where the ordinary son of a family of geniuses spins a rollicking tale of happiness and disappointment; where a teenaged magician seduces the prettiest girl in his high school and the world, with devastating consequences. Long regarded as one of our finest living short story writers, Ron Carlson triumphantly returns with At the Jim Bridger, nine stories that are epic in scope and confessional in tone; stories that enfold the reader in a world of love and mystery, and make us feel better than just about anything written on the page.

"Edgy and compelling...sizzles." --Alyssa Day Eyeing the gorgeous blond nightclub singer, Atlanta detective Todd Brooks feels sure there's a higher power somewhere. But a twisted killer is leaving a trail of bodies in seedy hotel rooms across town. The male victims show no wounds--it's as if the life was simply drained from them. And right now, the mysterious Cara Firon is Todd's only suspect. Cara knows it's foolish to be so drawn to a man who thinks she's a murderer. She also knows Detective Brooks would find the truth even harder to swallow. Cara is one of the Others, a race of powerful, paranormal creatures who live among humans. Cara's particular abilities make men putty in her hands--all except this rugged, sexy-as-hell detective. But now someone, or something, has singled Cara out for serious payback. . .

Among the Mansions of Eden is a fascinating and dishy exploration of Beverly Hills -- a rarefied community that has become a part of our country's mythos, a city renowned for its ostentatious displays of wealth. It takes you behind the gates of the rich and famous for an insider's view of the elite's rapturous and tragic attempts to realize the American Dream. From Rodeo Drive to Beverly Hills High School, Among the Mansions of Eden tells the city's story by capturing the individuals who are emblematic of various factions of Beverly Hills society: The cast of unforgettable characters includes the late Milton Berle, who spent his last days surrounded by aging cronies in the cavernous ballroom of the Friars Club, haunted by the ghosts of the past; Fred Hayman, a former banquet manager who opened a boutique called Giorgio and transformed Rodeo Drive from a provincial retail district to a phantasmagoric midway that caters to the world's most affluent shoppers; Gavin de Becker, a poor kid from a broken home who became the security broker to the stars; Mark Hughes, the health-supplement wunderkind who parlayed a trunkful of vitamin pills into a billion-dollar empire known as Herbalife and planned to build his own San Simeon on the last undeveloped mountaintop in Beverly Hills; Jim Forester, a teenager with an overriding passion for a righteous buzz that led him on a Dante-esque journey through the city's underworld of pushers, delinquents, scam artists, and sleazoids; and Norm Zadeh, who used the millions he made as a hedge-fund manager to start a girlie magazine, fill a Beverly Hills mansion with curvaceous nymphets, and emulate the life of Hugh Hefner. You'll also meet a fascinating array of con artists, hucksters, and libido-crazed pleasure seekers and gun fetishists who are willing to resort to whatever means necessary to steal a piece of the Beverly Hills Dream. Among the Mansions of Eden weaves their individual stories into a spellbinding tale of wealth, fame, and the lust for land, power, and social status in the most opulent city in America.

Nestled in a spectacular botanical garden with stunning views on the Mediterranean, the idyllic Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc has attracted scintillating international guests for 150 years. First created in the nineteenth century as a retreat for artists and writers, the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc at Cap d'Antibes continues to captivate an international clientele as an exclusive retreat today. The tropical paradise attracted writers such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose Tender Is the Night was set at Eden Roc. Artists--including Monet, Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Damien Hirst, and Bernar Venet--have drawn inspiration from the enchanted setting. Master photographers such as Jacques Henri Lartigue and Slim Aarons famously captured guests splashing in the Mediterranean or lounging in the sun next to the iconic seawater swimming pool carved in the basalt cliff. The secluded resort, located between Nice and Cannes, has always been a favorite haven on the French Riviera for A-list celebrities--from Marlene Dietrich to Orson Welles, and from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Sharon Stone--during the Cannes film festival, and for secluded family holidays. The hotel's long and fascinating history is full of romance, humor, mystery, and legend. Built on one of the most alluring sites on the Riviera, the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc is the epitome of beauty, timeless elegance, and discretion, and has been a home away from home for generations of artists, photographers, authors, politicians, and Hollywood stars.

Almost to Eden is the captivating fictional narrative of an Irish immigrant, Maggie O'Brien, whose life intertwines with members and workers of the historic Jekyll Island Club. Seeking a new Eden in America, she discovers that freedom and justice, even in the new world, do not always triumph over wealth and power. In the process of her journey, Maggie finds and loses the things she loves most, but grace and courage lead her toward a fulfillment she never thought to find.