Moriarty's follow-up to book-group favorite
The Center of Everything again explores a tense, fragile mother-daughter relationship, this time finding sharper edges where personal history and parenting meet. Now a junior high school English teacher married to a college professor, Leigh has spent much of her adult life trying to distance herself from her dysfunctional childhood. Raising their two children in a small, safe Kansas town not far from where Leigh and her troubled sister, Pam, were raised by their single mother, Leigh finds her good fortune still somewhat empty. Daughter Kara, 18 and a high school senior, is distant; sensitive younger son Justin is unpopular; Leigh can't seem to reach either—Kara in particular sees Leigh (rightly) as self-absorbed. When Kara accidentally hits and kills another high school girl with the family's car, Leigh is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her daughter, her resentment toward her husband (who understands Kara better) and her long-buried angst about her own neglectful mother.
Jamal Hassim is a respected Air Force major. Ahn, his brilliant Philippine wife, is a leading scientist at the Centers for Disease Control. For years they've operated a successful Islamic charity in partnership with the U.S. AID program. But when the NSA accidentally picks up a suspicious phone call, the true purpose behind their charitable work takes on a sinister and deadly cast. Are the Hassim's using tax dollars to finance a devastating terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Or are they well intentioned aid workers whose private words have been misunderstood? The FBI sends Conner Skilling, an experienced cooperating witness domiciled in East Asia to find out. On the remote South Pacific island of Vanuatu, Skilling uses his considerable skills as a retired con man to orchestrate a series of taped conversations in an effort to probe the Hassim's motives. But is this taped evidence trustworthy, or just a ruse to deflect attention from a more dangerous plot? A series of spellbinding clues based on fact and fiction reveal a criminal conspiracy that includes an internationally famous businessman with a taste for danger, a phony sheik, hundreds of stolen surface to air missiles, pump and dump stock fraud on Wall Street, a rouge detective from Brooklyn, and a trail of betrayal and deceit that reaches into the uppermost sanctums of the Justice Department. Inspired by the true exploits of a financial criminal turned informant, this action-packed legal thriller takes readers on a wild ride through board rooms in Australia, plantations on forgotten Pacific isles, and into a New York City courtroom in pursuit of the shocking truth.
1. Ending a knitted work.
2. Releasing lines holding a boat to its mooring.
3. Letting go...
On a tiny island off the west coast of Ireland, the fishermen's handmade sweaters tell a story. Each is unique-feelings stitched into rows, memories into patterns.
It is here that Rebecca Moray comes to research a book on Irish knitting. With her daughter, Rowan, accompanying her, she hopes to lose herself in the history of the island and forget her own painful past. Soon, the townsfolk's warm embrace wraps Rebecca and Rowan in a world of friendship, laughter, and love.
And it is here that young Rowan befriends Sean Morahan, a cantankerous old fisherman, despite his attempts to scare her off. As Rebecca watches her daughter interact with Morahan, she recognizes in his eyes a look that speaks of a dark knowledge not unlike her own. And when current storms threaten to resurrect old ones, Morahan and Rebecca find themselves on a collision course-with Rowan caught between them-each buffeted by waves of regret and recrimination. Only by walking headfirst into the winds will they find the faith to forgive without forgetting...and reach the shore.
Three gently read ARCS going to ONE Winner!
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Winner will be announced on December 18th.
