Bryan Smith

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

The Inside Story of the Wirtz Family Business and the Chicago Blackhawks

“This is a terrific book, a dramatic family saga told in artful prose and filled with emotional turmoil, a few surprisingly touching moments but enough dysfunction for a couple of Eugene O’Neill plays.” —Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune When Rocky Wirtz took over the Wirtz Corporation in 2007, including management of the Chicago Blackhawks, the fiercely beloved hockey team had fallen to a humiliating nadir. As chronic losers playing to a deserted stadium, they were worse than bad—they were irrelevant. ESPN named the franchise the worst in all of sports. Rocky's resurrection of the team's fortunes was—publicly, at least—a feel-good tale of shrewd acumen. Behind the scenes, however, it would trigger a father, son, and brother-against-brother drama of Shakespearean proportions. The Breakaway reveals that untold story. Arthur Wirtz founded the family's business empire during the Depression. From roots in real estate, "King Arthur" soon expanded into liquor and banking, running his operations with an iron hand and a devotion to profit that earned him the nickname Baron of the Bottom Line. His son Bill further expanded the conglomerate, taking the helm of the Blackhawks in 1966. "Dollar Bill" Wirtz demanded unflinching adherence to Arthur's traditions and was notorious for an equally fierce temperament. Yet when Rocky took the reins of the business after Bill's death, it was an organization out of step with the times and financially adrift. The Hawks weren't only failing on the ice—the parlous state of the team's finances imperiled every facet of the Wirtz empire. To save the team and the company, Rocky launched a radical turnaround campaign. Yet his modest proposal to televise the Hawks' home games provoked fierce opposition from Wirtz family insiders, who considered any deviation from Arthur and Bill's doctrines to be heresy. Rocky's break with the edicts of his grandfather and father led to a reversal for the ages—three Stanley Cup championships in six years, a feat Fortune magazine called "the greatest turnaround in sports business history." But this resurrection came at a price, a fracturing of Rocky's relationships with his brother and other siblings. In riveting prose that recounts a story spanning three generations, The Breakaway reveals an insider's view of a brilliant but difficult Chicago business and sports dynasty and the inspiring story of perseverance and courage in the face of intense family pressures.

The Breakaway

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Geoffrey Perret

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

A Life Like No Other

Previous biographies of John F. Kennedy have been based almost entirely on newspaper files and personal recollections. Geoffrey Perret's Jack is both the first comprehensive one-volume biography of JFK and the first account of his life based on the extensive and important documentary record that has finally become available, including Kennedy's personal diaries, hundreds of hours of taped conversations from the White House, recently declassified government documents, extensive family correspondence, and crucial interviews sealed for nearly forty years. The result is a gripping, accurate, and ultimately moving portrait of America's most charismatic president. Jack provides much-needed context and perspective on Kennedy's bewilderingly complex personality. It offers an even-handed account of the seamy side of his life - orgies and abortions, health and drug problems - along with valuable insights into JFK's truly idealistic and visionary character. Jack presents a compelling account of the volatile relationship between Kennedy and his wife, including Jackie's attempt to divorce him, move to Hollywood, and become a film star. At the same time Perret explains how, together, they created the Kennedy style. Jack reveals how the restless, innovative Kennedy was able to overturn more than a hundred years of political tradition, forge the modern political campaign, and, once in the White House, modernize the presidency. His success was so complete that all serious presidential candidates since 1960 have sought to compare themselves to JFK, not challenging his legacy but embracing it. Jack is filled, too, with numerous revelations, such as the true story behind the lobotomy ofJFK's sister Rosemary. And here, for the first time, is a comprehensive account of Kennedy's numerous and varied ailments from childhood on, including his back problems. Perret describes how JFK got the two most important decisions of his administration right: his handling of the Cuban missile crisis and his stance on civil rights. As to Vietnam, Kennedy did not believe it was worth fighting for, and in the last months of his presidency he began formulating a secret plan for neutralization and withdrawal - if he won the 1964 election. But that, of course, was not to be: Convinced he would die young, Kennedy foresaw that a violent death would claim him. Throughout his brief time in the White House he was haunted by a vision of a man standing at a window, looking down at him, holding a rifle. Jack: A Life Like No Other is a book like no other. Here, at last, John F. Kennedy seems to step off the page in all his vitality, charm, and originality.

Jack

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John Heilemann

Mark Halperin

Obama and the Clintons, Mccain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

From two of the best political reporters in the country comes the gripping inside story of the historic 2008 presidential election.

Game Change

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Lisa Regan

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

An Addictive Crime Thriller Packed with Jaw-Dropping Twists

Candles are lit and their rich vanilla scent twists its way through the cabin. The table is set for a romantic anniversary dinner with fresh roses dropping crimson petals on crisp white linen. But the woman seated at the table is cold to the touch, and there's blood trickling down her neck...

When Denton's most loved TV presenter returns home to find his wife dead at the dining table, it shatters the close-knit community. Beautiful and absolutely besotted with each other, Beau and Claudia Collins were idolized for being the perfect couple. But the devastating scene Detective Josie Quinn finds in their remote hideaway has her asking what dark secrets lurk beneath the surface of this seemingly flawless marriage?

Beau is grief-stricken by the loss of his kind-hearted wife who gave so much to others as a therapist, but Josie needs to know the significance of the small wooden puzzle box found clutched in Claudia's hand. A prop in a popular game Beau played with his viewers to test the strength of their relationships, is it a twisted calling card, or a challenge from the killer?




The broken body of one of Beau and Claudia's assistants is found the next day, a matching little box left in the dirt beside her. It's clear that if Beau doesn't start telling the truth about the flaws in his marriage, those dearest to him will die.

Caught in a cat and mouse chase with disturbing revelations and a mounting body count at every turn, Josie and her team work night and day to keep Beau's loved ones safe. What kind of calculating monster would do this? A faded newspaper article about a tragic accident is the break Josie desperately needs. But she may already be too late, an innocent child is in danger...

An absolutely gripping rollercoaster of a crime thriller from an Amazon, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Guaranteed to have you sleeping with the lights on and shouting from the rooftops about the twists, it's perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine.




Everyone loves Lisa Regan:

"A pulse-pounding, absolutely gripping and totally addictive page-turner that will have you racing through the pages and reeling at the twists. Hold on to your hat, and don't kid yourself that you'll be doing anything other than reading on the day that you start this one... Top marks!" NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars

"And now BREATHE... From the very first page until the very last it had me gripped vice-like in its claws... Literally had me breathless and on the edge of my seat." Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

"Oh my goodness... My heart is still racing ... There are so many twists and turns in this plot it will make you dizzy... I just couldn't put this book down, bravo Ms Regan this is a winner." Leanne's Reviews, 5 stars

"This book will leave you breathless... Oh my word... jaw-dropping and oh man, the action in this book doesn't stop." Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

"This book would Not. Let. Me. Go... I couldn't put it down until I had reached the very last page." @daniereads87, 5 stars

The Innocent Wife

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Freida McFadden

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

An addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist that's burning up Instagram, Freida McFadden's The Housemaid is perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, and Verity.



"Welcome to the family," Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I'll soon learn that the Winchesters' secrets are far more dangerous than my own...



Every day I clean the Winchesters' beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.



I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it's hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina's life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.



I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it's like. But she soon finds out... and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late.



But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don't know who I really am.



They don't know what I'm capable of...

The Housemaid

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Nancy S. Bacheller

Huntley was founded in 1851. Its first boom years--the 1850s to 1920s--saw the town prosper thanks to the local dairy industry. Prolific dairy farmers provided milk for the many local condensing plants and cheese factories and sent huge surpluses into Chicago by train each day. It was said that the Huntley area produced more milk per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Businesses, homes, and churches all grew with the population. Village founders, movers and shakers of a century and more ago, as well as everyday workers and village residents are captured here in vintage images, showing what life was like in Huntley in years gone by.

Mimages of America Huntley 

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Atina Diffley

Organic Farming Works

An organic farmer relates her family's experiences and struggles in the industry as they faced challenges ranging from inclement weather to the threat of eminent domain.

Turn Here Sweet Corn

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Clive Cussler

Craig Dirgo

More True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks

Collects accounts of the underwater discoveries made by the author and his team of volunteers dedicated to the exploration of historic wrecks, including the tale of the ghost ship Mary Celeste, the Carpathia, and other ships.

The Sea Hunters II

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Elizabeth Kostova

When a young woman discovers a cache of ancient letters, she is thrown into the turbulent history of her parents' dark pasts. Uncovering a labyrinthine trail of clues, she begins to reconstruct a staggering history of deceit and violence.

Debut novelist Elizabeth Kostova creates an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful and utterly unforgettable.

An "innovative" (The New Yorker) retelling of the story of Dracula. Told with the flourish and poise of a talented storyteller, Kostova turns the age-old tale into a compelling "late night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle) When a young woman discovers a cache of ancient letters, she is thrown into the turbulent history of her parents' dark pasts. Uncovering a labyrinthine trail of clues, she begins to reconstruct a staggering history of deceit and violence. Debut novelist Elizabeth Kostova creates an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful and utterly unforgettable.

The Historian

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