First line: Amy considered the postcard: a boardwalk scene. From the back cover: The Darby-Jones boardinghouse in Ruby Falls, New York, is home to Mona Jones and her daughter, Oneida – two loners and self-declared outcasts who have formed a perfectly insular family unit along with the three eclectic boarders who live in their house. But their small, quiet life is upended when Arthur Rook shows up in the middle…

First line: To the best of my understandably shaky recollection, the first time I died it went something like this. From the inside cover: Former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily…

First line: Raylene stood in the kitchen doorway on a day that was surprisingly cool for the first of June. From the back cover: Her devastating marriage behind her, Raylene Hammond is truly thankful for her best friends, the Sweet Magnolias. They’ve taken her in, shielding her from the world. Then she meets sheriff’s deputy Carter Rollins, and suddenly Raylene’s haven no longer feels quite so safe. Carter understands why…

First line: For a few days now the same man, clad in snug denim and a T-shirt that caressed impressive biceps, had spent precisely thirty minutes in the back booth at Wharton’s, lounging against the red vinyl as if he owned the place, and studying Sarah as if he found her to be the most fascinating creature on the planet. From the back cover: Emotionally wounded single mom, Sarah Price…

First line: Settled at her usual table near the kitchen of her mom’s restaurant, Annie Sullivan ate the last of her omelet and opened the local paper to the sports section. From the back cover: There’s no place like home, especially if it’s Serenity, South Carolina. For Annie Sullivan, though, the homecoming is bittersweet. She’d always envisioned a life there with her childhood best friend, Tyler Townsend. But Ty’s betrayal…

First line: Sarah Wells stood on the roof of the carport and snaked her gloved hand through the hole she’d cut in the glass. From the inside cover: A young mother and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down while returning to their car in the garage of a shopping mall. There are no witnesses, and Detective Lindsay Boxer is left with only one shred of evidence: a cryptic message…

First line: Light from April’s full moon swept over the Museum’s facade and down the building’s marble veneer. From the inside cover: Bartholomew Fortuno, the World’s Thinnest Man, believes that his unusual body is a gift. Hired by none other than P.T. Barnum to work at his spectacular American Museum – a modern marvel of macabre displays and live performances by Barnum’s cast of freaks and oddities – Fortuno has…