Gill Baltazar

Author Chris Rogers draws on her Texas roots to write the Dixie Flanagan series. Dixie is legendary in the jails of Houston, returning even the most hardened criminals to jail after they've jumped bail. Now she's on the hunt for Parker Dann, who's been accused of running down an 11-year-old girl. But when Dixie finally catches up with the fugitive, he says he didn't kill the girl. And Dixie believes him.

For the first four months of 1942, U.S., Filipino, and Japanese soldiers fought what was America's first major land battle of World War II, the battle for the tiny Philippine peninsula of Bataan. It ended with the surrender of 76,000 Filipinos and Americans, the single largest defeat in American military history. The defeat, though, was only the beginning, as Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman make dramatically clear in this powerfully original book.

With her besties, Bailey and Toni, in tow, Rachel leaves work and rainy LA behind and sets off for a much-needed vacation in Aruba. Greeted by glittering sand and a balmy breeze, the three friends can't imagine anywhere more perfect. But just minutes after hitting the beach, they're approached by a panicked young woman. A gofer on the biggest reality hit since Survivor, she's lost the show's child star and must find her, now, before anyone else realizes she's gone. Rachel, Bailey, and Toni put their dreams of paradise on hold and embark on a whirlwind search for the girl.

Joe Pickett's in his last week as the temporary game warden in the town of Baggs, Wyoming, but there have been strange things going on in the mountains, and his conscience won't let him leave without checking them out: reports of camps looted, tents slashed, elk butchered. And then there's the runner who simply vanished one day. Joe doesn't mind admitting that the farther he rides, the more he wishes he could just turn around and go home.

When Donovan Campbell's platoon deployed to Ramadi in the spring of 2004, they believed they'd be spending most of their time building schools, training police, and making friends with the citizens. But shortly after arriving, when Campbell awoke to the chilling cry of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" echoing from minaret to minaret across the city, he knew they had an altogether different situation on their hands.