The Beach

The Khao San Road, Bangkok—first stop for the hordes of rootless young Westerners traveling in Southeast Asia. On Richard's first night there, in a low-budget guest house, a fellow traveler slashes his wrists, bequeathing to Richard a meticulously drawn map to "the Beach." The Beach, as Richard has come to learn, is the subject of a legend among young travelers in Asia: a lagoon hidden from the sea, with white sand and coral gardens, freshwater falls surrounded by jungle, plants untouched for a thousand years.

I’m not supposed to be on vacation with my best friend’s older brother. I’ve wanted him for so long, and now we’re unexpectedly alone in a tropical paradise. Naturally, I packed a lot of bikinis, but I should have brought armor if I want to have any hope of surviving my week away with Noah Martin…or should I say, Dr. Martin.

A war no one fully understands has devastated the planet with radioactive fallout from massive cobalt bombing. Melbourne, Australia, is the only area whose citizens have not yet succumbed to the contamination. But there isn’t much time left, a few months, maybe more—and the citizens of Melbourne must decide how they will live the remaining weeks of their lives, and how they will face a hopeless future.

Georgia Carpenter is hard at work on rehabbing her inherited inn with the goal of reopening as soon as possible. A goal that seems very attainable with the help of handsome handyman Travis Taylor and her family. But she wasn’t counting on her estranged sister, Lilly, showing up. Georgia and Lilly have never really seen eye-to-eye about anything, and Georgia worries that Lilly will cause trouble when she realizes their great aunt didn’t include Lilly in her will.

June 1946. As the residents of Winthrop Island prepare for the first summer season after the sacrifice of war, a glamorous new figure moves into the guest cottage at Summerly, the idyllic seaside estate of the wealthy Peabody family. To Emilia Winthrop, daughter of Summerly’s year-round caretaker and a descendant of the island’s settlers, Olive Rainsford opens a window into a world of shining possibility. While Emilia spent the war years caring for her incapacitated mother, Olive traveled the world, married fascinating men, and involved herself in political causes.

“The afternoon of September first, dishwater-gray and rainy, a man named Dale Figgo picked up a hitchhiker on Gus Grissom Boulevard in Tangelo Falls, Florida. The hitchhiker, who reminded Figgo of Danny DeVito, asked for a lift to the interstate. Figgo said he’d take him there after finishing an errand.” Thus begins Fever Beach, with an errand that leads—in pure Hiaasen-style—into the depths of Florida at its most Floridian: a sun-soaked bastion of right-wing extremism, white power, greed, and corruption.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes best-selling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

'This book was a top notch thriller. I devoured it in less than a day!' Netgalley reviewer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'A great plot with many exciting turns and twists that kept me engaged until the very last page!' 'A fun and twisty summer read that kept me guessing. One of the only books I’ve ever read in one sitting.' You thought you were keeping them safe. You let the evil in... My heart twists as I watch my teenagers, Willow and Josh, head off on their first holiday without me. They're spreading their wings, venturing into the world, and I feel a mix of pride and anxiety. ...

2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving after her mother’s death as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Devereaux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Devereaux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there.

Beach house stager Kate Harper and hired handyman-surfer Nick Mason get more than they bargained for when they remodel a stunning oceanfront home in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. Bones hidden in the walls of the beach house uncover an insidious decade-old mystery. The discovery leads to a wild chase for clues as to who was doomed within the layers of sheet rock and paint and who put them there. With all signs pointing toward Wilmington country club elite, a desperate killer ruthlessly expands the body count to keep the horrific truth of the bones buried forever. Kate and Nick soon find ...

Caretta Rutledge thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother – coming just as her own life is spinning out of control – has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide “turtle lady” and renews old acquaintances long thought lost.

The very moment that Raina Wingate learns her husband of sixteen years wants to separate, she gets a call that her father has suffered a stroke. Racing to her family’s home on Amelia Island, Florida, Raina hopes the time apart will heal her cracked marriage and that she can step into her father’s real estate business and keep it running. Her sister, Tori, a divorcee who owns a catering business in Boston, also flies in to join the others at the hospital. But an unexpected run-in with their father’s rather attractive neurologist adds a new dimension to the days and weeks ahead.

The classic story of paradise found - and lost. Richard lands in East Asia in search of an earthly utopia. In Thailand he is given a map promising an unknown island, a secluded beach - and a new way of life. What Richard finds when he gets there is breathtaking: more extraordinary, more frightening than his wildest dreams. But how long can paradise survive here on Earth? And what lengths will Richard go to in order to save it?

With the storm behind her, Georgia Carpenter looks forward to reaching her goal of reopening the inn left to her by her great aunt. It seems very attainable, too, thanks to all the help she’s been getting from family and friends. She and Travis Taylor, her handsome handyman, seem to be on a good path, as well. In fact, everything is going swimmingly until a rival in town does the unthinkable and creates all kinds of chaos.

The Christmas party at the Sea Glass Inn is a long-held tradition, one the townspeople of Blackbird Beach consider the kick-off of the Christmas season. Until, of course, the inn closed, and the party stopped happening. Now Georgia Carpenter has decided it’s time to restart that tradition, even though the party is a massive undertaking and one that will influence how people feel about the inn for the rest of the year. With the help of her sister, Lilly, Georgia hopes to put on an event that will be merry and bright and spark new interest in the business.

Mae West, a far cry from the Hollywood actress, has been thrown for a loop. Her plush lifestyle in the big city of New York comes to a screeching halt after the FBI raids her mansion and arrests her husband, Paul West, for a Ponzi scheme that rips people out of millions of dollars. Mae finds herself homeless, friendless, and penniless. All hope isn't lost... the only thing Mae got to keep that the government didn't seize is a tourist camp ground, Happy Trails, in Normal, Kentucky.

Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.

Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. Unable to afford their flat, she has to move miles away from everyone, to a sleepy little seaside resort in Cornwall, where she lives alone above an abandoned shop. And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favorite hobby: making bread. But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better.

The Whitaker family's Connecticut mansion, Muses by the Sea, has always been a haven for artists, a hotbed of creativity, extravagances, and the occasional scandal. Art patrons for generations, the Whitakers supported strangers but drained the life out of each other. Now, after being estranged for years, four generations of Whitaker women find themselves once again at the Muses. Leo, the Whitaker matriarch, lives in the rambling mansion.

From Summer Stage national bestselling author Meg Mitchell Moore comes a sparkling novel following a young woman entwined in the opulent lives of her neighbors on Block Island, set against a backdrop of scandal, secrets, and a not-so-subtle love triangle, perfect for listeners of Pineapple Street and Sex and Vanity.