Twenty-seven-year-old Abby Callahan moved to New Orleans to escape her past screw-ups in her small hometown. While out running, she sees a woman who had been raped and discarded, like trash. Abby finds herself selfishly pursuing the case to help her career, even though the victim is reluctant. The trial starts, the judge is suddenly arrested, but Abby is pulled back to New York when her father commits suicide. Managing her grief and complicated family dynamics, she tries both to rekindle and remedy her old romances. But she is pulled back to The Big Easy when her client goes missing. As more girls turn up dead—with Abby as their common connection—Abby decides to play detective with her journalist friend Jill Lejeune. Abby feels responsible to find her client alive, even as she comes to terms with her past mistakes, including how her lies allowed someone else to go to prison. Abby discovers she’s in over her head when Jill is beaten because she’s been mistaken for Abby. She wonders if everyone in her life is connected to this case. Abby seems to be the only one committed to finding the truth and decides to stop listening to everyone before she ends up at the morgue. A last-ditch call to the FBI and a rendezvous at the shipping warehouse lead Abby to one last dangerous situation where she finds out betrayal was in front of her the whole time.

The author of Haunted New Orleans digs up NOLA’s long and lawless history—from pirates and prostitutes to mobsters and murderers. Since as early as the 1700s, New Orleans has been a city filled with sin and vice. Those first pioneering citizens of the Big Easy were thieves, vagabonds, and criminals of all kinds. By the time Louisiana fell under American control, New Orleans had become a city of debauchery and corruption camouflaged by decadence. It was also considered one of the country’s most dangerous cities, with a reputation of crime and loose morals. Rampant gambling and prostitution were the norm in nineteenth-century New Orleans, and over one-third of today’s French Quarter was considered a hotbed of sin. Tales in this volume include that of the notorious Axeman who plagued the streets of the Crescent City in the early 1900s and Kate Townsend, a prostitute who was murdered by her own lover, a man who later was awarded her inheritance. Troy Taylor takes a look back at New Orleans’s early wicked days and historic crimes. Includes photos

Herein reveals the uniqueness of Cajun country and the hospitality of its people. Moreover, how the diversity of things there engulfs the emotions of visitors. A man and woman of the 'Baby Boomer' generation renew an old friendship unexpectedly while attending a conference in the French Quarter. Neither one had visited there before, but each had their own emotions regarding the trip. The man has fantasized about meeting a blonde bomb shell, whereas, the woman has relished the opportunity to see the diverse architecture, famous restaurants and entertainment. Picture in your mind the roles of the three main characters being played by Jack Lemon, Caroll Burnette and Redd Foxx. -A. Shankland

Between the World Wars, New Orleans transformed its image from that of a corrupt and sullied port of call into that of a national tourist destination. Anthony J. Stanonis tells how boosters and politicians reinvented the city to build a modern mass tourism industry and, along the way, fundamentally changed the city's cultural, economic, racial, and gender structure. Stanonis looks at the importance of urban development, historic preservation, taxation strategies, and convention marketing to New Orleans' makeover and chronicles the city's efforts to domesticate its jazz scene, "democratize" Mardi Gras, and stereotype local blacks into docile, servile roles. He also looks at depictions of the city in literature and film and gauges the impact on New Orleans of white middle-class America's growing prosperity, mobility, leisure time, and tolerance of women in public spaces once considered off-limits. Visitors go to New Orleans with expectations rooted in the city's "past": to revel with Mardi Gras maskers, soak up the romance of the French Quarter, and indulge in rich cuisine and hot music. Such a past has a basis in history, says Stanonis, but it has been carefully excised from its gritty context and scrubbed clean for mass consumption.

Cock‚A[tail (kŏk'tāl') n: a many-splendored creation believed by some to have been born, bred, and elevated from mere libation to lifestyle in New Orleans. In BIG EASY COCKTAILS, chef Jimmy Bannos pays tribute to the Crescent City with a host of recipes for truly classic cocktails like the Mint Julep, newfangled concoctions like the Gentilly Sunrise, and snacks and appetizers inspired by Creole and Cajun cuisines.A colorful collection of cocktail and snack recipes that capture the authentic flavors and spirit of New Orleans.A portion of the book's proceeds will be donated to support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.Includes 50 cocktail and 35 appetizer recipes plus 30 food and location photos.Features recommended music selections to accompany each cocktail recipe and a list of New Orleans-related books and movies.

The New York Times bestselling authors of the Masters of Ménage series present the third scintillating novel featuring the privileged, wealthy, wild men of Creighton Academy—the Perfect Gentlemen. Years ago, Naval officer Dax Spencer and NCIS agent Holland Kirk indulged in a steamy affair—until she betrayed him in the wake of his father’s death. Dax tried to put her behind him with a payback of his own. But he never forgot Holland… Now, as Dax and his fellow Perfect Gentlemen unravel a web of lies, he discovers his family’s tragedy is part of a much larger conspiracy. Soon, all clues point him back to New Orleans…where Holland waits, protecting her deadly secret and holding a torch for the only man she’s ever loved. Once reunited, they can’t fight the passion flaring hot and wild. But something sinister lurks around every corner, from the elegance of the Garden district to the beauty of the bayou. Dax and Holland may find their way back to each other—if they survive...