A desperate cop and a wanted woman cross paths with a dirty California underworld in a thriller “stuffed with truly shocking twists.” —Entertainment Weekly At a dive bar in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, drug-hustling Emily Rosario is downing whiskey and looking to escape her dicey lifestyle. When a Russian couple approaches her with a proposition, Emily thinks she might have found her exit. But a week later—drugged, disoriented and wanted for robbery—Emily finds herself on the run for her life. Veteran cop Leo Elias has heard about the unsolved bank heist , and the stolen money is too strong a temptation. A series of bad investments has left him broke, alcoholic and anxious for a way out of debt. That means finding Emily and the money before anyone else does. It’s a plan that soon spins out of control, forcing Elias to do things that can never be undone. Shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, The White Van “unfolds in a pulsating series of betrayals, blackmail, bad decisions, and worse luck . . . the stuff of Dashiell Hammett’s best nightmares” (Mark Haskell Smith, author of RAW: A Love Story)—and “a gritty, exhilarating . . . quick and scary . . . hell of a ride” (The Wall Street Journal, Best Book of the Year pick).

It began last year, it's still hidden today and the bloody trail points to tomorrow. Every word counts as unexpected truths are revealed to the diligent reader.

A teen is snatched outside her kung fu class and must figure out how to escape—and rescue another kidnapped victim—in The Girl in the White Van, a chilling YA mystery by New York Times bestselling author April Henry. When Savannah disappears soon after arguing with her mom’s boyfriend, everyone assumes she's run away. The truth is much worse. She’s been kidnapped by a man in a white van who locks her in an old trailer home, far from prying eyes. And worse yet, Savannah’s not alone: ten months earlier, Jenny met the same fate and nearly died trying to escape. Now as the two girls wonder if he will hold them captive forever or kill them, they must join forces to break out—even if it means they die trying. Christy Ottaviano Books

Long-listed for the 2014 National Book Award in fiction Winner of the 2015 Alex Award for adult books with special appeal for young adults Beautifully written and unexpectedly moving, John Darnielle's audacious and gripping debut novel Wolf in White Van is a marvel of storytelling brio and genuine literary delicacy. Welcome to Trace Italian, a game of strategy and survival! You may now make your first move. Isolated by a disfiguring injury since the age of seventeen, Sean Phillips crafts imaginary worlds for strangers to play in. From his small apartment in southern California, he orchestrates fantastic adventures where possibilities, both dark and bright, open in the boundaries between the real and the imagined. As the creator of Trace Italian—a text-based, role-playing game played through the mail—Sean guides players from around the world through his intricately imagined terrain, which they navigate and explore, turn by turn, seeking sanctuary in a ravaged, savage future America. Lance and Carrie are high school students from Florida, explorers of the Trace. But when they take their play into the real world, disaster strikes, and Sean is called to account for it. In the process, he is pulled back through time, tunneling toward the moment of his own self-inflicted departure from the world in which most people live. Brilliantly constructed, Wolf in White Van unfolds in reverse until we arrive at both the beginning and the climax: the event that has shaped so much of Sean's life.

Creating fantastical mail-order role-playing games from his apartment where he endures a life of solitude after a disfiguring injury, Sean is blamed for a disaster involving two high school student clients, an event that compels him to reevaluate his own past.