Includes discussion questions. Alex Brady shuts out all relationships when he loses his beloved father in the Twin Towers. Will he have the courage to open his heart to love again?

"John Connolly recreates the golden age of Hollywood for an intensely compassionate study of the tension among the commercial demands, artistic integrity, and the human frailties behind even the greatest of artists"--

Frantically searching for his wife, Alexa, who vanished after a night out at L.A.'s Parker Center, Shane Scully investigates the execution-style murder of an African-American gang member found in Alexa's car.

"After her sister is raped and murdered, Lily Wong dedicates her life and ninja skills to the protection of women. But her mission is complicated. Not only does she live above the Chinese restaurant owned by her Norwegian father and inspired by the recipes of her Chinese mother, but she has to hide her true self from her Hong Kong tiger mom who is already disappointed in her daughter's less than feminine ways... But when a woman and her son she escorted...

"A famous-for-being-famous LA family stars on their own reality show, but the sixteen-year-old daughter wants out"-- After five seasons on her family's reality show, Rolling with the Royces, and a lifetime of dealing with her narcissistic sister, Porsche, media-obsessed mother, Mercedes, and somewhat clueless brother, Maybach, Bentley wants out. Luckily for her cancellation is looming and freedom is nigh. With their lifestyle on the brink, however,...

Meet Elvis Cole, L.A. private eye . . . he quotes Jiminy Cricket and carries a .38. He’s a literate, wisecreacking Vietnam vet who is determined never to grow up.
The blonde who walked into Cole’s office was the bestlooking woman he’d seen in weeks. The only thing that kept her from rating a perfect “10” was the briefcase on one arm and the uptight hotel magnate on the other. Bradley Warren had lost something...

Elvis Cole's taciturn partner, Joe Pike, investigates an attack on former associate Frank Meyer, a one-time mercenary whose family has been murdered by a professional hit crew and who police suspect has been keeping a dangerous secret.

Investigating the murders of several homeless Vietnam veterans, detective Shane Scully and his partner stumble on a death that suggests the work of a copy-cat killer, in a case that is further complicated by a ten-year-old unsolved murder.

When a billionaire heiress connects a recent high-profile murder to an unsolved killing from fifteen years earlier, LAPD lieutenant Peter Decker schedules an interview with a detective from the first case, only to learn of the man's suspicious suicide.

In a compelling portrait of real people in an unreal world, Hollywood is used as a backdrop to reveal the dreams, the fears, and the expectations of a ceremony that unites us all-- from movie stars to long-married couples to nervous teenagers-- and changes the lives of real men, women, and families forever.