Aspiring writer Maurice Swift, whose desire for fame exceeds his talent, uses a chance meeting with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann in a West Berlin hotel in 1988 to obtain secrets about Ackermann's wartime activities, which becomes material for his first novel. Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan...

After receiving a small inheritance, teacher Rob McDaniels heads to law school, goes to work for a powerful law firm, and marries the daughter of the senior partner--leaving behind his hometown sweetheart--as his idealism is gradually transformed by greed, ambition, and dishonesty.

How far will you go to achieve a dream? That's the question a celebrated coach poses to Katie and Eric Knox after he sees their daughter Devon, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful, compete. For the Knoxes there are no limits--until a violent death rocks their close-knit gymnastics community and everything they have worked so hard for is suddenly at risk. As rumors swirl among the other parents, Katie tries frantically to hold her family together...

"This deliciously sharp novel captures the relentless ambitions and fears that animate parents and their children in modern America, exploring the conflicts between achievement and potential, talent and privilege. Set in the fictional town of Crystal, Colorado, The Gifted School is a keenly entertaining novel that observes the drama within a community of friends and parents as good intentions and high ambitions collide in a pile-up with long-held...

A propulsive tale of ambition and romance, set in the publishing world of 1980's New York and the timeless beaches of Cape Cod. In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old Eve Rosen is an aspiring writer languishing in a low-level assistant job, unable to shake the shadow of growing up with her brilliant brother. With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker...

"In this powerful novel about the cost of ambition and success, a legendary athlete attempts a comeback at an age when the world considers her past her prime-from the New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising. Carolina Soto is undeniably fierce. She is determined to be the best professional tennis player the world has ever seen. And by the time she retires from the game in 1989 at the age of thirty-one, she is just that: the best. She has...

When five hyper-successful women agree to appear on a reality series set in New York City called Goal Diggers, the producers never expect the season will end in murder... Brett's the fan favorite. Tattooed and only twenty-seven, the meteoric success of her spin studio--and her recent engagement to her girlfriend--has made her the object of jealousy and vitriol from her cast mates. Kelly, Brett's older sister and business partner, is the most recent...

"From Rodeo Drive to the French Riviera, Karin Tanabe's The Sunset Crowd is a tale of survival and reinvention, of faking it until you make it, and the glittering appeal of success and stardom, as it seeks to answer that timeless question--who gets to have the American dream? Money and fame: in 1970's Los Angeles, everyone is fighting to reach the top, but very few have the talent, ambition, and luck to get there. Meet LA darling Evra Scott. The daughter...

"The firstborn son of the powerful Worthington family has been groomed for political power since his first breath. Will family secrets keep him from getting there?" --

"In 1927, orphaned eight-year-old Alec Oswin sails from India to an unknown future in England. Meanwhile, in the English fenlands, June Attwell memorizes maps, patterns, and railway timetables, hoping for a future beyond her father's vicarage. Alec and June become friends, and, in time, marry. When the Second World War breaks out, Alec joins the RAF, while the Foreign Office sends June to its covert Y-service outposts on the edge of the war-torn Empire....