In his final hours in office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems that Backman, in his heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world's most sophisticated satellite surveillance...

"Political intrigue, high-level high jinks, and characters with charisma to spare . . . a real crowd-pleaser" in the New York Times bestselling series (Booklist, starred review).
With yet another successful assignment behind them, the ladies of the Sisterhood have enjoyed a relaxing break together and celebrated the wedding of Myra and Charles on Big Pine Mountain. But as soon as the newlyweds return...

Crimes and violations of the law require punishment, and our legal system is set up to punish, but what if the system was recalibrated to also weigh grounds for forgiveness? What if something like bankruptcy--a fresh start for debtors--were available to people convicted of crimes? Martha Minow explores the complicated intersection of the law, justice, and forgiveness, asking whether the law should encourage people to forgive, and when courts, public...

A man convicted of murder is pardoned by the prison director, in return for which he is to murder the director's enemy. The setting is a Texas town which lives off the prison, its inmates serving as field hands and houseboys.

Finding the strength to pack up her three kids and leave an abusive husband, Marie works her way through college and lands a job with the State of Tennessee. Hard work moves her up to the appointment as the first woman to head the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, but she soon learns that justice and politics don't always mix. When she uncovers a cover-up operation that allows for the Tennessee elite to get a kickback in exchange for letting killers...