After losing an acting role and fighting with her alcoholic stepfather, Kit is arrested for shoplifting and ordered to work, as part of her sentence, at an animal shelter.

Leaper, a kangaroo rat who can communicate with humans, enlists the aid of a boy named Julian to help defeat a "monster" that has been terrorizing the desert where she lives.

Has Hollywood gone to the dogs? Pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver is observing production on a new movie called Sheba's Story, starring a white miniature poodle. Lauren's veterinarian friend Carlie, and Grant, an American Humane Association representative, are on location to make sure no animals are harmed. But when the film's director is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run after arguing with Carlie about animal safety, it's up to Lauren to clear her friend's...

""Dirty Harry of Literary Criticism" Frank Lentricchia launches book two of his new mystery series, featuring Eliot Conte, a PI who's "part Mike Hammer and part William S. Burroughs... an instant original," according to the Washington Post. Eliot Conte's story is pure noir, as he hunts for a local dog killer in ways that don't always adhere to the law. This novel features the hard diction and the fast pace of the best Italian-American crime fiction....