"The Secret Hour," Luanne Rice's stunning new hardcover, is the story of John O'Rourke, crack defense attorney, grieving widower, loving father of Teddy, fourteen, and Maggie, eleven. Since his wife's death, John has struggled not only to provide the strength and solace his children desperately need, but to cope with the small crises of everyday life. Now he has taken on the most challenging case of his career -- the death penalty appeal of Connecticut's Breakwater Killer, Greg Merrill, convicted of a series of brutal murders -- a case that threatens to tear the state apart and has raised a storm of enmity around John himself and those he loves. Into this besieged household comes Kate Harris, a steady presence seemingly sent by heaven itself. But Kate is a woman on a quest of her own, as she searches for the key to a haunting mystery in her own family.Drawing on the locales and storylines her fans cherish, "The Secret Hour" combines Luanne Rice's bestselling blend of love and family with gripping new elements of suspense, in an unforgettable novel sure to take her to new bestselling heights.