Doctor Sleep: A Novel by Stephen King

HARDCOVER FICTION. Best Sellers - The New York Times. October, 2013

Doctor Sleep: A Novel by Stephen King

Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.  

Doctor Sleep is on my list! I will read this book at least once a year. This book has everything, horror, heartbreak, friendship, fear, rage and revenge, and of course love. If you're a Stephen King fan you won't be disappointed. After reading this book I''m left wondering about Abra, maybe we will read her story someday. If you haven't read The Shining do that before you read this book. The movie was great, the books better.

CALICO JOE, by John Grisham, PDF

CALICO JOE, by John Grisham, PDF Download

I'm not really a baseball fan but this book was a "homerun" for me! Anytime I can't put a book down, I know it's a good one!

A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball.

Calico Joe had every kid's baseball fantasy - lightening start in his big league debut, the lifting of a sad-sack team (the Cubs) to contender status, broken records, the adulatiojunen of his teammates and fans - and then he didn't. John Grisham has written a very good and captivating story - more than a baseball story, though America's game is the canvass upon which this tragedy is painted.

Warren Tracey was also a big leaguer - a pitcher - with the kind of stats that define most careers in the bigs: occasionally good, usually mediocre and sometimes awful. He was destined to never be remembered except by trivia hounds once his career reached its uncelebrated end - until his involvement in a baseball drama that ensured his name would be written in baseball lore, though not in any manner he would have desired.

Best Seller The New York Times, HARDCOVER FICTION,  25 June 2012

John Grisham

John Grisham born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

11TH HOUR, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro PDF Download

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro 11TH HOUR  PDF Download. Follow the Download Link 

If you love the Women's Murder Club you will love this book. Two great story lines woven in with Lindsay and Joes' marriage, Yuki, Cindy and Claire and of course Marino.


THE 11th HOUR by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro may be the best Women's Murder Club novel to date. The four long-time friends --- Lindsay Boxer, a San Francisco homicide investigator; Dr. Claire Washburn, an SFPD medical examiner; Cindy Thomas, a newspaper reporter; and prosecuting attorney Yuki Castellano bring their different, overlapping and occasionally conflicting disciplines together to solve crimes. The result is part police procedural, part detective, part murder mystery, and yes, part romance.

So what makes THE 11th HOUR my favorite in the series? It would have to be the mystery elements. The book begins with a cold-blooded killing at a school during a music recital. The killer, known as Revenge, has been targeting drug dealers throughout San Francisco, seemingly killing with impunity. Boxer, who with husband Joe Molinari is pregnant with their first child, is experiencing the ups and downs of pre-natal motherhood when she is assigned to the case. The Revenge killings are barely on Boxer's radar before she and partner Rich Conklin answer a 911 call. A horrifying tableau awaits them: two heads have been arranged in the garden of a house belonging to one of San Francisco's most famous residents.

Boxer's boss wants her working full time on the Revenge murders for two very important reasons: he suspects that the murderer is a cop, and Revenge's latest victim is a cop, too, working undercover in the drug trade. But Boxer doesn't want to let go of the head case. And when more heads turn up in the garden, a forensic investigation courtesy of Dr. Washburn indicates that the decapitation and burial have been occurring for quite a while.

Thus Boxer has two very different and very separate cases, both of which are totally unrelated. She acquires quite a list of suspects in the Revenge murders, and one of the names on the list is her former partner's. As far as the buried head case is concerned, Boxer and Conklin use good old-fashioned police work, including knocking on and down doors literally to get the answers they need. By the time the book ends, they've found a very insane murderer, and one who, when all things are considered, is quite sympathetic.

None of this sounds very romantic, does it? If you're looking for romance, THE 11th HOUR has that as well. Castellano is dating Boxer's boss, and Thomas is seeing Boxer's partner. And Boxer's husband? Well, let's just say that he gets in the biggest trouble that a husband can get into. Oh, and another thing: You never know with a Women's Murder Club book if everyone is going to make it to the end intact. People get hurt in this one, though it's nothing to lose your head over.

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris PDF Download

Charlaine Harris Deadlocked PDF Download. Follow the Download Link Below

Prepare to say a fond farewell to Sookie Stackhouse, because "Deadlocked" is the penultimate volume of the Southern Vampire series.

But even if there's only one more book, the twelfth book about the telepathic waitress and her vampire and/or were connections is a pretty solid one. It's a rather sad book in places, since Sookie's relationship to Eric seems to be cracking into pieces, but it has that lovable balance of unpretentious Southernness mixed with vampire/were stuff.

A conference between Felipe and Eric goes horribly awry when a young woman (whom Eric had taken blood from) is found dead outside Eric's home. Unsurprisingly, Sookie and Eric are both suspects, and Sookie suspects that Eric is keeping something from her. Even odder, her death is linked to the fae -- and Sookie is sure that she was hired to lure Eric.

As she juggles family matters, a nosy were, a birth and a forthcoming wedding, Sookie also starts investigating the girl's death. She also has some other problems to deal with, like a stranger's interest in the cluviel dor and the arrival of a vampire queen who wants Eric. But unraveling these conspiracies will reveal some of the nastiest betrayals Sookie has ever encountered.

As always, Charlaine Harris' writing is like slipping into a soft, well-worn sweater that smells vaguely of magnolia trees. There's just something very pleasant and homey about her prose, and this novel is somewhat smoother than the last few book -- the narrative can switch fluidly from descriptions of the fairy world to "House Hunters International." Trippy.

However, "Deadlocked" has a sharply bittersweet flavor as well, with Sookie finding out the hard way that lots of people can leave you heartbroken (not just lovers!). A few parts of the book are depressing, particularly since Sookie's relationship with Eric is clearly crumbling -- she even admits that while the sex is great (not that we see any), they're not doing so well emotionally.

It also has the feeling of a transition book -- lots of people are getting engaged and producing babies, and a few actually leave. Harris seems to be wrapping up various ongoing subplots, including a massive one close to Sookie's own heart.

So unsurprisingly this is a wrenching novel for Sookie. She's still a tough, confident woman, but she also has to grapple with the semi-conscious knowledge that her romance with Eric is under attack, and that people may be trying to get to the cluviel dor. Eric is strangely distant in this story even when he appears; Sam seems to have taken a more central role. I call romance!

"Deadlocked" is a solid penultimate chapter to the Southern Vampire series -- and while the mood is sadder than in the last few books, Charlaine Harris injects plenty of charm into her story. 

Mary Higgins Clark newest book The Lost Years

In The Lost Years, Mary Higgins Clark, America’s Queen of Suspense, has written her most astonishing novel to date. At its center is a discovery that, if authenticated, may be the most revered document in human history “the holiest of the holy” and certainly the most coveted and valuable object in the world.

As usual, Mary Higgins Clark delivers! I couldn't put this book down. The main character is grieving the loss of her father while trying to save her mother from prosecution. I'm always pleased with Clark's character development and the strong females she creates. The plot was well developed and kept the reader guessing. My only regret reading this book is now that I'm finished I'll have to wait another year to read her next book! 

Once again Mary Higgins Clark affirms why she is the "Queen of Suspense" with this exciting biblical archeological thriller. The evidence points increasingly towards her mom as the murderer, but with help from friends Wiley and Alvirah, the dispirited heroine starts to find other viable suspects as she seeks someone filled with pride and avarice; but even then Mariah still lacks proof. Ms. Clark has another winner for her readers to enjoy getting us there with this entertaining taut tale in which the suspense spins from family violence to biblical archeological violence.

www.maryhigginsclark.com

HARDCOVER FICTION books. LONE WOLF, by Jodi Picoult

HARDCOVER FICTION

LONE WOLF, by Jodi Picoult 

($28.) The children of a man who studies wolves must make difficult decisions when he is seriously injured in an accident. 
Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes a frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward’s younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father’s fate together. Though there’s no easy answer, questions abound: What secrets have Edward and his sister kept from each other? What hidden motives inform their need to let their father die . . . or to try to keep him alive? What would Luke himself want? How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both? And most importantly, to what extent have they all forgotten what a wolf never forgets: that each member of a pack needs the others, and that sometimes survival means sacrifice?

Another tour de force by Picoult, Lone Wolf brilliantly describes the nature of a family: the love, protection, and strength it can offer—and the price we might have to pay for those gifts. What happens when the hope that should sustain a family is the very thing tearing it apart?

VICTIMS, by Jonathan Kellerman
KILL SHOT, by Vince Flynn
CELEBRITY IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb
PRIVATE GAMES, by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

Complete Books List »

An easy-to-read dog magazine articles

HELL'S CORNER, by David Baldacci

November 28, 2010

Baldacci's implausible fifth Camel Club novel (after Divine Justice) disappoints with cartoonish plotting and characterization. The night after the U.S. president persuades former assassin Oliver Stone (aka John Carr) to re-enter government employment to tackle the growing threat of Russian drug gangs, Stone finds himself in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, when gunfire breaks out and a bomb explodes. Apparently, the intended target was the visiting British prime minister, who was scheduled to walk across the park before an ankle injury modified his plans. Taken off his original mission, Stone seeks to identify the forces behind the assassination attempt. Stone's old Camel Club allies involve themselves in his search, which includes the de rigueur mole hunt and the McGuffin of choice these days, a lead on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts. Those who prefer intelligence in their political thrillers will have to look elsewhere.

Complete List:

1. HELL'S CORNER, by David Baldacci
2. FULL DARK, NO STARS, by Stephen King
3. THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham
4. TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
5. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST, by Stieg Larsson
6. I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU, by Fannie Flagg
7. SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNK, by David Sedaris
8. AMERICAN ASSASSIN, by Vince Flynn
9. INDULGENCE IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb
10. FALL OF GIANTS, by Ken Follett
11. IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS, by Jan Karon
12. WORTH DYING FOR, by Lee Child
13. SAFE HAVEN, by Nicholas Sparks
14. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett
15. MOONLIGHT MILE, by Dennis Lehane

Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list, Week of August 14, 2009

1. BAD MOON RISING, by Sherrilyn Kenyon. (St. Martin’s, $24.99.) Book 18 of the Dark-Hunter paranormal series.
   
2. THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC, by Richard Russo. (Knopf, $25.95.) A long-married couple wrestle with their dissatisfactions during a Cape Cod weekend; by the author of “Empire Falls.”
   
3. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $24.95.) A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s ­Mississippi.
   
4. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson. (Knopf, $25.95.) A Swedish hacker becomes a murder suspect.
   
5. INHERENT VICE, by Thomas Pynchon. (Penguin Press, $27.95.) A pothead private eye in Los Angeles, circa 1970.
   
6. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, by Jennifer Weiner. (Atria, $26.99.) Childhood friends, estranged in high school, reunite years later when the popular one needs the mousy one’s help.
   
7. THE TRAFFICKERS, by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV. (Putnam, $26.95.) A Philadelphia cop joins forces with a Texas Ranger to track a gang connected to the Mexican drug cartel; part of the Badge of Honor series.
   
8. THE DEFECTOR, by Daniel Silva. (Putnam, $26.95.) When a Russian defector who once saved his life disappears, Gabriel Allon, an art restorer and occasional spy for the Israeli secret service, attempts to rescue him.
   
9. SWIMSUIT, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) A former cop, now a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, investigates the disappearance of a supermodel.
   
10. DEAD AND GONE, by Charlaine Harris. (Ace, $25.95.) Sookie Stackhouse searches for the killer of a werepanther. Excerpt
    
11. RULES OF VENGEANCE, by Christopher Reich. (Doubleday, $25.95.) A doctor is drawn into a world of international espionage; a sequel to “Rules of Deception.”
    
12. TWENTIES GIRL, by Sophie Kinsella. (Dial, $26.) A young woman is haunted by the spirit of her great-aunt, who wants her to find a missing necklace.
    
13. BLACK HILLS, by Nora Roberts. (Putnam, $26.95.) A South Dakota wildlife biologist and an ex-cop, childhood sweethearts, reunite to pursue a serial killer.
    
14. FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN, by Janet Evanovich. (St. Martin’s, $27.95.) The bounty hunter Stephanie Plum tracks a celebrity chef’s killer.
    
15. THE WINDS OF DUNE, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. (Tor/ Tom Doherty, $27.99.) Frank Herbert’s son and his collaborator, drawing on Herbert’s notes on the “Dune” series, pick up the story after the events of “Dune Messiah,” following Jessica, the mother of the emperor Paul Atreides

Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list, Week of May 17, 2009

1. THE 8TH CONFESSION, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women''s Murder Club investigate a pair of killings.

2. LOVER AVENGED, by J. R. Ward. (New American Library, $24.95.) A vampire ally hides his mixed blood; Book 7 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

3. FIRST FAMILY, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central, $27.99.) Former Secret Service agents, now P.I.’s, search for a child abducted from a party at Camp David.

4. SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET, by Debbie Macomber. (Mira, $24.95.) More stories of life and love from a Seattle knitting class.

5. TEA TIME FOR THE TRADITIONALLY BUILT, by Alexander McCall Smith. (Pantheon, $23.95.) The 10th novel in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

6. JUST TAKE MY HEART, by Mary Higgins Clark. (Simon & Schuster, $25.95.) An assistant prosecutor who has had a heart transplant discovers that her life is at risk.

7. LOITERING WITH INTENT, by Stuart Woods. (Putnam, $25.95.) Stone Barrington takes a case in Key West.

8. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer. (Little, Brown, $25.99.) Aliens have taken control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but one woman won’t surrender.

9. THE LANGUAGE OF BEES, by Laurie R. King. (Bantam, $25.) Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, help a painter search for his missing wife and child.

10. LOOK AGAIN, by Lisa Scottoline. (St. Martin’s, $26.95.) A reporter learns that her adopted son may have been abducted from his birth mother.

11. THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $24.95.) A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s ­Mississippi.

12. THE PERFECT POISON, by Amanda Quick. (Putnam, $24.95.) A Victorian botanist investigates a poisoning; an Arcane Society novel.

13. LONG LOST, by Harlan Coben. (Dutton, $27.95.) Myron Bolitar helps an ex-lover search for her daughter.

14. HOME SAFE, by Elizabeth Berg. (Random House, $25.) A widow and her daughter cope with grief and discovery.

15. THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. (Dial, $22.) A journalist meets the island’s old Nazi resisters.

16. HANDLE WITH CARE, by Jodi Picoult (Atria)