The Gates by John Connolly

The Gates - Eleven year-old Samuel Johnson witnesses his neighbors, the Abernathys, and another couple conducting a seance in their basement.  During the seance, all four of the adults are sucked into a bluish portal and come back changed.  Samuel recognizes that evil has befallen the neighborhood, but nobody will listen to him except his friends.  As Mrs. Abernathy summons other monsters to kill Samuel.  However, Samuel is either able to make friends with them or fight them off.  Nurd, a demon who has been banished to the wasteland, is teleported to earth separately from the demons who have taken over the Abernathy's bodies.  Meanwhile, at CERN in Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle accelerator ever built, has thrown off a particle.  The problem is that the LHC is a contained environment that nothing should escape.

The Gates by John Connolly

The Gates - Eleven year-old Samuel Johnson witnesses his neighbors, the Abernathys, and another couple conducting a seance in their basement.  During the seance, all four of the adults are sucked into a bluish portal and come back changed.  Samuel recognizes that evil has befallen the neighborhood, but nobody will listen to him except his friends.  As Mrs. Abernathy summons other monsters to kill Samuel.  However, Samuel is either able to make friends with them or fight them off.  Nurd, a demon who has been banished to the wasteland, is teleported to earth separately from the demons who have taken over the Abernathy's bodies.  Meanwhile, at CERN in Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle accelerator ever built, has thrown off a particle.  The problem is that the LHC is a contained environment that nothing should escape.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker: A Novel - Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave.  Because of her sewing skills, she was able to buy her and her son's freedom.  As her reputation grew, she became the dressmaker for many of Washington, DC's elite.  This included Mrs. Jefferson Davis and Mrs. Robert E. Lee.  After Mrs. Lincoln chose her to make her First Lady gowns, Elizabeth not only became her modiste, but also her confidante and friend.

This novel is written from Elizabeth's point of view and covers the period from right before President Lincoln took office, through his assassination and Mrs. Lincoln's trials following her departure from the White House, to the period when Elizabeth wrote her memoirs and the aftermath that followed.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker: A Novel - Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave.  Because of her sewing skills, she was able to buy her and her son's freedom.  As her reputation grew, she became the dressmaker for many of Washington, DC's elite.  This included Mrs. Jefferson Davis and Mrs. Robert E. Lee.  After Mrs. Lincoln chose her to make her First Lady gowns, Elizabeth not only became her modiste, but also her confidante and friend.

This novel is written from Elizabeth's point of view and covers the period from right before President Lincoln took office, through his assassination and Mrs. Lincoln's trials following her departure from the White House, to the period when Elizabeth wrote her memoirs and the aftermath that followed.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep: A Novel - King's boy from The Shining, Danny Torrance, is now a middle aged man fighting alcoholism.  As an orderly at a hospice in a small New Hampshire town, his Shining helps residents pass when their time comes.

In a nearby town, Lucy and David Stone have a little girl, Abra, who has displayed paranormal talents. As she grows older, she learns how to control her Shining so as not to worry her parents. She also has connected to Dan with her talent. When she realizes that she has connected to a group of people who torture and kill children like her to gain their essence, she reaches out to Dan to help her.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep: A Novel - King's boy from The Shining, Danny Torrance, is now a middle aged man fighting alcoholism.  As an orderly at a hospice in a small New Hampshire town, his Shining helps residents pass when their time comes.

In a nearby town, Lucy and David Stone have a little girl, Abra, who has displayed paranormal talents. As she grows older, she learns how to control her Shining so as not to worry her parents. She also has connected to Dan with her talent. When she realizes that she has connected to a group of people who torture and kill children like her to gain their essence, she reaches out to Dan to help her.

Bad Men by John Connolly

Bad Men: A Thriller - Sanctuary, an island off the coast of Maine, has a violent past.  Joe Dupree, the island's resident policeman, also knows its history and secrets.  Marianne has brought her son to the island, hoping that her ex-husband, Moloch, and his friends will not be able to find her.  Moloch, dreams of the island's history, and knows that somehow he is connected to the history.  When Moloch's friends break him out of jail, they hunt down Marianne's friends and relatives to find her.

Charlie Parker has a cameo role in the story, but otherwise is not involved in the plot.

Bad Men by John Connolly

Bad Men: A Thriller - Sanctuary, an island off the coast of Maine, has a violent past.  Joe Dupree, the island's resident policeman, also knows its history and secrets.  Marianne has brought her son to the island, hoping that her ex-husband, Moloch, and his friends will not be able to find her.  Moloch, dreams of the island's history, and knows that somehow he is connected to the history.  When Moloch's friends break him out of jail, they hunt down Marianne's friends and relatives to find her.

Charlie Parker has a cameo role in the story, but otherwise is not involved in the plot.

Hotshot by Julie Garwood

Hotshot - Finn MacBain (14) rescued Peyton Lockhart (6) when she fell into a pool.  Every year since then, she thanked him on her birthday.  She also followed his swimming career as well as his career with the FBI.  Because of his many accomplishments, she called him Hotshot.

Peyton attended a culinary school in France.  When she came home, she accepted a position at a food magazine.  However, from the first day she met her boss, she realized that her job description included accepting sexual harassment.  When she quit, the harassment did not.

As Peyton and her sisters delve into reviving the resort their uncle gave to them, their problems multiply as they deal with Peyton's ex-boss and other developers wanting to take over the resort.

Hotshot by Julie Garwood

Hotshot - Finn MacBain (14) rescued Peyton Lockhart (6) when she fell into a pool.  Every year since then, she thanked him on her birthday.  She also followed his swimming career as well as his career with the FBI.  Because of his many accomplishments, she called him Hotshot.

Peyton attended a culinary school in France.  When she came home, she accepted a position at a food magazine.  However, from the first day she met her boss, she realized that her job description included accepting sexual harassment.  When she quit, the harassment did not.

As Peyton and her sisters delve into reviving the resort their uncle gave to them, their problems multiply as they deal with Peyton's ex-boss and other developers wanting to take over the resort.

Blind Justice by Anne Perry

Blind Justice: A William Monk Novel - Hester Monk began an investigation into the collections of a church in London.  Because of this, the pastor, Abel Taft, is brought to trial.  Newly appointed judge, Oliver Rathbone, presides over the trial.  When it appears as if Taft will be acquitted, Rathbone acts in a way that jeopardizes the trial and his career.

Blind Justice by Anne Perry

Blind Justice: A William Monk Novel - Hester Monk began an investigation into the collections of a church in London.  Because of this, the pastor, Abel Taft, is brought to trial.  Newly appointed judge, Oliver Rathbone, presides over the trial.  When it appears as if Taft will be acquitted, Rathbone acts in a way that jeopardizes the trial and his career.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things - David's mother died.  His father remarried and is now expecting another child with his new wife.  Because David is an avid reader, his step-mother has put him her uncle's bedroom who was also a reader and left behind several books when he disappeared as a child.  David hears the books whispering as well as his mother's voice.  Following her voice one day, David disappears into a wormhole to another world.  To get back to his own world, David needs to ask the king to help him.  As he travels to the king, David encounters several figures from fairy tales and nightmares.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things - David's mother died.  His father remarried and is now expecting another child with his new wife.  Because David is an avid reader, his step-mother has put him her uncle's bedroom who was also a reader and left behind several books when he disappeared as a child.  David hears the books whispering as well as his mother's voice.  Following her voice one day, David disappears into a wormhole to another world.  To get back to his own world, David needs to ask the king to help him.  As he travels to the king, David encounters several figures from fairy tales and nightmares.

The English Girl by Daniel Silva

The English Girl: A Novel (Gabriel Allon) - Madeline Hart is on vacation with friends in Corsica.  While there she is kidnapped by an unknown party.  Jonathan Lancaster, Prime Minister of Britain asks Graham Seymour of MI5 to find her.  Seymour contacts Ari Shamron, who recruits Gabriel Allon.  Allon, remembering the anguish he and his wife went through when she was kidnapped agrees to find Madeline. On Corsica, he recruits Christopher Keller who tried to kill him in The English Assassin.

As Allon and Keller are looking for Madeline, the Prime Minister receives a ransom note "You have seven days, or the girl dies..."  Allon finds the place that Madeline had been kept, but not the girl herself. The actual ransom demand comes near the end of the seven days and Lancaster pays.  However, the girl is not returned.  Allon realizing that there is more to the kidnapping than the request for money, gains the okay to investigate using The Office's resources.

The English Girl by Daniel Silva

The English Girl: A Novel (Gabriel Allon) - Madeline Hart is on vacation with friends in Corsica.  While there she is kidnapped by an unknown party.  Jonathan Lancaster, Prime Minister of Britain asks Graham Seymour of MI5 to find her.  Seymour contacts Ari Shamron, who recruits Gabriel Allon.  Allon, remembering the anguish he and his wife went through when she was kidnapped agrees to find Madeline. On Corsica, he recruits Christopher Keller who tried to kill him in The English Assassin.

As Allon and Keller are looking for Madeline, the Prime Minister receives a ransom note "You have seven days, or the girl dies..."  Allon finds the place that Madeline had been kept, but not the girl herself. The actual ransom demand comes near the end of the seven days and Lancaster pays.  However, the girl is not returned.  Allon realizing that there is more to the kidnapping than the request for money, gains the okay to investigate using The Office's resources.