The title of this novel says it all. This story is intense! It's because of novels like this that Dean Koontz is called the master of suspense. This whole story is basically like one endless unbroken chase scene. It's quite possibly the most suspenseful novel I can remember ever reading.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

This is the incredibly riveting, tightly written, and uniquely entertaining story of a lost child named Danny and the dedicated mother, Tina Evans, who will do anything to get him back. A year has passed and still no sign of little Danny... but then a friend swears she spotted him in a stranger's car! Next, a mysterious note appears: NOT DEAD. Thus begins a mother's quest to save her kidnapped child, but little does she know of the dangers that await her in this especially gripping yarn that remains a personal favorite of mine.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

I'm fully convinced that "Return of the Native" is technically Hardy's best work. The other novel of his that I love is "Jude the Obscure." His beautiful heroine, Eustacia, is an enthralling character, free-spirited, seductive, and sensuous, with several men in love (or lust) with her--like Wildeve. Wildeve pretends to marry a girl named Thomasin, but it didn't happen. And he takes off on a tryst with Eustacia. However, even though they're fond of each other, neither of them are willing to get really serious about each other. She eventually disses Wildeve and as revenge he threatens to marry Thomasin after all, which is what Eustacia wants anyway, since she's become interested in a new guy in town, Clym. How does that end up? I guess you'll have to read the book :)

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

This is a great book, and the film is just as good, in a different way. This is one wife's struggle with domestic abuse at the hands of a drunken, insulting, violent husband. It leads to this desperate woman's disturbing scheme of retribution and murder. Powerfully chilling. In the book, Stephen King tells Delores' story from her own point-of-view, her own regional Maine dialect, her own voice. This gives the story an added realism that is most effective.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

I was absolutely mesmerized by this novel and the movie of the same name, and I've never forgotten it, never will. As far as really, really captivatingly weird storylines go, this one has to rank near the very top. This is the story of a brother and sister who were disowned by their very rich and strict parents because of their unnatural love for one another. They have four children together, but then he unexpectedly dies. As a result, she returns home and falls at her parents' feet, begging forgiveness. Her stern father beats her as punishment, which she submits to so that she will appease his wrath and get his love for her back, and get written back into the will. But the existence of her four children must be kept a secret, since her father would never accept them. This shameful incestuous secret is kept locked away up in the attic--that's where the children are kept hidden and out of sight. Their mother visits them and keeps promising that soon they'll be let out of the attic and everything will be just fine. In time, however, her love grows cold and she visits them less and less, selfishly preoccupied with her happy new lavish lifestyle and the new man in her life, while her children start to get sick. Two of them die. Their food is being poisoned. The two eldest surviving children begin to realize that their mother has been slowly, methodically, and calculatingly killing them off! Will they be her final victims, or will they escape Foxworth Hall? This immensely popular novel has sold 40 million copies! It's such an engrossing story!!

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Even if all of George Bernard Shaw's other works are some day forgotten, this play will live on down the ages as an imperishable classic of drama. This is the story of a man who takes a poor simple flower-girl and turns her into a sophisticated darling of high society. I think this story has been so popular with theatre audiences because of how its sharp wit cuts right through the artificiality of class distinctions. Shaw compels us to see beyond surfaces to recognize the human potential and worth that lies underneath.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

A desperate, penniless student named Raskolnikov kills an old woman in her apartment for her money. Before he commits the crime, he justifies his evil plan by reasoning that she is merely a dispicable, greedy, old pawnbroker and he sees no immorality in the deed, he believes the world will be better off without her. Raskolnikov gets away with it, but he then becomes consumed with feelings of guilt which won't leave him alone. This plunges him into a hell of self-persecution, madness and terror. He goes out of his way to allow himself to be interrogated by police. Eventually, he feels a compulsive need to confess his crime, as if to ease his conscience. This classic tale will show you the depths of the criminal mind, exposing the soul of a man who is not a villain but a man possessed of both good and evil just like the rest of us, but who through poverty-stricken desperation and a selfish nihilistic personal philosophy decides to act out on his darkest impulse. Ultimately he must face the consequences of his actions. A striking and memorable morality tale.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

This novel is just one step shy of being a true and great masterpiece. But it's still excellent and its near perfection makes it a compelling read. It's also a deeply moral work, although attacked upon publication as an insult to marriage and religion. No, it isn't. It's the story of a decent Christian guy named Jude who has dreams of getting educated and becoming something in life, so he teaches himself Latin. He meets and falls for a pagan girl named Sue, with whom he has nothing in common. Love works in mysterious ways. Although Thomas Hardy's writing is powerful and gripping with great storylines, his stories are ultimately tragic and convey his pessimistic view on life. But I prefer unhappy endings anyway. He's my favorite Victorian novelist.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

I'm not sure how much of this book was written by Bob Larson, but it just happens to be one of the best suspense novels I've ever read.

In this chilling story, a radio DJ named Wes Bryant gets a frightening call from a little girl who is the victim of Satanic ritual abuse at the hands of an evil and dangerous secretive cult. It's up to Wes to find her and rescue her before it's too late. This is an extremely compelling tale without a single slow or boring chapter, and I was on the edge of my seat all throughout.

The message here is one of good overcoming evil, and the fact that it's based on bits and pieces of various real incidents of cult crime makes it just that much more poignant. Great read!

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

This was Zola's first masterpiece. I think it's one of the most disturbing tales of adultery I've ever read. A woman named Therese is trapped in a dull marriage to her sickly cousin Camille. She takes his robust and sexy friend Laurent as her lover, and soon they plot Camille's death. The three of them go out on a boat for a leisure row on the river, and when they reach a secluded spot, Laurent throws Camille into the water. He drowns. Therese and Laurent overturn the boat to make it look like an accident, and they swim to shore calling for help. Their plan works. They marry. they should be happy, right? No, they aren't, because the murder and death of Camille haunts their guilty conscience until they nearly go mad. The ending to this extremely grim tale is terrifying and tragic, and morally correct. It will shake you to your very soul. There's a film adaptation of this book starring Kate Nelligan. This is one of those rare cases where the movie is even better than the novel. It's the most haunting thing I've ever seen. It was the most emotionally powerful thing I've ever, ever seen on screen. I think it made me have an anxiety attack haha.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"