Checkmate

An ornate, jeweled chess set given to Charlemagne by the Moors, holds a code which would yield incredible power. Many have schemed to own it. The set is broken up during the French Revolution and a young novice risks her life to guard it. Alternating with her story are the present-day efforts of Catherine, a disgraced accountant, and a Russian chess master to gather the set and solve its mystery. "The Eight" is by Katherine Neville/

Meet Jack Ryan

Tom Clancy's greatest creation is the character of Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst who is thrust into harrowing situations and uses his common sense and personal bravery to survive. In "Debt of Honor", malcontents in Japan plot to destroy the economy of the United States. The fiery conclusion is frighteninly close to our September 11th experience and the book was written several years before those horrible events.

"Prey" by Michael Crichton

A swarm of lethal microscopic robots escape into the Nevada desert and attack everything in its path. It's up to Jack Foreman, who unwitingly programmed the robots, to deprogram them before they destroy the world.

Jack the Ripper meets Ebenezer Scrooge

Winifred Rudge, is in London to research a novel linking Jack the Ripper to the house in Hampstead where her own great-great-grandfather rumored to be the model for Ebenezer Scrooge lived. But Winnie's cousin, John Comestor, the latest resident of the family house has gone missing and something is making an infernal racket inside the chimney. As wormen are scared away from opening the chimney, Winnie tries to figure out the secret that ties her family history together in Lost by Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked.

The fall of Troy, a giant tsunami and more!

"Trojan Odyssey" by Clive Cussler is an old-fashioned adventure story featuring Dirk Pitt, naval explorer and scientist. A giant tsunami is racing toward a luxury resort and Dirk races to save his own children and the rest of the tourists. The tsunami is also dredging up amazing artifacts which may point to some unknown history around the ancient city of Troy.

A tragic story told by an angel

“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973 … It was still back when people believed things like that didn’t happen…My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father once talked to him about fertilizer.” Susie tells her sad story, observes her sorrowing family and explores heaven in The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

How much can you love a sister?

13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald is going to sue her own parents. Why? To stop them from using her as "spare parts" for her older sister, Kate, who suffers from leukemia. After years of having her bone marrow and blood used to keep Kate alive, Kate's illness requires a kidney transplant and Anna has had enough. She loves her sister but she has her own life to live. Are her parents asking too much? The courts will decide. My Sister's Keeper is by Jodi Picoult.

"Where the Heart Is" by Billie Letts

Novalee's sevens are definitely not lucky. She's 17, seven months pregnant, 37 pounds overweight -- and now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, holding just $7.77 in change. Her no-good boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens has left her with empty pockets in a strange town. But Novalee is about to discover some luck in Sequoyah Oklahoma.

Tattoo stories

Ray Bradbury wrote "The Illustrated Man" 50 years ago, long before tattos became so common and popular (a la Miami Ink). In his book, a man's body is covered with 18 elaborate tatoos. Each tattoo tells a strange or fanciful story.

Lost in the Woods!

Trisha steps off the hiking trail for a minute and when she returns, her brother and mother are gone. She attempts a shortcut to catch up and becomes lost in the Maine woods. With her trusty radio turned to the Red Sox game, she uses the great relief pitcher Tom Gordon as inspiration as she faces the dangers of the forest...insect bites, cold, rain, and wild animals. In the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded against her, can Trisha summon the courage of Tom Gordon to fight her way out of danger? "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" is by Stephen King.