The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky

   Written in 1864, this novel is the first and strangest of Dostoevsky's masterpieces - and the source of those that followed. Violating literary conventions in ways never before attempted, this classic tells of a mid-19th-century Russian official's breakaway from society and descent "underground". The painfully awkward civil servant, Mr. Golyadkin, encounters a man who is his double in every way...

The Gambler brilliantly captures the strangely powerful compulsion to bet that Dostoevsky, himself a compulsive gambler, knew so well. The hero rides an emotional roller coaster between exhilaration and despair, and secondary characters such as the Grandmother, who throws much of her fortune away at the gaming tables, are unforgettable.

Tell No One -- Harlan Coben

Winesburg,OhioRegarded as one of the finest American novels of the 20th century, this remarkable collection of short stories delivers a series of artful and poignant character sketches through the narrative voice of George Willard, the town reporter of Winesburg, Ohio. While each character finds definition through their role in the community, we witness the individual struggles each faces trying to reconcile their secret life within. Although the stories sometimes seem unrelated there is a unifying theme; the profound lesson that unhappy folks are often trapped by themselves

Sita And the Forest Bandits