Books like Playthings by Neil D'Silva

Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter, shoots her husband Gabriel and then falls silent, becoming a media sensation. In North London’s Grove secure unit, psychotherapist Theo Faber devotes himself to uncovering why she became the Silent Patient and his own true motives.

In the unforgettable Le Cirque des Rêves, two young magicians, Celia and Marco, are locked in a nocturnal duel of wonder and will—an impossible game where love and magic collide on a stage of breathtaking spectacle.

After a tragic gunshot wound, former chief detective Carl Mørck is reassigned to cold‑case work, where he is drawn into a five‑year investigation of a missing Danish politician.

They were four perfect little children. Alex had taught them well. They helped with the house, set the table for meals, and went straight upstairs after dinner to do their homework. They did as they were told -- that is, as Alex told. Sharon didn't miss the glances that passed between her husband and the foster children. From the day they arrived, they had looked up to Alex., worshipped him. Why, it even seemed they were beginning to act like Alex -- right down to the icy sarcasm, the terrifying smile, the evil gleam in their eyes when they looked at her. Oh yes, they'd do anything to please Alex. Anything at all...

Such a charming little girl… The bodies were found, hideously mutilated, in a peaceful Irish wood. A banshee’s wail struck terror into the hearts of all who heard it, signaling yet another horrible death. Demonic forces, dormant for centuries, prowled the countryside. And it all began with little Troy Quinian’s imaginary playmates, who gave her a pretty ring with a strange green stone, and who fulfilled her every wish. Only Troy’s grandfather understood the devastating power of Ireland’s ancient legends and the evil that lay concealed beneath the fairy tale surface, waiting for an innocent child through whom its fateful power could be unleashed. Waiting for a child like Troy…

"Whatever the catchphrase of the moment - being in the grove or the zone, feeling the flow, jamming - we all intuitively know and hunger for a state of optimal creative capacity.". "In Deep Play, Diane Ackerman argues eloquently that a wide range of experiences are in fact only aspects of one single kind, the state of transcendence she calls deep play. She explores the nature of deep play in an array of activities, from the exotic to the domestic, from the artistic and the athletic to the spiritual. She writes of the qualities of time, space, and spirit that distinguish deep-play endeavors from the rest of our lives.". "Diane Ackerman shows us that understanding deep play, and some of the ways it is attained, is understanding how lives filled with joy, creativity, and self-fulfillment are sustained. She has written a book that will awaken us all to opportunities in our own lives for deeper and more rewarding play."--BOOK JACKET.