10 Mysteriously Delicious Books that Turned into Movies

There's nothing like a good book that ends well. Good books wait until the end to tell all. For me, these books and movies delivered a satisfying final punch that I did not expect. Read these books first, then, watch the movie.

John Grisham's The Firm: Electrifying movie starring Tom Cruise. A young lawyer just finishing law school joins a corrupt law firm. When he realizes the corruption will affect him, he decides to do something about it. He risks everything, his life, wife and livelihood for honor.

Harlen Coben's Tell No One: A wonderful page turner adapted and set in France. The protagonist is confused when he sees his wife on a video. She's dead. What is happening? The movie is in subtitles so you'll need to watch carefully; it's a fast moving film.

P D James' Children of Men: Clive Owens stars in this apocalyptic thriller. No children have been born for years. The world is evil and haunting. Then a woman finds out she is pregnant. How in this world will she keep her baby safe? It's a thrill a minute.

Stephen King's Shawshank Redemption: Many people wouldn't associate Stephen King with this clever film. Tim Robbins plays a murderer who finds a way to adapt to prison life. He's not your average inmate. A smart man among thugs can plan an interesting twist of events. This story was called Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and was originally published in Different Seasons.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes: The best detective fiction stories have been made into TV series and now Rob Lowes becomes the clever detective Sherlock Holmes on screen. Read the stories- all of them. Every story is different and well worth your time.

Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent: Harrison Ford is a great protagonist in this movie. His facial expressions are part of what keeps us guessing. Is he guilty or not? It's intense getting to the truth.

Robert Ludlum's Bourne Identity: Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon, has lost his memory and he's forgotten his name. All he remembers is doing something awful. What kind of man is he? By the time he figures out who he is, he is on the run. Skills he didn't know he had bring about new questions, is he the bad guy or good guy? In the book, we can only see what Bourne sees.

John Grisham's Runaway Jury: A battle of the wits, Gene Hackman is hired as the jury consultant. While he guarantees a slam dunk acquittal, a member of the jury, played by John Cusack, has other plans. Also stars Dustin Hoffman. Clever twists and turns.

Bernard The Reader: Kate Winslet plays a woman with a deep and shameful secret who is determined to go to her grave with it. No one would ever know, except one young man. He loved her once and figures it out. He keeps the secret for years. Human failures help us gain strength from others.

Ian McEwan's Atonement : A very slow moving movie reflects the author McEwan's style. Something happened one weekend to ruin the life of a young man. A young girl saw something she shouldn't have seen and now he will pay for the rest of his life. What did she see? Was it the truth?