Agrigento, Sicily, 1883. With the orsine destroyed, Cairndale lies in ruins, and Marlowe has vanished. His only hope of rescue lies in a fabled second orsine --- long-hidden, thought lost --- which might not even exist. But when a body is discovered in the shadow of Cairndale, a body wreathed in the corrupted dust of the drughr, Charlie and the Talents realize there is even more at stake than they'd feared. For a new drughr has arisen, ferocious, horned, seemingly able to move in their world at will --- and it is not alone. A malevolent figure, known only as the Abbess, desires the dust for her own ends. And deep in the world of the dead, a terrible evil stirs --- an evil that the corrupted dust just might hold the secret to reviving or destroying forever.
Tamar Glass fled an abusive mother when she was 18 to find a better life elsewhere. She has lived in freedom from Ruth for decades until one night she wakes to find her now-elderly mother standing over her bed, disoriented and confused. When Tamar reluctantly takes in her mother, strange events start happening inside her home. Tamar learns that Ruth has been kicked out of her assisted living home, and other facilities refuse to house her and endanger their own residents. Tamar has spent years suppressing her childhood trauma, but it comes rushing back with each strange event in her home. As Tamar copes with their disturbing past, which her mother stubbornly refuses to admit to, she can’t shake the feeling that there’s something worse than her mother lurking in the shadows.
Alpine skiing G.O.A.T. Claudine Potts and her daughter, Wylie, have been bred for gold medal glory. They’re skiing their way to fame, but this gilded future is cut short when a fall forces Claudine’s retirement and Wylie’s debilitating anxiety sends her off the slopes. With the collapse of their ski careers, their relationship falters, and now it’s been years since Wylie and Claudine have even spoken. They live on opposite coasts, pursuing different passions, until a chance opportunity to pair up in a European fitness competition drives them back together. Can this duo survive snow-buried regrets and family secrets and have the happy reunion they’re hoping for?
On the run from his shady past, Lynch has just arrived in London, still looking over his shoulder to make sure he isn't being followed. He runs into a young woman named Bobbie, who mistakes him for her brother, Heydon Pierce, who disappeared five years ago without a trace. At Bobbie's suggestion, Lynch goes to the Pierce family home, posing as Heydon to try and con some money out of them. Far from tricking them, his subterfuge is instantly discovered. He strikes the devil's bargain with them --- their silence for his cooperation in finding out what really happened to Heydon. But Lynch's investigation goes too deep and uncovers the fact that Heydon Pierce was tangled up with some dangerous and powerful people in London. Everyone has their own motives to keep Heydon well buried in the past.
Claudia Lin --- mystery novel superfan and, until recently, clichéd underemployed English major --- has scored her dream job: co-running Veracity, a dating detective agency for chronically online New Yorkers who want to know if their prospective partners are telling the truth. Unfortunately, along the way, she and her colleagues have uncovered a far-reaching AI conspiracy. And the corporate matchmakers may be resorting to murder to protect their secrets. In the wake of a client’s sudden death, Claudia convinces his ex, an industry insider, to turn on his employer and feed the verifiers information about what the powerful dating platforms are really up to. But even as Claudia starts to get a feel for this new genre, she fears that her beloved older brother is unwittingly being drawn into the matchmakers’ deadly web.
THE VOYAGE HOME follows the young Ritsa and the unpredictable Cassandra on their perilous return journey to Mycenae. Cassandra has acquired the powers of prophecy from the kiss of Apollo, but the very same god has taken away the people’s belief in her abilities. Though she warns of the carnage that awaits the Greek warrior king Agamemnon --- who numbs himself with alcohol on the storm-plagued trip home --- her shipmates disregard her. While Cassandra’s prophecies fall on deaf ears, Ritsa instead remains focused on surviving once they make land. When a mysterious young girl begins to shadow them, and Agamemnon’s cruelty takes a new turn, Ritsa must find a safe place for Cassandra, whose mood alternates between cruelty and frenzy. But it’s the ongoing ire between Queen Clytemnestra and Agamemnon that could prove fatal for everyone.
The stupendous publication of Edna Ferber's GIANT in 1952 set off a storm of protest over the novel's portrayal of Texas manners, money and mores, with oil-rich Texans threatening to shoot, lynch or ban Ferber from ever entering the state again. In GIANT LOVE, Julie Gilbert writes of the internationally bestselling Ferber, one of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th century --- her evolution from mid-west maverick girl-reporter to Pulitzer Prize-winning, beloved American novelist, from her want-to-be actress days to becoming Broadway's acclaimed prize-winning playwright whose collaborators were, along with Ferber herself, the most successful playwrights of their time. Here is the making of an American classic novel and the film that followed in its wake.
Thirty years ago, musicians Emilia Oliveras and Paul Winstead were married in Puerto Rico. Forty-eight hours later, Paul vanished from their honeymoon cruise, leaving Emilia devastated --- and the prime suspect in his disappearance. So she ran for her life, leaving behind her love, her dreams and her identity. Today, “Emily Oliver” is a divorced music teacher and mother of two daughters who know nothing about her past: Gracie, a talented attorney who excels in the courtroom but grapples with personal relationships, and Meg, a gifted concert pianist who wrestles with her ambition and purpose. When a cryptic caller claims the unthinkable --- that Paul is alive --- Emily returns to Puerto Rico in search of the truth. What she doesn’t know is that her daughters aren’t far behind. Gracie and Meg wonder how much of their lives have been a lie.
On a December night in 1978, Courtney Lund O’Neil’s mother, teenager Kim Byers, saw her friend, Rob Piest, alive for the last time. At the end of his shift at the pharmacy where they both worked, 15-year-old Rob went outside to speak to a contractor named John Wayne Gacy about a possible job. That night, Rob became Gacy’s final victim; his body was later found in the Des Plaines River. Kim’s testimony --- along with a receipt belonging to her found in Gacy’s house, proving that Rob had been there --- would be pivotal in convicting the serial killer who assaulted and killed over 30 young men and boys. Though she grew up far from Des Plaines, Courtney has lived in the shadow of that nightmare, keenly aware of its impact on her mother. In search of deeper understanding and closure, Courtney and Kim travel back to Illinois.
One year after a devastating hurricane, bride-to-be Ruth Bancroft is marrying her perfect groom in a quaint fishing village on the Gulf Coast. The weekend is carefully curated, with the displays of pomp and social media magic meant to promote an area still struggling to rebuild as well as bring Ruth’s estranged family back together. Yet as good intentions often go, this road to wed is hell and paved in complications. With tensions rising between the family and the bridal party, long-buried secrets come to light, and accusations start flying. Things officially spiral out of control when the oceanfront rehearsal dinner is rocked by a series of gunshots, and a high-profile guest goes missing. As the investigation gets underway, it turns out that everyone has something to hide.
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Coming Soon
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May's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of "The Better Sister" on Prime Video, "Dept. Q" and "Forever" on Netflix, and "Miss Austen" on PBS "Masterpiece"; the season premieres of Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers," Max's "And Just Like That..." and AMC's "The Walking Dead: Dead City"; the series finales of "The Handmaid's Tale" on Hulu and "The Last Anniversary" on Sundance Now and AMC+; the season finales of CBS's "Tracker" and "Watson," as well as ABC's "Will Trent"; the films Juliet & Romeo and Fear Street: Prom Queen; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Captain America: Brave New World, Mickey 17 and Being Maria.