Donny is a baby genius whose play for fortune is an algorithm that may allow people access to their "multiverses" --- all the planes on which their alternative life choices can be played out simultaneously --- to see how the decisions they’ve made have shaped their lives. He chooses Amy Reed to be his guinea pig. Amy’s husband, Dan, accepts a dare of his own, accompanying a seductive, award-winning photographer named Maryam on a trip to Fukushima, the Japanese city devastated by tsunami and meltdown. But when crisis hits at home, the extent of Dan’s betrayal is exposed. As Amy contemplates alternative lives, the couple must confront whether or not the distances between them in the here and now are irreconcilable.
“Time travel” --- and its hazards --- are made literal in Joyce Carol Oates’ novel, in which a recklessly idealistic girl dares to test the perimeters of her tightly controlled (future) world and is punished by being sent back in time to a region of North America --- “Wainscotia, Wisconsin”--- that existed 80 years before. Cast adrift in time in this idyllic Midwestern town, she is set upon a course of “rehabilitation” --- but cannot resist falling in love with a fellow exile and questioning the constraints of the Wainscotia world with results that are both devastating and liberating.
Shortly before World War II, Chi Chi Donatelli and Saverio Armandonada meet one summer on the Jersey shore and fall in love. Both are talented and ambitious, and both share the dream of becoming singers for the legendary orchestras of the time: Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman. They’re soon married, and it isn’t long before Chiara and Tony find that their careers are on the way up as they navigate the glamorous worlds of night clubs, radio and television. All goes well until it becomes clear that they must make a choice: Which of them will put their ambitions aside to raise a family, and which will pursue a career? And how will they cope with the impact that decision has on their lives and their marriage?
FOREVER AND A DAY is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking readers into the very beginning of James Bond’s illustrious career and the formation of his identity. The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time. One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand. It’s time for a new agent to step up. Time for a new weapon in the war against organized crime. It’s time for James Bond to earn his license to kill.
Phoebe Siegler first meets Charles Heist in a shabby trailer on the eastern edge of Los Angeles. She’s looking for her friend’s missing daughter, Arabella, and hires Heist to help. A laconic loner who keeps his pet opossum in a desk drawer, Heist intrigues the sarcastic and garrulous Phoebe. Reluctantly, he agrees to help. The unlikely pair navigate the enclaves of desert-dwelling vagabonds and find that Arabella is in serious trouble --- caught in the middle of a violent standoff that only Heist, mysteriously, can end. Phoebe’s trip to the desert was always going to be strange, but it was never supposed to be dangerous.
ALL THE LIVES WE NEVER LIVED is the story of Myshkin and his mother, Gayatri, who rebels against tradition to follow her artist’s instinct for freedom. Freedom of a different kind is in the air across India. The fight against British rule is reaching a critical turn. The Nazis have come to power in Germany. At this point of crisis, two strangers arrive in Gayatri’s town, opening up to her the vision of other possible lives. What took Myshkin’s mother from India and Dutch-held Bali in the 1930s, ripping a knife through his comfortingly familiar universe? Excavating the roots of the world in which he was abandoned, Myshkin comes to understand the connections between the anguish at home and a war‑torn universe overtaken by patriotism.
Publicly humiliated after her husband, a local councilman, is arrested for bigamy, and her subsequent divorce, Maggie Walther has isolated herself from the world. When her only friend insists that Maggie climb out of her hole, and embrace the season to get her out of her funk, Maggie decides to put up a Christmas tree and heads off to buy one. She is immediately taken by Andrew, the kind, handsome man who owns the Christmas tree lot and delivers her tree. As their friendship develops, Maggie slowly begins to trust again. Then, just when she thinks she finally has found happiness, she discovers a dark secret from Andrew’s past. Is there more to this stranger’s truth than meets the eye?
Television producer Laurie Moran is approached by Robert and Cynthia Bell, the parents of Dr. Martin Bell, who was shot dead five years ago. The Bells are sure that Martin’s disgraced and erratic wife, Kendra, carried out the murder. Determined to prove Kendra’s guilt and win custody over their grandchildren, they plead with Laurie to feature their son’s case on “Under Suspicion.” Kendra has lived under a blanket of suspicion since Martin’s death, with the tabloid media depicting her as a secretive, mentally unstable gold-digger. But once Laurie dives into the case, she learns that Martin wasn’t the picture-perfect husband, father and doctor he appeared to be and was carrying secrets of his own.
A leader has fallen, and Alex Cross joins the procession of mourners from Capitol Hill to the White House. Then a sniper's bullet strikes a target in the heart of DC. Alex Cross' wife, Bree Stone, newly elevated chief of DC detectives, must solve the case or lose her position. The Secret Service and the FBI deploy as well in the race to find the shooter. Alex is tasked by the new President to lead an investigation unprecedented in scale and scope. But is the sniper's strike only the beginning of a larger attack on the nation?
When one of the Grand Canyon's mules is found stabbed to death at the bottom of the canyon --- and its rider missing --- FBI agent Atlee Pine is called in to investigate. It soon seems clear that the lost tourist had something more clandestine than sightseeing in mind. But just as Pine begins to put together clues pointing to a terrifying plot, she's abruptly called off the case. If she disobeys direct orders by continuing to search for the missing man, it will mean the end of her career. But unless Pine keeps working the case and discovers the truth, it could spell the very end of democracy in America as we know it.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
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.