Adult

Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. Competitors fight to the death to win unimaginable riches. Five years ago, a massacre killed Princess Calla Tuoleimi's parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him. Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat, and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for --- her lover or her kingdom.

The Tower of London is impenetrable, well-protected, secure, and home to the most valuable jewels on earth. But once a year, the Metropolitan Police must execute the most secret operation in their armory as they transport the Crown Jewels across London. For four years, Chief Superintendent William Warwick --- together with his second-in-command, Inspector Ross Hogan --- has been in charge of the operation. And for four years, it’s run like clockwork. But this year, everything is about to change. Because master criminal Miles Faulkner has set his heart on pulling off the most outrageous theft in history --- and with a man on the inside, the odds are in his favor. Unless Warwick and Hogan can stop him before it’s too late.

Queen Elizabeth II is looking forward to a traditional Christmas gathering with her family in Sandringham when a shocking discovery interrupts holiday plans. A severed hand has been found --- but even more unsettling, she recognizes the signet ring still attached to a finger. It belongs to a scion of the St Cyr family, her old friends from nearby Ladybridge Hall. As reporters speculate about the proximity of the crime to the Crown and the police fail to investigate a suspicious accident on her doorstep, Elizabeth quietly begins to mull over the mystery herself. Someone in the quiet county of Norfolk seems to have a secret worth killing for, and the Queen is determined to find out who and what that is --- even if that means discovering that someone in her close circle is a murderer.

On a beach in a run-down seaside town on the Yorkshire coastline, 16-year-old Joan Wilson is set on fire by three other schoolgirls. Nearly a decade after the horrifying murder, journalist Alec Z. Carelli has written the definitive account of the crime, drawn from hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research and, most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves. The result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil. But how much of the story is true?

Twenty-one-year-old Hardy “Hardly” Reed, a minimum-wage scare actor at an amusement park, notices two children sitting all alone on a bench. He checks if they’re okay and sees injuries on both of them, so he reports the incident to Child Protective Services. But the more research he does, the less he trusts that they will do anything about it. Gradually, Hardly develops investigative skills and discovers he’s smarter and more capable than he ever imagined. But he also discovers that the situation is more dangerous than he ever expected. The abusive father who has been hurting these children isn’t just a lawyer --- he also runs a violent drug-dealing operation. The mother claims she wants to escape with the kids, but Hardly isn't sure he can trust her.

When acclaimed naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles --- with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal --- are given a second chance at life. The League’s founders, Natasha and Alexxia, live by one motto: Never give up on a turtle. Ancient and unhurried, long-lived and majestic, their lineage stretches back to the time of the dinosaurs. Some live to 200 years or longer. Others spend months buried under cold winter water. Montgomery turns to these little understood yet endlessly surprising creatures to probe the eternal question: How can we make peace with our time?

Carol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging --- and sparks a flurry of speculation. What does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned him and his children all those years ago? Carol and Declan know their relationship is the talk of the town, but the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer. When Declan becomes ill, their relationship falters. His children are untrusting and cruel, and Carol is forced to leave their beloved home and move back with her parents. It seems there are secrets in Declan's past, strange rumors that were never confronted, and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance that affects them all.

From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic. In ASTOR, Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe chronicle the lives of the Astors and explore what the Astor name has come to mean in America --- offering a window onto the making of America itself.

With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season. But when Erica, Claudia and Anna --- lifelong friends who seem to have it all --- check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life's ups and downs. But Hattie can see they're also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs.

Erin hasn’t been able to set a single boundary with her charismatic but reckless college ex-boyfriend, Silas. When he asks her to bail him out of rehab --- again --- she knows she needs to cut him off. But days after he gets out, Silas turns up dead of an overdose in their hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and Erin’s world falls apart. Then a friend tells her about Ghost, a new drug that allows users to see the dead. Wanna get haunted? he asks. Grieving and desperate for closure with Silas, Erin agrees to a pill-popping “séance.” But the drug has unfathomable side effects --- and once you take it, you can never go back.