A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

A detective, who is deeply grieving over the tragic loss of his wife and daughter, becomes determined to find the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. Ambassador, no matter what the cost.

Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of young Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray, of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.

As they approach the end of childhood, three elementary school kids must brave the woods on Halloween to face a monster born from their nightmares.

Life changed for Alejandro Reis – Alex – in just a few brief moments when he discovers that he is not an American citizen. His parents brought him across the Mexican border when he was just months old. Flora Hendricks, on the other hand is born in Missouri. She decides to run away from home. Alex finds himself deported to Mexico On a seeming parallel track, Flora is arrested for shoplifting. And put in the same deportation bus with Alex. Once on Mexican soil Alex and Flora find out quickly that they are way out of their depth. They learn quickly that Tijuana and most of the other border towns are ultra violent places that are overrun by dangerous, warring criminal factions.

A panicked young woman and her two best friends fly to Mexico to delete a ranting email she sent to her new boyfriend. On arrival, they run into her former beau, who soon gets caught up in their frantic scheme.

Married couple, Ethan and Zeena, are in need an extra hand around the house due to Zeena’s debilitated body and constant illness. The young woman who joins them is a beautiful, spirited person. She and Ethan fall in love much to the dismay of Zeena.

A woman escapes from the man who is about to rape her, but leaves her purse behind. Afraid that her attacker might come after her, she goes to the police, but with no proof of the incident, they can do nothing. In fact, the man does use the information in her bag and comes to her apartment with the intent of rape, but she sprays him in the face with insect repellent, and then holds him captive. She is then faced with deciding whether to go to the police who might not believe her and release him, or to kill him.

Kozo Nakase attends meetings for single widowers looking to remarry. He meets Sayoko Takeuchi and eventually marries her. Not longer after their marriage, Kozo Nakase suddenly collapses and dies. Kozo Nakase leaves everything to Sayako. The rest of his family are left out of his will including his daughter Tomomi. Tomomi hires a private investigator, Honda, to find out more about Sayoko.

After losing his brick laying job, Christian begins to work at a supermarket.

A film director and her muse who was a student activist in the 1970s, a waitress who keeps changing jobs, an actor and an actress, all live loosely connected to each other by almost invisible threads. The narrative sheds its skin several times to reveal layer upon layer of the complexities that make up the characters’ lives.

A fisherman’s son is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival, the university’s highest ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, dies and the young student becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite.