Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited.

Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.

When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.

Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece “Precious” Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She’s pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret–she can’t read.

When Michael McCann is thrown over by the woman he loves, he becomes something of a misanthrope and a miser, spending all of his spare money on collectible gold coins. Living in the same town is an affluent family with two sons: John and Tanny. Tanny’s a wild boy, whom John cannot control, and one night he breaks into McCann’s house, and steals the gold and disappears, which nearly confirms McCann’s distrust of mankind. But then, a mysterious young woman dies in the snow outside McCann’s house, and her small daughter makes her way to McCann’s house and into McCann’s life and heart. He names her Matilda, and raises her, finding companionship and a new joy in life with his adopted daughter. But the secret of Matilda’s birth may tear them apart.

A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years.

“Majo” Tonorio, a.k.a. Filly Brown, is a raw, young Los Angeles hip-hop artist who spits from the heart. When a sleazy record producer offers her a crack at rap stardom, Majo faces some daunting choices. With an incarcerated mother, a record contract could be the ticket out for her struggling family. But taking the deal means selling out her talent and the true friends who helped her to the cusp of success.

When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby drops out of medical school in order to focus on her husband’s well-being while he’s incarcerated – leading her on a journey of self-discovery in the process.

When John returns home to his father after serving time in prison, he is looking forward to starting his life afresh. However, in the local community his crime is neither forgotten nor forgiven.

The life of the gambling paradise – Las Vegas – and its dark mafia underbelly.

Bank robber Dalton Russell enters a Manhattan bank, locks the doors and takes hostages, working methodically and without haste. Detective Frazier is assigned to negotiate, but his mind is occupied with the corruption charges he is facing. With an army of police surrounding the bank, the thief, the cop and a high-profile ‘fixer’ enter high-stakes negotiations.

A hard-partying high school senior’s philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical “nice girl.”