Urban

In a busy maternity ward, first-time father Dan meets Jada, a dad welcoming his fifth — no, sixth? — child into the world. Dan and Jada come from very different places: both called Glasgow. Dan is a successful TV writer with a townhouse in the West End and a shiny Tesla ready to drive his wife and baby home. Jada is a hustling, small-time criminal who is already planning how to separate Dan from some of the luxuries Jada has never been able to enjoy in his tiny flat in a Brutalist sixties council block. Both men find that the birth of their sons has fired their ambitions.

On this journey through the labyrinthine streets and hidden corners of one of the world's most fascinating cities, everybody is searching for something, and maybe searching in the wrong places. Elements of the fantastical and the surreal abound, as they tend to do in the early predawn hours of the morning, yet the settings, the human stories, and each character's search are all as real as can be.

When teenagers Jamal Deng and Aisha Saforo are shot dead on the edge of a notorious estate, DS Chris Ashcroft knows why he’s been assigned the case—and he doesn’t like it one bit. Refusing to write the murders off as gang violence, Ashcroft insists on digging deeper—something doesn’t add up.

Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the ‘Italian Galleon’ of an East London comprehensive are ones she’d rather forget. So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?

Charles Dickens ist bis heute einer der meistgelesenen Autoren Englands und seine famose Weihnachtsgeschichte läuft Jahr für Jahr in der xten Verfilmungsvariante pünktlich zum Geburtstag von Jesus plus minus 1-3 Tage beim Fernsehsender freier Wahl in den meisten bekannten Sprachregionen dieses Planeten.

Pericles Drakos has lived in the exquisite Circle Building for all of his seventy-five years. From its lofty windows, he has seen his little corner of Istanbul shift and transform. But as the area has become increasingly gentrified, Pericles has retreated into its shadowy corners. And when the pandemic hits, his isolation deepens.

Panicked by his own mortality, despondent over his many failings as a writer and a man, Dunne leaves his wife and their three-year old child for the solitude of a crummy apartment off the Vegas Strip. There he plans to write an account of the city as he finds it; the book he ends up writing is "a fiction which recalls time both real and imagined."

London is gripped by terror as a mastermind recreates history's most gruesome murders—without ever dirtying his hands. Paramedic Tom Freedman recruits his killers from the shadows of the internet, manipulating the broken and desperate to carry out his deadly vision. Emotionally damaged criminologist Ethan Marshall is dragged into the case, tasked with stopping a predator who thrives on control and chaos. When Tom's twisted game turns personal, Ethan receives chilling taunts and watches as the killer tightens his grip, pulling him further into the nightmare.

Some would say the Market is the last authentic part of the city centre. This northern city has reinvented itself as a business and financial centre, bristling with designer shops and bars. A cosmopolitan, twenty-four hour city. Yet slap bang in the centre the Victorian City Market remains what it has always been; a place where you can get anything and see anything - a place teeming with life. The market is the real face of the city - mucky, multicultural and magnificent.

Kash owes a lot of money. His restaurant, specialising in exotic meats and catering to New York’s elite, was doing well. Then business dried up, and now Boris the loan shark wants his investment back. But Kash has a plan. There’s a rumour of a dinner club, hosted in turns by billionaires. Lots of ego, and lots of money. If Kash can get the gig, it would pay off Boris and then some. He will need to offer something new, something that five of the richest men on the planet will have never tasted before. Something entirely unprecedented …

Ever since the accident that changed Sophie’s life, she sees numbers everywhere. From the leaves on a tree to the volume of a puddle, everything has its number. And every person she meets? Their number is counting down the number of days they have left. Despite being lonely, Sophie has decided she’s not dating anyone with a number smaller than 20,000 days: 55 years together should be plenty. Which is fine, until Adam—her first love and most definitely the one that got away—suddenly reappears. And his number? Just 24 days…

Jermaine "JD" Walker, a young man from the gritty streets of Philadelphia, grapples with the harsh realities of gang violence that permeated his childhood. Raised by a hardworking single mother, he finds solace and purpose in the local boxing gym, a haven that provides an escape from the violence that surrounds him. Tragedy strikes from gang-related violence. This profound loss fuels a deep-seated rage within Jermaine, solidifying his resolve to never resort to guns and instead dedicate himself to honing his fighting skills.

It’s 1897, and a new fashion for thin threatens to end the career of proudly fat vaudeville performer Evelyn Cross. Enter Thomas Gallier, the man behind the new palace of entertainment promising to be the apex of New York City’s theatrical scene. He’s in search of a star for his vaudeville spectacular, and when he hears Evelyn sing, he knows exactly who he needs to grace his stage.

West 86th Street knows its desserts. It’s the 1970s, and poppyseed strudel, praline ice cream cake, and New York cheesecake are as integral to Manhattan’s Upper West Side as clustered pigeons, suited doormen, and greasy diners. That is, until Cato comes to town. Cato the Elder, a Roman born in 234 BCE, is credited with the earliest written recipe ever found. A recipe for . . . cheesecake. No cream cheese, no graham cracker crust, somehow savory and sweet, the recipe is enigmatic—and suddenly, it’s all anyone on West 86th Street can talk about.

Elle y a vécu dix ans, elle y revient souvent. Arpente Manhattan, trottine, émulsionne, bavarde. Elle nous livre ses adresses, on rencontre ses amis – ce peintre qu'elle connut doutant, tourmenté, devenu « grand », ce vieux saxophoniste qui a accompagné Judy Garland et qui joue dans un square pour quelques dollars, une vieille dame indigne… et tant d'autres. C'est drôle, tendre, c'est Katherine dans son New York intime. New York : nerf à vif qui stimule son écriture, et qui nous laisse entrevoir les prémices d'un roman en train de s'écrire.

André Morgan’s life is stuck in a comfortable routine—until Ayana Fénix steps in and turns everything upside down. Vibrant, mysterious, and carrying secrets of elemental magic, Ayana draws André into a world where earth, wind, fire, and water are more than just forces of nature. As the Caribana festival brings Toronto to life, André finds himself torn between the safety of the familiar and the thrill of the unknown. But when magic stirs beneath the surface and danger looms, he’ll have to decide whether to take a leap of faith.

Sandy Eden, a Vietnam survivor turned charismatic barrister, has a taste for bourbon, blues, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Yet he often wonders—for what? The answer is his elixir: live music in Austin, where he and his love, Bev, follow the soulful bass lines of his longtime friend Dude from one club to another. But whiskey and blues can’t satisfy his deeper urge to give bullies their due—an itch born in the chaos of war and sharpened by his legal battles.

Decades after the Haywoodian Menace threatened our reality and safety and freedom… In Zenith City, a new hero rises with the assistance from his uncle and best friend as they protect the city's right to be different and special, which is being challenged by a tyrannical media mogul, Dr. Katz.

The war comes to an end as one family claims the top position. With all the power and respect comes a brand-new enemy causing all kinds of problems. You can never be too comfortable in this life, one minute you're on top, and the next minute your entire world comes crashing down. A new sheriff is in town and they come bearing more drama than a little bit. Sometimes in order to get something you've never had, you have to be willing to do something you've never done before. All bets are off as the road to the kingdom takes a new turn that no one is prepared for.

Es ist schwer zu beschreiben, was man fühlt, wenn man durch einen Ort geht, den niemand mehr betritt. Wenn unter den Füßen der Boden knirscht, weil sich der Staub der Jahrzehnte dort gesammelt hat und wenn man in einen Raum tritt, in dem es so still ist, dass man die Vergangenheit fast atmen hört. Genau dieses Gefühl wollte ich einfangen – dieses Kribbeln im Nacken, diese Mischung aus Faszination, Ehrfurcht und einem ganz leisen Frösteln, das einen überkommt, wenn die Zeit plötzlich stillzustehen scheint.