Max is a 25-year-old freelance writer and aspiring novelist who seems well on his way to success in London’s cultural spheres. Yet by night, he finds a different kind of exhilaration as a sex worker with the pseudonym Sebastian, meeting men via an escorting platform. Max uses his experiences as Sebastian to fuel his stories and the worthy debut novel that he has been longing to write, finally seems within reach.
A young man, Stevie, awakes on a wasteland overlooking Bradford, still bleeding from a brutal attack that has left him with severe memory loss. Recent events are a total blank; his more distant memories are a blur. He slowly begins to piece together his identity: his name, his home, his family. At first it appears he returns to his former self but through a series of painful flashbacks and encounters, he comes to learn of the dark and disturbing events that led to his beating. Ashamed to learn of the person he has become – and the dangerous world he became mixed up in – Stevie realises he will have to pay. But at what price?
On the hunt for the Russian mobsters that murdered their best friend, football hooligans turned career-criminals, Mike and Eddie are led to Brazil where a major drug deal is set to take place under the cover of the World Cup. Looking to hijack the deal and gain the ultimate redemption, the pair become caught between international drug cartels, local thugs and corrupt police as they are plunged into the murky depths of the Brazilian underworld.
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
Young Humphrey is a ghost with a big problem. He and his family, the Craggyfords, have been ousted from their home and left without a place to haunt. As they search for new haunting grounds they soon discover that they are not alone. Ghosts from all over the world have been exorcised from their dwellings, with dark castles and ancient buildings being destroyed by the living, and turned into shopping centers. With time running out, Humphrey digs deep inside, and decides to help save his family and the rest of the haunting community by scaring his way to victory.
The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.
A Jewish girl in 19th century London dreams of becoming a stage actress.