Fayetteville Free Library Reading Room

American Gangster
*Academy Award Nominated Film
Starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe
Rated R

Drama

Director Ridley Scott spins this yarn concerning a Harlem drug kingpin (Denzel Washington) who smuggles heroin into the country by hiding it in the bodies of U.S. soldiers killed during battle in Vietnam. There was a time when no one noticed reserved driver Frank Lucas, but when the criminal kingpin he was charged with transporting through the city streets suddenly dies, Lucas seizes the opportunity to build his own criminal empire. When innovative businessman Lukas attempts to go semi-legit by becoming one of the Manhattan borough’s biggest civil supporters, however, street-savvy outcast cop Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) begins to sense a sizable shift in the hierarchy of the drug underworld. But Roberts is one of the few honest detectives operating within a corrupt system, and as he sets out to investigate the case, crooked detective Trupo (Josh Brolin) does everything in his power to compromise the integrity of his idealistic counterpart. Upon clearing all of the usual Mafia-connected suspects, Roberts begins to believe that a previously unknown black power player has come out of the woodwork to dominate the local drug trade. While Roberts and Lucas may be operating on opposite sides of the law, the one thing that both men have in common is a strict code of ethics that separates them from their opportunistic colleagues. Now, as a confrontation between the two men becomes inevitable and the fate of each becomes inexorably tied to the other, it gradually becomes apparent that only one of them will emerge from the conflict victorious.

Released on February 19, 2008

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Michael Clayton
*Academy Award Nominated Film
Starring George Clooney
Rated R

Drama/Suspense

Michael Clayton (Clooney) handles all of the dirty work for a major New York law firm: Arranging top-flight legal services and skirting through loopholes for ethically questionable clients. But when a fellow “fixer” decides to turn on the very firm they were hired to clean up for, Clayton finds himself at the center of a conspiratorial maelstrom. Once an ambitious D.A., Clayton is now a shell of his former dynamic self, thanks to a divorce, an unfortunate business venture, and astronomical debt. Though he longs to leave the cutthroat, ethically dubious world of corporate law behind, Clayton’s poor financial situation and devotion to firm head Marty Bach leave him little choice but to remain on the job and tough it out. Meanwhile, litigator Karen Crowder finds her entire company’s future hinging on the outcome of a multi-billion dollar settlement overseen by Clayton’s friend, star lawyer Arther Edens. When Edens snaps and decides to blow the whistle on the questionable case, sabotaging the defense, Clayton must decide between his loyalty and his conscience.

Released on February 19, 2008

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Rendition
Starring Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal
Rated R

Drama/Suspense

This movie tells a tale of a Middle East CIA operative who begins to have doubts about his latest assignment after witnessing the interrogation of a suspected suicide bomber by secret police. When Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi mysteriously vanishes on a routine flight from South Africa to Washington, his wife Isabella embarks on a frantic international search for her missing husband. At the same time, a CIA analyst arrives at a detention facility outside of United States. As the interrogation of El-Ibrahimi gets underway, the CIA analyst is profoundly shaken by the unorthodox methods used by the man’s captors, and quickly begins to reevaluate his assignment.

Released on February 19, 2008

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Lady Killer
By: Lisa Scottoline

Suspense Fiction

Mary DiNunzio is a trademark Lisa Scottoline heroine—she’s strong, she’s smart, and she’s got plenty of attitude. In recent years, she’s become a big-time business-getter at Rosato & Associates, but the last person she expects to walk into her office one morning—in mile-high stilettos—is super sexy Trish Gambone, her high school rival. Back then, while Mary was becoming the straight-A president of the Latin Club and Most Likely to Achieve Sainthood, Trish was the head Mean Girl, who flunked religion and excelled at smoking in the bathroom.

As it turns out, however, Trish’s life has taken a horrifying turn. She’s terrified of her live-in boyfriend, who’s an abusive, gun-toting drug dealer for the South Philly mob. There’s only one problem—Mary remembers the guy from high school too. Unbeknownst to Trish, Mary had a major crush on him. Then Trish vanishes, a dead body turns up in an alley, and Mary is plunged into a nightmare, one that threatens her job, her family, and even her life. She goes on a one-woman crusade to unmask the killer, and on the way, finds new love in a very unexpected place.

Released on February 19, 2008

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Strangers in Death
By: J.D. Robb

Mystery Fiction

Technology may be different in 2060 New York, yet the city is still a place of many cultures and great divides. And as ever, some murders receive more attention than others - especially those in which the victim is a prominent businessman, found in his Park Avenue apartment, tied to the bed - and strangled - with cords of black velvet.

It doesn’t surprise Lieutenant Eve Dallas that Thomas Anders’s scandalous death is a source of titillation and speculation for the public - and humiliation for his family. While everyone else in the city is talking about it, those close to Anders aren’t so anxious to do so. Fortunately, because Dallas’s billionaire husband, Roarke, happens to own the prime real estate where Anders’s sporting-goods firm was headquartered, she has some help with access. Before long, she’s knocking on doors - or barging through them - to look for the answers she needs. It’s up to Dallas to solve a sensational case where all involved guard secrets from one another - and strangers may be connected in unexpected, and deadly, ways.

Released on February 19, 2008

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