Upcoming Events
Get your creativity flowing as we take on learning a new artistic hobby each month in this pop-up program for tweens, teens, and everyone in between. Program is intended for Ages 10+.
Join us for some fall painting fun!! Each tween will be painting their own hanging pumpkin sign to bring some fall-ness to their atmospheres.
This is event is for ages 8-12; registration required.
Disclaimer(s)
Library Consent Statement for Photography and Video
Programs, events, and daily happenings sponsored by Handley Regional Library System may be photographed or recorded. Attendance at any sponsored program, event or general library use constitutes the consent of all attendees and the consent of the parents or legal guardians of any minor children in attendance, to the future broadcast, publication, and other use of photography or videos at the sole direction of Handley Regional Library System.
This club is a great place to start improving your score in Scrabble!
Enjoy an early literacy program for active toddlers focused on developmental skills consisting of stories, rhymes, fingerplays, and more. Then, stay and play while meeting new community members.
Welcome to Play and Explore! This toddler Storytime event is for ages 18 months to three years designed for children who love to move. Come to hear short stories, listen to music, dance around, and hang out with other toddlers.
Disclaimer(s)
Library Consent Statement for Photography and Video
Programs, events, and daily happenings sponsored by Handley Regional Library System may be photographed or recorded. Attendance at any sponsored program, event or general library use constitutes the consent of all attendees and the consent of the parents or legal guardians of any minor children in attendance, to the future broadcast, publication, and other use of photography or videos at the sole direction of Handley Regional Library System.
Photography Notification
While we do allow professional photography inside the property of Handley Regional Library System, we do ask that we are notified ahead of time of photoshoots at 540.662.9041 x 25. Photography activities may be limited to specific areas due to reserved use and cannot impede any patron activity using the library.
Join us for Third Thursday Book Club at 11 am at The Barns of Rose Hill, next door to the Clarke County Library!
We'll be discussing this month's book selection, "Rabbit Cake" by Annie Hartnett - stop by the library to grab your copy!
Join us for a Virginia Works Job Fair in the Lower Level!
What's New
Tai Chi Classes at Bowman Library
The Friends of Handley Regional Library System has partnered with a new non-profit organization called MoveMentation to offer tai chi classes at Bowman Library. MoveMentation was started by Adrian VanKeuren of Tai Chi Healing Energies. Tai Chi, at its core, is a movement medicine. Originally a martial art originating in China, tai chi combines slow, continuous, mindful movements with deep breathing.
10 Reasons You Should Be Reading with Libby
Libby, the popular library reading app from OverDrive, is changing how people connect with books. If you haven’t tried reading with Libby through the Handley Regional Library System, now is the time! Here are 10 reasons why downloading Libby will be your best literary decision yet.
Unlimited Hallmark Movies Now Streaming with Hoopla’s BingePass!
The holidays are here, and we have a treat for all our Hallmark movie lovers! Starting today, you can cozy up with unlimited access to Hallmark movies with our Hallmark Movie BingePass on Hoopla—available all November and December!
Here’s how it works:
What to Watch
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Moonflower murders [electronic resource]
- Based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz.
- Editor Susan Ryeland is tasked with finding the solution to a real-life cold case hidden within one of Alan Conway's early Atticus Pund novels.
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It ends with us
- It Ends With Us, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the story of Lily Bloom, a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents' relationship. When Lily's first love, Atlas Corrigan, suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.
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Origin [electronic resource]
- A journalist investigates caste and it's dark influence on society while also experiencing love, loss, and witnessing the beauty of human resilience.
- While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist experiences soaring love and unfathomable loss as she uncovers the beauty of human resilience. Inspired by the New York Times best seller "Caste" and starting Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Ava DuVernay's Origin explores the mystery of history, the wonders of romance and a fight for the future of us all.
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Waitress : the musical [electronic resource]
- The Tony-nominated Broadway phenomenon comes to the big screen. Composer-lyricist Sara Bareilles is Jenna Hunterson, a waitress and expert pie maker stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage. When a baking contest offers her a chance at escape, Jenna fights to reclaim part of herself. Waitress celebrates the power of friendship, dreams, the family we choose and the beauty of a well-baked pie.
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Good Burger 2 [electronic resource]
- Calling all dudes buckle up, because the new adventures of Ed and Dex start now! Your favorite fast-food duo is back and serving up nostalgic laughs and new antics in Good Burger 2. Follow Dexter Reed and original cashier Ed as they reunite in the present day at fast-food restaurant Good Burger with a hilarious new group of employees. Dexter is down on his luck after another one of his inventions fails. Ed welcomes Dex back to Good Burger with open arms and gives him his old job back. With a new crew working at Good Burger, Dex devises a plan to get back on his feet but unfortunately puts the fate of Good Burger at risk once again.
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Forensic history : crimes, frauds, and scandals [electronic resource]
- This course is a journey through time and place from the perspective of forensic science and criminal history. It examines technical advancements and politics and legal issues regarding criminal investigations. The course includes Dr. Murray's own forensic casework.
- The Infamous Jack the Ripper -- Analyzing the Black Dahlia murder -- Dissecting Hollywood deaths -- Decomposition and confusing interpretations -- Lizzie Borden and the Menendez brothers -- The Tylenol murders -- Copycats and hoaxes -- Frauds and forgeries -- Blood doping and other sports scandals -- Bad boys of U.S. politics -- Criminals of the wild, wild West -- Investigating incredible bank heists -- How reliable is eyewitness testimony? -- The truth behind false confessions -- Crooked cops and bad convictions -- Guilty until proven innocent -- Political assassinations -- Mysteries of the Romanov family -- Forensics of genocide -- The Nazi's and the witch of Buchenwald -- The spies have it -- Motive and kidnapping -- Identification matters -- The past, present, and future of forensics.
- Course consists of 24 lectures, about 30 min. each.
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Paranormal Activity 8-Movie Collection [videorecording]
- Celebrating 15 years of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY-the hit horror franchise that has enticed and terrified audiences around the globe. This terrifying 8-Movie Collection delivers the scares, packed thrills, chills, and unexpected surprises across 8 movies, including the most recent chapter PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: NEXT OF KIN and the behind-the-scenes documentary UNKNOWN DIMENSION: THE STORY OF PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.
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Curious caterer : 3-movie collection [electronic resource]
- Dying for Chocolate: A Colorado caterer and single mom, Goldy Berry teams with detective Tom Schultz to identify the ingredients that led to the mysterious death of her friend - and ends up discovering a hidden recipe for murder. Grilling Season: Caterer Goldy Berry reunites with Detective Tom Schultz when a realtor is murdered. As they uncover personal and professional rivalries, they realize the culprit is closer than expected. Fatal Vows: In the third movie of the series, Goldy Berry, a caterer, and amateur detective, is recruited to provide food for a sizable wedding. Jessamyn Cole, the bride, is the ex-wife of Goldy's current love interest, detective Tom Schultz.
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The cancer detectives [electronic resource]
- How one of the most impactful, lifesaving tests for women was created and popularized by a Greek immigrant and his wife, a famous Japanese-American illustrator who was detained in a WW2 internment camp, and a groundbreaking Black female surgeon. In the 1950's, survival rates from cancer of any kind were low. Damaging surgery and unsophisticated radiotherapy were the main treatments, assuming the disease was detected in time for anything to be done. Cervical cancer was often asymptomatic until it was well advanced, and by that time, it was often a death sentence.
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Inside man. [electronic resource] / Season one
- Jefferson Grieff is on Death Row in an American prison for brutally murdering his wife. But it turns out that Grieff has a gift: he can solve crimes from inside his cell, and that is exactly why English journalist Beth Davenport needs his help. A woman who recently helped Beth has gone missing, with the only clue being a text with a blurry image of a man lunging towards the camera. Will Grieff crack the case in time? And is it possible to solve a crime before it has been committed?
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The brain-gut connection with Dr. Emeran Mayer [electronic resource]
- Recent science is now revealing that the vital connection between the gut and the brain impacts everything: physical health, mental health and even the choices one makes.
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Devil's Peak [electronic resource]
Brilliant but disillusioned detective Benny Griessel tracks down a vigilante killer in this compulsive crime thriller, set in Cape Town. -
Orphan black. [electronic resource] / Echoes Season 1
- Taking place in 2052, 37 years since the end of the original "Orphan Black" series, Lucy is hunted by a secret organization while tracking down a scientist who may hold the answers to her past in Orphan Black: Echoes.
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Blindman [electronic resource]
- Prepare for the wild ride of Blindman, starring Ringo Starr! In this cult Spaghetti Western, a blind gunman is hired to escort mail order brides to their husbands. But when he's double-crossed by a Mexican bandit, he heads to Mexico to settle scores and save the women. It's a thrilling tale of action and revenge in the Wild West!
Staff Picks
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The white book
- A lyrical exploration of personal grief, conveyed through the prism of the color white, finds a nameless writer grappling with a haunting family tragedy involving the infancy death of her older sister.
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Hidden Yellow Stars
Based on the true story of two World War II heroines who risked everything to save Jewish children from the Gestapo by hiding them throughout Belgium. ... Young schoolteacher Andrée Geulen secretly defies the Nazis in Belgium who are forcing Jews to wear a yellow Star of David. Andrée is not Jewish, but she feels a maternal connection to her students, who are living in constant fear, and decides to take action. No child should have to suffer under such persecution. But what can one woman do against an entire army? Ida Sterno is a Jewish woman who works with the Committee for the Defense of Jews in Belgium, a clandestine resistance group tasked with hiding children from the Gestapo. She wants to recruit Andrée because her Aryan appearance can provide crucial security measures for their efforts. Andrée agrees to join and begins work immediately by adopting a code name: Claude Fournier. Together, Andrée and Ida, and their undercover operatives, work around the clock to move Jewish children from their families and smuggle them to safety through the secret channels established by the resistance. As each child is hidden, Andrée commits to memory their true name and history. Someday, she vows, she will help reunite as many of these families as she can. But with the Gestapo closing in, and the traitorous Fat Jacques who has turned from ally to enemy, threatening to identify and expose any Jew he meets, Andrée and Ida must work even harder against increasingly impossible odds to save as many children as possible and keep them safely hidden-even if might cost them their own lives.
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Shutter
Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases-she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won't let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from her hometown on the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law. And now it might be what gets her killed. When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim-who insists she was murdered-latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque's most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is a blood-chilling debut from one of crime fiction's most powerful new voices.
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Proud sorrows
Norfolk, England, November 1944: After a series of dangerous missions in the South of France, US Army Captain Billy Boyle is finally on leave, and is settling into a peaceful rest at the country estate of Sir Richard Seaton, the father of Billy's British lover, Diana. Seaton Manor is a comfortable haven, and Billy is eager to spend a few precious days in Diana's company pretending the war is far away. Unfortunately, Billy's leave is cut short when a crashed German bomber resurfaces off the coast with the corpse of a British officer in the pilot seat. The nearby village of Slewford hosts a top-secret military intelligence operation, home to high-ranking German POWs, and so the crash is a matter of national security. Billy is assigned by the commander of the POW facility to investigate. After the plane is discovered, a local villager is murdered-and suddenly what had appeared to be a failed enemy military operation takes on an even more sinister aspect. All Billy's ex-Boston cop instincts are put to the test as he interviews the grieving, angry, and conniving citizens of this idyllic English country village in search of the truth.
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A scandal in Mayfair : a Lily Adler mystery
London, 1817. The London Season is beginning once more, and Lily Adler's return to her home on Half Moon Street feels different this year. No longer a recent widow, she has a life and friends waiting for her. Lily also has new responsibilities in the form of her protégée Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend Jack Hartley, who is escaping her own brush with scandal and murder. It doesn't take long for Lily's growing reputation as a lady of quality who can discreetly find what is missing or solve what is puzzling to bring a desperate young woman to her doorstep. But helping her means unraveling a tangled web of family secrets. Soon, a missing will, a dead body and the threat of blackmail leave Lily facing danger every way she turns. The glittering society of Mayfair conceals many secrets, and the back alleys of London hide even more. Lily Adler will need to find the connection between them quickly if she wants to stop a killer before it's too late.
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The very secret society of irregular witches
A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family-and a new love-changes the course of her life. As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously. But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat. As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for...
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The spy coast : a thriller
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she's living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement. But when a body turns up in Maggie's driveway, she knows it's a message from former foes who haven't forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends--all retirees from the CIA--to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This "Martini Club" of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they're eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives. Complicating their efforts is Purity's acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie's reluctance to share information--and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn. As Jo's investigation collides with the Martini Club's maneuvers, Maggie's hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends--and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau--Maggie might just be able to save the life she's built.
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We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People
From a fearless, internationally acclaimed activist comes an impassioned memoir about an indigenous childhood, a clash of cultures, and the fight to save the Amazon rainforest
We Will Be Jaguars is an astonishing memoir by an equally astonishing woman. Nenquimo is a winner of TIME magazine’s Earth Award, and MS. magazine named this book among the Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024.
Born into the Waorani tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest—one of the last to be contacted by missionaries in the 1950s—Nemonte Nenquimo had a singular upbringing.
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American rapture
A virus is spreading across America, transforming the infected and making them feral with lust. Sophie, a good Catholic girl, must traverse the hellscape of the midwest to try to find her family while the world around her burns. Along the way she discovers there are far worse fates than dying a virgin... The end times are coming. Neil Gaiman's American Gods meets The Last of Us in this epic and sweeping story about the end of the world as we know it.
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A song to drown rivers
Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic historical fantasy about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance. Her beauty hides a deadly purpose. Xishi's beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue--convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister's murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within. Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods. Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king's advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall-and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down. "Stunning and heart-rending.
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Look in the mirror : a novel
When Nina's father dies, she is left something in his will: a gleaming dream vacation home in a balmy tropical paradise. She'll find out the hard way that what you inherit from those you love can end up costing your life in this heart-pounding thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water
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The lost boy of Santa Chionia
Calabria, 1960. Francesca Loftfield, a twenty-seven-year-old, starry-eyed American, arrives in the isolated mountain village of Santa Chionia tasked with opening a nursery school. There is no road, no doctor, no running water or electricity. And thanks to a recent flood that swept away the post office, there's no mail, either. Most troubling, though, is the human skeleton that surfaced after the flood waters receded. Who is it? And why don't the police come and investigate? When an old woman begs Francesca to help determine if the remains are those of her long-missing son, Francesca begins to ask a lot of inconvenient questions. As an outsider, she might be the only person who can uncover the truth. Or she might be getting in over her head. As she attempts to juggle a nosy landlady, a suspiciously dashing shepherd, and a network of local families bound together by a code of silence, Francesca finds herself forced to choose between the charitable mission that brought her to Santa Chionia, and her future happiness, between truth and survival. Set in the wild heart of Calabria, a land of sheer cliff faces, ancient tradition, dazzling sunlight--and one of the world's most ruthless criminal syndicates--The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia is a suspenseful puzzle mystery, a captivating romance, and an affecting portrait of a young woman in search of a meaningful life.
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Exposure
A dual-voice cat-and-mouse thriller, told from the points of view of a killer who has created his own deadly religion and the only person who can stop him, an embattled young detective who sees the ghosts of his Native victims. In Gallup, New Mexico, where violent crime is five times the national average, a serial killer is operating unchecked, his targets indigent Native people whose murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter streets. He slips unnoticed through town, hidden in plain sight by his unassuming nature, while the voices in his head guide him toward a terrifying vision of glory. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put the pieces together, they consider calling in a controversial specialist to help. Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims. Her unmanageable caseload is further complicated by the fact that half the department has blacklisted her for ratting out a corrupt fellow cop. And back home in Tohatchi on the Navajo reservation, Rita's grandma is getting older. Maybe it's time for her to leave policework behind entirely-if only the ghosts will let her.
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The more the terrier
The next installment in David Rosenfelt's bestselling Andy Carpenter series brings a lone pup to his doorstep, but when it comes to dogs, The More the Terrier. Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is relieved to be headed back to Paterson, New Jersey, after a week-long family vacation in the Adirondacks. He's ready to put the holly jolly season way behind him and settle in at home with his three dogs. But when they finally arrive, there is an extra dog eagerly awaiting them, as well as one anxious dog sitter. When the dog showed up on the doorstep a few days ago, the sitter knew Andy would know what to do. Indeed, Andy recognizes Murphy, who the Carpenters fostered before the dog went home with BJ Bremer and his mother. BJ wanted to learn all he could about caring for Murphy, which made Andy like him immediately. When Andy goes to take Murphy back to the Bremers, though, instead of the happy reunion he expects, he finds BJ's mother in tears. It turns out Murphy ran off...after BJ was arrested for murder. Andy had hoped for a quiet Christmas vacation, but he likes Murphy's family and his golden retriever, Tara, likes Murphy, so he can't resist getting involved. The case isn't as simple as Andy thought it would be, though, with BJ suspected of murdering one of his professors. With nothing to go on but Andy's own conviction in BJ's dog-loving character, proving his innocence would be a Christmas miracle. With equal doses of doggy humor and courtroom drama, as well as Andy Carpenter's traditional humbug Christmas spirit, David Rosenfelt delivers another winner.
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Everybody knows
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.
After her boss is gunned down in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel in a random attack, Mae takes it upon herself to investigate and runs headfirst into The Beast’s lawless machinations and the twisted systems it exists to perpetuate. It takes her on a roving neon joyride through a Los Angeles full of influencers pumped full of pills and fillers; sprawling mansions footsteps away from sprawling homeless encampments; crooked cops and mysterious wrecking crews in the middle of the night.