Michael Townsley Popular Books

Michael Townsley Biography & Facts

Unlocked is a 2017 action thriller film directed by Michael Apted, written by Peter O'Brien, and starring Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich and Toni Collette. It was Apted's final film before his death in 2021. It was released in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2017, by Lionsgate. Plot After a Paris operation fails on her watch, Central Intelligence Agency interrogation officer Alice Racine works undercover at a community centre in London. The area is known for Islamic extremism, and she passes on intel to the security services, including MI5 Intelligence Chief Emily Knowles. Racine's former station chief and mentor Eric Lasch tells her she should not feel guilty for the Paris deaths and needs to get back into the field. The CIA and MI5 learn that radical imam Yazid Khaleel plans a biological attack on an American target on British soil in collaboration with American-born Islamic convert David Mercer. Frank Sutter, an officer from the CIA's London Station, tells Racine she has orders from Europe Division Chief Bob Hunter to help them interrogate and break Khaleel's captured courier, Lateef. In a hotel, Racine interrogates Lateef and coaxes the message he is to deliver to Mercer's representative. Before divulging the details of the message to Sutter, she receives a call from her handler, Ed Romley, who confusingly gives her the same mission brief as Sutter. Realising she has been tricked, Racine attempts to remove Lateef from their custody, but he dies during a gunfight. She retreats to Lasch's apartment, but operatives attack, and Racine witnesses Lasch's death. She escapes to a safe house owned by Lasch and apprehends burglar Jack Alcott, who is in the process of robbing the apartment. Restraining him in the bedroom, she contacts Hunter and Romley, who, despite claiming to believe her, per protocol, send SCO19 officers to apprehend her. After fighting two of the officers and being tasered, she is saved by Alcott and the two escape. When Alcott reveals he is a former Royal Marine who served in the Iraq War, Racine reluctantly allows him to accompany her. Racine seeks the help of Amjad, a friend and client from the community centre. She and Alcott confront Khaleel in a Moroccan restaurant, where he confesses he no longer believes in the radical extremism he promotes. Though he has given the courier a stand down order, Khaleel anticipates that Mercer will still proceed with the attack. While following an associate of Lateef, Racine discovers Alcott is working with Sutter, and the two fight; Racine escapes after Alcott is killed by an aggrieved third party. Racine approaches Knowles, who agrees to help Amjad stand in as the courier to meet with Mercer's representative. Knowles reveals to Racine that intelligence from the French DGSI suggests senior parties in the CIA allowed the Paris attack to take place, as one of the victims killed in the bombings was a CIA whistle blower. Romley's team track the bullets used in the killing of their men who apprehended Lateef to an AT308C sniper rifle, which is revealed to have been checked out of a Metropolitan Police armoury by corrupt MI5 operative John Wilson. Wilson, a part of the team providing cover for Knowles operation, guns down his fellow operatives, injures Knowles but fails to kill Racine. Amjad is killed in the crossfire. Racine heads to a meeting point organized by Sutter, where Lasch is not only alive but conspires with him. Racine kills Sutter, and, after a brief struggle, Lasch escapes. Racine tracks him to a warehouse outside of Wembley Stadium, where a sold-out game of American football is due to be played. Lasch reveals he wants the biological attack to occur; the visiting Americans will transport the virus back home and force the US Government to take the threat of biological warfare seriously. After shooting Wilson, Racine and Lasch engage in a brief fight, after which he falls to his death and Racine disarms the virus canisters. Knowing that Mercer will flee to Syria, Hunter instructs her to intercept him en route. As Mercer is about to meet with a contact in Prague, Racine cuts a deep incision into his groin, opening his femoral artery, killing him. Hunter meets with Racine and welcomes her back to active duty. Cast In addition, Philip Brodie plays Wilson, a corrupt MI5 officer, while Tosin Cole plays Amjad, a young taxi driver and Racine's friend. Production On September 23, 2010, Warner Bros. optioned the film, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura set to produce. On April 7, 2014, Noomi Rapace joined the cast, with Mikael Håfström set to direct. On September 7, 2014, Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom joined the cast. On November 6, 2014, John Malkovich and Toni Collette joined the cast. During the production, Bloom accidentally broke Rapace's nose. Principal photography began on November 3, 2014, and ended on January 17, 2015. Release The film was released in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2017, by Lionsgate. The film was released in the United States on September 1, 2017. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 57 reviews and an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Unlocked strands an all-star cast in a spy thriller whose embrace of old-school formula might be refreshing if it weren't bogged down in genre clichés and a predictable plot." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Guy Lodge of Variety was not impressed with the film and wrote, "Years on from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace is still ready for action, though this middling thriller lags behind her." Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "functional contemporary spy yarn" that is "played way too straight" and "brings nothing fresh to the formula besides the minor innovation of dropping an action heroine into a male-dominated field". Simran Hans of The Guardian gave the film one out of five stars and wrote, "A cast of stars proves unable to lift this derivative, turgid terrorism thriller." References External links Unlocked at IMDb Unlocked at AllMovie Unlocked at Rotten Tomatoes Unlocked at Metacritic Unlocked at Box Office Mojo . Discover the Michael Townsley popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Michael Townsley books.

Best Seller Michael Townsley Books of 2024

  • Dracula synopsis, comments

    Dracula

    Bram Stoker

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Few characters have seized readers’ imaginations quite like Count Dracula of Transylvania, the hero of Bram Stoker’s classic. The 1897 novel put vam...

  • Masters of Restraint synopsis, comments

    Masters of Restraint

    Ines Johnson

    My new boss is good at giving orders. But his latest demand is NSFW. Especially when his two business partners want in on our deal. My new boss My boss’s boss Their investor &#...

  • Meditations synopsis, comments

    Meditations

    Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

    Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161–180 CE, setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.

  • Never Enough synopsis, comments

    Never Enough

    Lexy Timms

    Be good enough never is... Anthony Accardi is a man on a mission: make his father's watch company a success while bringing in millions of dollars. To do that, he needs an assi...

  • You Are Kind synopsis, comments

    You Are Kind

    Michael Gordon

    A little kindness goes a long way. How can you help encourage your kids to be kind from a young age? Teach kindness to preschoolers Acts of kindness can be fun, easy, and make a ...

  • Becoming Lady Dalton synopsis, comments

    Becoming Lady Dalton

    Carrie Lomax

    A dance of desire and deceit... In the glittering world of London's ton, Mrs. Viola Cartwright revels in her newfound freedom as a lady of leisureuntil a series of jewel theft...

  • His Own Heaven synopsis, comments

    His Own Heaven

    Jennie Kew

    Winner of the 2021 Passionate Plume Award for BDSM Romance Finalist in the 2021 Stiletto Contest for Contemporary Romance He taught her to trust, she taught him to love. ​ Lucy Bar...

  • The Cupcake Cottage synopsis, comments

    The Cupcake Cottage

    Jean Oram

    NHL player Maverick Blades could fall in love with anyone... But he had to fall for a woman who falls under the Bro Code as untouchablehis best friend’s beautiful ex, DaisyMae Ray....

  • Assisting the Bosshole synopsis, comments

    Assisting the Bosshole

    Kristin MacQueen

    No hot water? Check Missed the train? Check Broke my heel? Check Dropped my coffee? Check My first day of my new job can’t possibly go worse, right? Wrong. When I meet Parker Scott...

  • Enemies With Benefits synopsis, comments

    Enemies With Benefits

    Roxie Noir

    I don’t love him. I don’t even like him. I just want him. Eli Loveless was my nemesis from the first day of kindergarten until we graduated high school. Everything I did, he had to...

  • The Three Little Pigs synopsis, comments

    The Three Little Pigs

    Mark Lesky

    Classic fairy tales, legends and folk stories in short version without violence retold with lovely illustrations in simple language. Perfect for reading aloud to small chi...

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    Once Upon A One-Night Stand

    Zoey Locke

    At first sight, there was electrifying chemistry.  So why not go for it? After all, Lynx Grove, the city's most eligible bachelor, wants to claim her, at least for th...

  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes synopsis, comments

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    An Apple Books Classic You get not one, not two, but 25 gripping mysteries in Arthur Conan Doyle’s first of five collections of Sherlock Holmes short stories. Follow the brilliant ...

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    Become A Better Version of Yourself

    Ben Leighton

    This ebook contains golden nuggets on how to motivate, inspire and improve your current situation. It encompasses the holistic view of self improvement from mental& emotion...

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    Awaken Me

    Jenna Jacob

    He was more than a ghost haunting my dreams…he was real. By day, I’m Julianna Garrett …a prim, proper accountant. By night, I’m tormented by dreams of an alpha, ambereyed Adonis wh...

  • Dream Psychology synopsis, comments

    Dream Psychology

    Sigmund Freud

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Written by the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s 1899 book is the definitive text on learning to interpret dreams. Freud’s groundbr...

  • Little Women synopsis, comments

    Little Women

    Louisa May Alcott

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Meet the Marches! Louisa May Alcott’s classic introduces us to four unforgettable sisters: beautiful Meg, tomboyish Jo, delicate Beth, and Amy, the ...

  • The Scarlet Letter synopsis, comments

    The Scarlet Letter

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Hester Prynne lives in infamy. After committing adultery and bearing a child with a man whose name she refuses to divulge, the heroine of Nathaniel ...

  • Think and Grow Rich synopsis, comments

    Think and Grow Rich

    Greg Habstritt & Napoleon Hill

    Think and Grow Rich is one of the most popular success book of alltime, having sold more than 60 million copies since it was first published more than 70...

  • Good Guy synopsis, comments

    Good Guy

    Kate Meader

    He's a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She's a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She's also his best friend's widow . . . Fa...

  • Nothing to Hide synopsis, comments

    Nothing to Hide

    Scarlett Finn

    Prize of a lifetime: travel the world with a celebrity billionaire. Come to LA with us, Roxie… It will be so much fun! We have tickets for a latenight talk show! What could possibl...

  • Always Yours synopsis, comments

    Always Yours

    Claire Raye

    Some things are just meant to be... Ellen Somerville and Will McIntyre met by accident and under unusual circumstances. Getting sprayed by a skunk in a parking lot wouldn’t normall...

  • Hard Love synopsis, comments

    Hard Love

    Peyton Banks

    He was football royalty. Legendary quarterback. A champion.  Reiner Strickland had led his team to three national championships and playing a knight in shining armor was a...

  • Law of Attraction synopsis, comments

    Law of Attraction

    Jordan Hollis

    How to Finally Overcome the Hurdles of Manifesting Proven, effective and enjoyable ways to help you manifest faster… Right now, think of something that makes you successful. If you...

  • The Count of Monte Cristo synopsis, comments

    The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Alexandre Dumas’ classic paints a portrait of Edmond Dantès, a dark and calculating man who is willing to wait years to exact his perfect plan for r...

  • The Seduction Series Boxset synopsis, comments

    The Seduction Series Boxset

    Roxy Sloane

    “Sensual, thrilling and wild!”   Discover the bestselling series in one collection: THE SEDUCTION, THE BARGAIN, and THE INVITATION. Perfect for fans of Ana Huang, Sierra S...

  • The Honeymoon Homicide synopsis, comments

    The Honeymoon Homicide

    J. R. Mathis & Susan Mathis

    Enjoy this SmallTown Murder Mystery Featuring A Unique Sleuthing Couple I'm Father Tom Greer, a Catholic Priest in a smalltown parish who never expected this . . . When I came...

  • The Art of War synopsis, comments

    The Art of War

    Sun Tzu

    An Apple Books Classic edition. It’s believed that Sun Tzu wrote this Chinese military primer during the 5th century BChundreds of years before the Bible. The book’s 13 chapters ex...

  • Bewitching a Highlander synopsis, comments

    Bewitching a Highlander

    Roma Cordon

    Defying all for the love of a bewitching lass. Breena MacRae, a healer from Skye with a touch of witchery in her blood, embarks on a dangerous search for her missing father. She ar...

  • The Stoic Mind synopsis, comments

    The Stoic Mind

    Addy Osmani & GoLimitlesss

    Discover the timeless wisdom of Stoicism in a modern context with "The Stoic Mind," an enlightening visual guide by Addy Osmani and GoLimitlesss. This rich exploration co...

  • Saltwater Cove synopsis, comments

    Saltwater Cove

    Amelia Addler

    Second chances...and the secrets that sabotage them. At 48 years old, Margie Clifton never expected to be starting her life all over again. But when her brother gifts her a propert...

  • The Great Gatsby synopsis, comments

    The Great Gatsby

    F. Scott Fitzgerald

    An Apple Books Classics edition. The Roaring Twenties are in full effect in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s riveting classic. Manabouttown Jay Gatsby seems to have it all, including loads of...

  • The Four Loves synopsis, comments

    The Four Loves

    C. S. Lewis

    The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of human loveaffection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. Masterful without being magisterial, this book's wise, gentle, candi...

  • Get Lucky synopsis, comments

    Get Lucky

    Lila Monroe

    Fall for the hot and hilarious romcom spin on 'The Hangover', perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Ali Hazelwood, and Emily Henry! What happens when you wake up in a hotel s...

  • His Girl Next Door synopsis, comments

    His Girl Next Door

    Khardine Gray

    From USA Today Bestselling author Khardine Gray comes a sizzling hot single dad romance you won't want to miss. No strings attached fun with the ubergorgeous single d...

  • A Christmas Carol synopsis, comments

    A Christmas Carol

    Charles Dickens

    An Apple Books Classic edition. It’s Christmas Eve in Victorian England. While some families don’t know where their next meal will come from, Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his large hom...

  • All Fired Up synopsis, comments

    All Fired Up

    Kathryn Shay

    Captain Jarek Zenko, a war veteran and firefighter, meets Lacey Roth at a bar one night. They don’t share their real identities, even when they retreat to a hotel. When they meet t...

  • Inception of Gold synopsis, comments

    Inception of Gold

    Lexy Timms

    Things are not as bad as they seem. They are worse. Being the personal assistant to a narcissistic actress who just happens to own the key to my family's undoing isn't ex...

  • Rogue Alpha synopsis, comments

    Rogue Alpha

    Kimber White

    One touch made her crave him. But the pull of fate could be the path to ruin. College student Laura Prince lands a plum internship deep in the Michigan wilderness. When she discove...

  • Coffee Girl synopsis, comments

    Coffee Girl

    Sophie Sinclair

    Mackenzie "Kiki" Forbes finds herself in a pickle. Either become her snarky sister's nanny, or move halfway across the country to work as assistanttothestylist of a ...

  • Teased by Fire synopsis, comments

    Teased by Fire

    Molly O'Hare

    From USA Today bestselling author Molly O’Hare comes an enemiestolovers, older brother’s best friend, romantic comedy with a curvy, antisocial, supernaturalobsessed, allyearround h...

  • Escape, A New Life synopsis, comments

    Escape, A New Life

    David J Antocci

    To save herself, she had to lose everything. Trapped in a tropical paradise with no memory of how she got there, Abby is thrust into a fight for her life. Hunted by a madman, and c...

  • Salvation synopsis, comments

    Salvation

    Meghan O'Flynn

    If you like mouthy detectives, serial killers, and suspenseful mysteries that don't quit, this chilling and actionpacked hardboiled detective series has you covered! Try this ...

  • Noxious synopsis, comments

    Noxious

    Lexy Timms

    Stop setting yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. Brady and Levi have been together since high school, since before he became famous and started thinking only about himself....

  • My Paper Heart synopsis, comments

    My Paper Heart

    Magan Vernon

    One piece of paper can change everything After my parents received the letter I failed out of college, they didn't ask questions. They just sent me to work for my great aunt i...

  • Peace on Earth synopsis, comments

    Peace on Earth

    Maia Ross

    Crime never takes a holiday. Why should Irma? Irma Abercrombie is an energetic retiree with a shadowy past, a mean right hook, and a profound love of Christmas. Surrounded by seaso...

  • Hot Off the Press synopsis, comments

    Hot Off the Press

    Lexy Timms

    "This is what really happened… reported by a free press, for a free people…" Wes Shaw leads a secret double life. As the secret owner of a billion dollar newspap...

  • Holy Bible synopsis, comments

    Holy Bible

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

    The 2013 edition of the Holy Bible contains all of the study aids contained in the 1979 edition and includes revisions to the study aids, several new photos, updated maps, and adju...

  • School of Potential synopsis, comments

    School of Potential

    W.J. May

    USA Today Bestselling author, W.J. May brings you a continuation of the international bestselling series, The Chronicles of Kerrigan! Come back and enjoy the famous characters, or ...

  • How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days synopsis, comments

    How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days

    Lila Monroe

    The only thing more hilarious than the movies is… real life?! Fall in love with the sizzling grumpysunshine romantic comedy perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Ali Hazlewood! ...