Film Adaptation of The Associate by John Grisham may be Moving Forward with Tony Scott Directing

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the film adaptation of The Associate by John Grisham may at long last be moving forward. Tony Scott is "a step away" from taking over as director of the film. The script has been penned (by William Monahan) and Shia LaBeouf is already on board, presumably in the role of the titular character.

Many of Grisham's early legal thrillers were adapted for film -- The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Runaway Jury, and more -- and were, by and large, blockbusters at the theater, but none of his recent novels have made the transition.

MBN Welcomes Michael Robert Gordon, Author of the Killer Train Trilogy

Mystery Books News is delighted to welcome Michael Robert Gordon as our guest blogger. Michael is the author of Killer Commute (Champagne Books, July 2010 ebook), the first mystery in the Killer Train trilogy.

Today, Michael Robert writes about the idea for Killer Commute. And he's also providing our readers with an opportunity to win a copy of his book (provided as a gift certificate). Visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Michael Robert Gordon: Killer Commute" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (8832) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends August 19, 2010.)

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Photo credit Emma Tess Gordon, provided courtesy of
Michael Robert Gordon

I’m writing this on the train. That may not seem like a big deal, but I need to find spots and times when I can write. I have four children, work full time in sales and if I didn’t take the train, which recently is more common, I’d drive an hour and half in my car each way to work. My writing would be limited to a couple of hours on the weekends. We know what happens on the weekend. It’s seductive power keeps you in bed longer, the games you want to watch are on the weekends, chores need to be completed and the handoff is made back to the work on Monday. Many of us want to write, but when to write is the question, which brings me to how I came up with the idea of Killer Commute.

Ever see the show with Donny Deutch, The Big Idea? It was a motivator and gave entrepraneurs an opportunity to meet investors, but more to share their unique success stories. His guests ranged from an out of work marketing consultant who invented a machine to help stretch the body, to a pair of young men who began a private jet chartering company to executives. Donny would stress two things: you can do it and you needed to work hard at your idea. This brings me back to my book. I found myself thinking about my Big Idea while on the train and suddenly realized I was the last one in the train. It was a little spooky. Anything could happen to me and no one would know. Sounded like an idea for a mystery. I checked the web for any mysteries that took place on a commuter train – there weren’t any. An idea and an opportunity presented itself to me.

Here’s where my miniscule knowledge of marketing comes in, each day more than a hundred thousand passengers ride the train. What is the percentage of readers? A significant percentage of passengers are readers, though as I’m writing this two are sleeping and one is applying makeup carefully as we bob and weave slowly over the tracks. Reading a book keeps up the narrow wall of privacy. You know how valuable your privacy is and especially your time. Make sure what you write has a market before you write it.

Here’s an example, many years ago I worked on a book project about a minor league hockey team, The Long Island Ducks; 1965 Eastern League Champions. The league influenced the movie Slap Shot with Paul Newman. I conducted interviews, face to face and on the phone, travelled, went to minor league games and started sending queries to book publishers before I jumped into writing the book. I learned there was little interest in the project, so I did not write that book. I don’t want to dissuade a writer from writing that heart- felt manuscript, that romance or fiction that they need to create. Richard Elman, my mentor and pseudo father figure told me years ago, “write with love.” And I believe that. Write with love whatever it is, if you love what you’re writing it will not be a chore. Editing will be a chore, but writing the book is creating that love, feeling the juices bubbling up in your brain and feeling you accomplished something beautiful.

Let’s swing this back to Killer Commute. Mick Doran is a veteran detective for the Metropolitan Transit Authority - MTA. This is the unit who protects the public on the trains. A body is found on the train as it pulls into the last stop – Port Jefferson. Where did I get the name Mick Doran? Mick is a common name for that rough detective, my ma calls me Mick and Doran is my ma’s maiden name. Simple. Granda was a boxer, and was known around Kimmage, Dublin as “Champ” so I made Mick an ex boxer and an Irish immigrant and surprise, a cop. I know what you’re thinking – so original. But I needed more, so he’s a hypochondriac. Hypochondria is a common trait for a Gordon, it’s a complex we’ve acquired and share it’s tendencies, like whining about a lack of sleep. Whenever we’re together (My brother, sisters and Ma) we compare notes on our lack of sleep, ailments, natural remedies. I was raised by a health conscious Irish hippie whose resources were rooted Roman Catholic faith, wheat germ, Brewers yeast, and tea and toast with beans.

But there’s more to the book than Mick Doran. He’s working with his ex-wife’s husband, Reggie Sanders who is one of the few African American detectives for the Suffolk County Police Department. The county police would normally conduct a homicide investigation since they have the resources, but there goes the novel, so I used some creative licensing. Where ever the investigators can determine the homicide took place, that entity or department would lead the investigation. I learned this from a county homicide detective. So I can hear the groveling by the MTA cops. Reminds me when I was a little boy watching the Love Boat, my dad who is a retired merchant marine, would always critique what the captain was doing or said. Come to think of it, dad would barely say a word unless he was critiquing that show.

So you know Mick and his partner Reggie Sanders. This sounds intriguing the duality between the two. They agree to work together. So, I wanted Mick and Reggie to put aside their differences. Besides, Mick thinks Reggie is a decent man. It’s not as if his wife went out and cheated on him, I didn’t want to have that. His ex just fell out of love with Mick. It happens…but back to the murders…who is killing the passengers? What do the passengers have in common?

If you’re writing a mystery, true crime, pulp, there needs to be a motive for the killing. This comes from my research with the detective. I would recommend researching; make the characters and your book as believable as possible. You don’t want to have someone like my dad rolling his eyes and yelling at the pages, “That would never happen!” And my dad never yells. Except the time I stole the box of thin mint Girl Scout cookies…he was pissed.

You have the power to create and use whatever you want. For instance, I used the lyrics with permission from REM’s song, Mr. Richards. It’s a cool song, sort of mystical in its own, but I thought the lyrics could coincide with the book and it fits perfectly. I use real towns, real landmarks, so when passengers on the train ride to Port Jefferson, they can see the Nissaqogue River, the statue of the bull in Smithtown, the rusting abandoned cars in the woods, the blue tent (read the book). What I’m trying to say is, be detailed…it brings the scene closer to you as the reader and to the writer.

Did I write the book with love? I can hear Richard’s voice ask and then see a slight smile ease over his lips. We both know the answer.

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Michael Robert Gordon is a father of four. He is a former merchant marine, free lance journalist and currently a Director for Business Development. Learn more about him on his blog.

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About Killer Commute: Mick Doran is a former city police detective, now working with the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Down on his luck, and hypochondriacal as hell, he's assumed to be washed up, no good and useless as a detective until fate drops a murder investigation on his train.

Assigned to work alongside his ex-wife's detective husband, Mick must battle his own demons as well as the disapproval of the Suffolk County Police Department while they wade through evidence, hostile witnesses and an increasing suspect list.

For a chance to win a copy of Killer Commute (provided as a gift certificate) courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "Michael Robert Gordon: Killer Commute" contest link, and enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (8832) in the entry form. (One entry per person; contest ends August 19, 2010.)

Enlightenus II: The Timeless Tower Collector's Edition, a New Mysterious Adventure Game from BFG

Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.

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Clarence Flatt, an expert clockmaker, has asked for your help and has offered you the chance to explore the legendary Timeless Tower! While working on the incredible Ageless Clock, something goes wrong and pieces of the device end up all over the Timeless Tower. These pieces begin to unravel the very fabric of time, and only you can set things right.

This is a special Collector's Edition release is full of exclusive extras you won’t find in the standard version, including a built-in strategy guide, bonus gameplay, a sneak peek of Enlightenus III, and more.

See also the first game in the series, Enlightenus and Ms. Terri's Review of Enlightenus.

Enlightenus II: The Timeless Tower Collector's Edition may be downloaded and purchased for $19.95 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (310.46 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.

Watch a preview video below:

Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)

Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!

Big Fish Games: Bestsellers

Big Fish Games: New releases

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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!

50 Famous Books That Were Posthumously Published

Hardly a day goes by without a new list being published! Here's an interesting literary one: 50 Famous Books That Were Posthumously Published. Of course, the arguable key word here is "famous", and there are clearly some obvious omissions (especially from a mystery perspective), but we were pleased to discover we had heard of, if not exactly read, nearly all the books on the list.

There's a popular fiction section on the list, and most of these are thrillers or suspense novels. Select a few to present to your book club as mystery trivia!

Encore Mystery Acquires Perry Mason Movies

In a press release from a couple of days ago, the Starz Encore Mystery channel announced it had acquired all 30 Perry Mason made-for-television films from CBS.

Raymond Burr starred as Perry Mason, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, for nine seasons from 1957 through 1966 on CBS. Nearly 20 years after the series ended, it returned to network television as 30 films, which aired on an irregular basis between between 1985 and 1995. The first of these, titled simply Perry Mason Returns, again starred Burr as the attorney, a role he would play in 26 of these films, until his death in 1993. Four subsequent films under the Perry Mason banner were produced, one starring Paul Sorvino and three starring Hal Holbrook.

Perry Mason was created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who wrote over 80 novels featuring the attorney.

Encore Mystery plans to start airing the films on September 6th, with a Labor Day Marathon.

NPR Listeners Select 100 Most Thrilling Novels Ever Written

Earlier today NPR published a list of the Top 100 Killer Thrillers, the most pulse-quickening suspenseful novels ever written, as chosen by its listeners. From over 17,000 ballots, the top title is The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.

Arguably, there are very few books that don't belong on this list, but what's most interesting is how broad the category of "thriller" fiction is. We recently said as much in our review of Thrillers: 100 Must Reads, co-edited by David Morrell and Hank Wagner and published last month, which also has a rather diverse selection of titles.

And the author most represented on the NPR list: Stephen King (with 6 titles) followed by Lee Child (with 4).

Second Season of Dark Blue Premieres Wednesday, August 4th, on TNT

Tomorrow, Wednesday August 4th, the second season of Dark Blue premieres on TNT with a 2-hour episode (9 PM ET/PT).

Dark Blue follows the lives of an undercover team of Los Angeles police officers so covert, many of their own colleagues don’t even know they are involved. The team is supervised by Lieutenant Carter Shaw (Dylan McDermott), who frequently butts heads with his superiors over the risks the team is prepared to take to bring down a target. This summer, Carter will be forced to take orders from FBI Agent Alex Rice (Tricia Helfer) as they work together on a special joint task force. Alex’s arrival will also set the stage for a major change in Carter’s personal life.

Get caught up with a recap of the first season below:

Her Interactive To Release Remastered Version of First Nancy Drew Game, Secrets Can Kill

In a press release yesterday, Her Interactive announced that the company was releasing a new, remastered version of the first game in the Nancy Drew PC series, Secrets Can Kill.

"Whether you played the original, or are looking for your first Nancy Drew game, this game has something for everyone," says Megan Gaiser, CEO of Her Interactive. "What better way to celebrate the anniversary of an icon than to revisit the game that started it all 12 years ago? Fans won't be disappointed with the full 3-D graphics, new puzzles, vintage Nancy Drew references and of course, a new ending to put a completely fresh spin on a classic gaming adventure."

In Secrets Can Kill, death, danger, and deception weren’t on the curriculum at a Florida school, but when Jake Rogers is murdered to protect a lie, everything changes. With the town in fear and the students in shock, you, as Nancy Drew, are the only one who can uncover the truth. You must follow the clues, solve the puzzles, question the suspects -- including a new one -- and ultimately expose the culprit when all others have failed.

Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill is scheduled for release on August 24, 2010, and may be pre-ordered.

For a complete list of all Nancy Drew games for Windows PC and other platforms, visit Games of Mystery: Nancy Drew.

Devil's Trill by Gerald Elias, a Daniel Jacobus Mystery (1st in series)

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature a new mystery series title we recently received from the publisher.

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Devil's Trill by Gerald Elias
A Daniel Jacobus Mystery (1st in series)
Minotaur Books (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: August 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-65350-7

About Devil's Trill (from the publisher): Daniel Jacobus is a blind, reclusive, crotchety violin teacher living in self-imposed exile in rural New England. He spends his time chain-smoking, listening to old LPs, and occasionally taking on new students, whom he berates in the hope that they will flee.

Jacobus is drawn back into the world he left behind when he decides to attend The Grimsley Competition at Carnegie Hall. The young winner of this competition is granted the honor of playing the Piccolino Stradivarius, a uniquely dazzling three-quarter-size violin that has brought misfortune to all who possessed it over the centuries. But the violin is stolen before the winner of the competition has a chance to play it, and Jacobus is the primary suspect.

With the help of his friend and former musical partner, Nathaniel Williams, his new student, Yumi Shinagawa, and several quirky sidekicks, Jacobus sets out to prove his innocence and find the stolen Piccolino Strad. Will he be successful? The quest takes him through the halls of wealth and culture, across continents to Japan, and leads him to a … murder.

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About Gerald Elias: A graduate of Yale, he has been a Boston Symphony violinist, Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Utah, first violinist of the Abramyan String Quartet, and Music Director of the Vivaldi Candlelight concert series. Visit his website at GeraldElias.com.

Mysteries by Gerald Elias reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: Devil's Trill (2009).

Summer Savings on Thrilling Suspense Novels at eHarlequin.com

Through the end of this month only (August 31st, 2010), eHarlequin is offering $3 off any purchase of $15 or more from a list of featured thrillers and suspense novels. Both print and ebooks are included.

Click on the banner to the right to visit the Thrilling Suspense Stories page on eHarlequin.com. (It's a little unclear if a coupon code is needed or not; none is indicated on the list of print books, but the coupon code CHILLING is mentioned on the list of ebook titles, so it probably can't hurt to have it handy at checkout.)