Tom Lewis's "Hitler's Judas"

Hitler's Judas is the latest novel from Tom Lewis.

The main storyline:

Martin Bormann, possibly the closest man to Adolf Hitler, knows Hitler’s insane decision to invade Russia will destroy The Fatherland. Already in a position of enormous power, Bormann forms an intricate plan of escape. But Bormann has no intentions of escaping as a pauper.

When the right moment comes, Bormann leaves the doomed Third Reich forever, taking with him $50 million in stolen Nazi gold. His surprising destination is Pea Island, a lonely strip of sand north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Will his plan succeed?

The author shares some ideas about actors and directors for a film adaptation:

I am certain that most fiction novelists write their books believing they would make good screenplays/movies. I know I do. In the case of my trilogy, Pea Island Gold, I definitely had in mind at least a successful mini-series for television. As well, I firmly believe that each stand-alone novel would be quite adaptable to dramatic film.

As for Hitler's Judas, casting for such a movie should not be a problem. There are many actors who could play the roles of the major characters. If I were choosing, I would love to see Anthony Hopkins play Martin Bormann. Hopkins is a consummate artist, and has a similar body build as Bormann. Gene Hackman could also effectively show Bormann’s devious, cruel, yet brilliant nature.

For the strong hero in the novel (Horst von Hellenbach) I can see a couple of actors who could fill that role admirably: Jude Law, and Viggo Mortensen. Both have the sensitivity required, and both have the looks of an intelligent, aristocratic German officer.

Any number of blond female actors could play Elisabeth Kroll, but I think Anne Heche could do a great job of playing that selfish, ambitious character.

Finally, choosing someone for the important part of Sunday Everette would be far more difficult. Those female African American actors who are currently very popular are probably not tall enough. Perhaps that role might best be played by someone relatively unknown. Nonetheless, it would be a lot of fun to try to find her!

Two directors come to mind for this story: German born Michael Haneke, and Quentin Tarantino. Either could bring this book to an exciting film.

Read more about the Pea Island Gold trilogy -- Sunday's Child is the first volume -- at Tom Lewis's website.

--Marshal Zeringue