Victor Gischler's "Shotgun Opera"

Victor Gischler is the author of four hard-boiled crime novels. His debut novel Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. He earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His fifth novel, Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, is due out in June 2008 by the Touchstone/Fireside imprint of Simon & Schuster.

In March 2007 he applied the Page 69 Test to Shotgun Opera. Now he has taken the novel through the "My Book, The Movie" exercise and has come up with these ideas for a film adaptation:

I forget who said it, but somebody remarked Shotgun Opera would make a cool John Woo film. I guess I don’t have any problem with that. Shotgun Opera certainly has enough action. And it might have been excellent author J.D. Rhoades who said it reminded him of those Transporter films. That would be cool too. All of my novels have a cool dose of action, but it was Shotgun most of all that I wanted to have a “nonstop” feel, and so the above comparisons seem pretty good to me. If you took John Woo and a healthy pinch of that Robert Rodriguez quirkiness, I think you’d have it.

The protagonist of the book is a fellow named Mike Foley. Mike is in hiding now from him past life when he and his brothers hired out as freelance guns for the mob. Mike is in his mid-sixties, and I think Gabriel Byrne would be perfect for the part if he’d let the makeup artists age him by 10-12 years. I think he’d nail the part.

Casting the Three Sisters would be crucial and tricky. Nikki Enders (the oldest sister) needs to be somebody athletically kick-ass and in her mid-thirties. Hilary Swank? Hmmmmm. Maybe. Eva Longoria might make a good Middle Sister, and Baby sister needs to be some fierce-eyed, seventeen-year-old punk newcomer.

And let’s not forget our carnival freaks. I’m not sure who should play Jack Sprat, but his Alligator-wrestling wife should definitely be played by wrestler Joanie Laurer.

I suppose most authors think their novels would make pretty good films. I’m no different. My first novel Gun Monkeys is currently under option and The Pistol Poets has been optioned previously. There are some folks looking at Suicide Squeeze right now. But so far not a lot of film interest in Shotgun Opera. I think it’s a screenplay waiting to happen.

Visit Victor Gischler's Blogpocalypse.

The Page 69 Test: Shotgun Opera.

--Marshal Zeringue

Matt Beynon Rees' "The Collaborator of Bethlehem"

Matt Beynon Rees is an award-winning foreign correspondent and author of the nonfiction work Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East.

His debut novel, The Collaborator of Bethlehem, is the first in a series about Palestinian sleuth Omar Yussef. Rees lives in Jerusalem.

Here he explains the origins of the story, the problems (and opportunities) with adapting the novel for the screen, and speculates about who might play his protagonist:

The spark for my novel The Collaborator of Bethlehem was my friendship with a Palestinian in late middle-age who lives in the Dehaisha Refugee Camp, a southern neighborhood of Bethlehem. I admired this man deeply for his integrity and decency, despite the violence engulfing his community during the intifada. But I also found him to be extraordinarily prickly. He would become angry at me for my misunderstandings of Palestinian life, for my friendships with others whom he didn't trust, or simply for not having to undergo the same humiliations that were a daily source of pain to him. I made considerable allowances for the pressures under which he lived and enjoyed his wonderful insights and great humor, but even so it was difficult to face his occasional wrath.

On a break from covering the intifada for Time Magazine, in a hotel room in Rome, I decided to turn my friend into Omar Yussef, the schoolteacher forced to turn detective in a lawless Bethlehem. It struck me that instead of feeling hurt by my friend's outbursts, I could view them as research. Omar made it possible for me to grow even closer to my friend.

When I wrote the book, I always had this friend's image, voice and thinking in my mind. I didn't need to place an actor in the role of Omar Yussef -- though I believe that's a good technique for writers seeking to make their characters concrete in their own heads. I always had this friend -- and other friends on whom the main characters are based -- before me.

But as soon as the book sold to Soho Press in the U.S., people began to ask, "Who'll play the lead in the movie version?"

Of course, it depends on just who buys the movie rights. It strikes me that it isn't likely to be a big studio, because even though the book isn't political I think big studios would be put off simply by the fact that it's about the Palestinians. That makes it unlikely that Al Pacino will play Omar -- though his ability to be both raging and soft would make him terrific for the role. I doubt the movie will be made in Arabic and, in any case, the best Arabic crossover actor, Omar Sharif, is now a little too old for Omar. (I'd expect it to be filmed in the Middle East, of course -- though Bethlehem might be too sensitive a location, because some local institutions get it in the neck in my book.) Most likely, it'll be made by a smaller production company, perhaps in a co-production stretching across many European (financing) borders.

My pick would be Bruno Ganz, the great Swiss actor. Omar has to demonstrate a wide range of emotions, from the sympathetic relationship he has with his granddaughter to the prickliness of his friendship with Bethlehem's police chief to the bravery and aggression with which he confronts the lawless gunmen of the town. Ganz could handle that. If you've seen him as the sensitive waiter in the wonderful Italian love story Bread and Tulips or as Adolf Hitler in his final days in Downfall, you'll know what I mean about Ganz's range.

He also seems to speak just about every European tongue, so whoever finances the movie can ask him to play Omar in their language. Whether he's shooting in Tunisia or Turkey.

Read more about the novel at Matt Beynon Rees' website and his blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Collaborator of Bethlehem.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer's "Agnes and the Hitman"

Bob Mayer is the New York Times bestselling author of over 35 books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Two of his more recent books -- Don’t Look Down and Agnes and the Hitman -- were written with Jennifer Crusie.

Here Mayer explains how he and Crusie use the movies to aid their collaboration:

When Jenny Crusie and I co-write, we start with two characters. The hero and the heroine. Because we're 600 miles apart we have to help each other with the characters. So we end up picking actors and actresses to be the templates for our characters so the other person can visualize them. And not just the name, but the role they were in, because that means a lot too. So for Don’t Look Down, Jenny picked Lucy Lawless to play Lucy Armstrong, her heroine. I used Kurt Russell in the movie Soldier. For Agnes and the Hitman, Jenny picked Selma Blair and I used George Clooney from the movie The Peacemaker.

Read an excerpt from Agnes and the Hitman and an excerpt from Don’t Look Down, and learn more about the books at Jenny Crusie's website and Bob Mayer's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Elisabeth Ladenson's "Proust’s Lesbianism"

Elisabeth Ladenson is Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

Earlier this year she applied the Page 69 Test to her latest book, Dirt for Art's Sake: Books on Trial from Madame Bovary to Lolita.

Here she sketches the story behind the film adaptation of her first book, Proust’s Lesbianism:

I have always been amazed that Hollywood had not until now recognized the tremendous cinematic potential of academic literary criticism. Luckily, Marshal Zeringue has now rectified this by selling Miramax an adaptation of my first book, Proust’s Lesbianism. And as though Marshal’s screenplay were not compelling enough, he has convinced them to sign Kevin Spacey for the part of Marcel Proust. Spacey spends much of the action looking through a keyhole taking notes as Albertine (Keira Knightley) and Andrée (Christina Ricci), go at it in a luxurious Belle Époque brothel. He then returns to his cork-lined room to write volumes 5, 6 and 7 of his great novel. In the meantime, the action is framed by the reminiscences of a middle-aged academic (Kathy Bates) as she recalls her attempts to get her first book published so as not to lose her job at a prominent state university founded by Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte, reprising this role in a cameo).

If this film does as well as predicted, the sky’s the limit for film adaptations of academic monographs. Who has not dreamt of a movie version of Derrida’s Of Grammatology, to name only the most obvious example?

Read more about Proust’s Lesbianism at the publisher's website.

The Page 69 Test: Dirt for Art's Sake.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law"

Matthew Warshauer is Associate Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University and author of Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law: Nationalism, Civil Liberties, and Partisanship.

His subject is already featured on the $20 bill and presides over Jackson Square in my hometown, so who would Warshauer cast in a film adaption of his book?

I’ve given a lot of thought to who could possibly play Andrew Jackson, especially in a military role and one that involved the first time that civil liberties were ever suspended in the United States. The difficulty is that the Battle of New Orleans involved such amazing contrasts, relating to both Jackson and what his various decisions generated in the city. On the one hand, he achieved a military success never paralleled in the young nation’s history. On the other, he utilized decidedly unconstitutional means in order to secure that victory. Moreover, he never lost a night of sleep in making such a decision. There have been a couple of movies on the Battle of New Orleans, the most well known of which was The Buccaneer, which starred both Yul Brynner, as the pirate Jean Lafitte, and Charlton Heston as Jackson. Produced way back in 1958, it had all the classic elements of a nationalist tale of heroism and challenge. It certainly did not portray Jackson as much less than the towering hero.

Here is the difficulty in adding my book, Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law, which addresses the duality of Jackson’s image; both his heroism and despotism. One of the big issues related to Jacksonian scholarship is Jackson’s character. Some historians think he was unhinged. I agree that Jackson could be brutal and quite willing to resort to violence, but I do not agree that he was a nutcase.

In considering who could play Jackson for a movie rendition of my book, I had to consider someone who could portray Jackson’s intensity and amazing magnetism, and also his intolerance for those who attempted to thwart his will, as well as his ability to explode into tirades. There is only one choice to play the role: Al Pacino. He’s got it all. Consider his role in Scent of a Woman. Viewers both loved and loathed him for his unique, complex, and oftentimes mean spiritedness. At the bottom, however, viewers came away with the sense that he did have something to offer, a quality and conviction that mattered, a devotion to some greater principle. This was most certainly Jackson. Pacino will have to work on a little Tennessee Southern twang, and perhaps stand on a soap box for height, but that can certainly be worked out. -- Without question, Al Pacino is the man.

Read more about Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law at the publisher's website.

Matthew Warshauer is also the author of the forthcoming Andrew Jackson: First Men, America’s Presidents. His articles have appeared in Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Connecticut History, Louisiana History, and New York History.

The Page 69 Test: Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law.

--Marshal Zeringue

Rick Mofina's "A Perfect Grave"

Rick Mofina's third book in the acclaimed Jason Wade series, A Perfect Grave, releases today.

Here he explains which talented (and bankable) actor he'd like to see in the lead role of the film adaptation of his novel:

Sure, I admit I have often cast a movie version of my books. It's fun to play around. Actually, I always pictured Ethan Hawke in the role of Jason Wade, a crime reporter with the Seattle Mirror, who is the lead in my newer series. It debuted with The Dying Hour, which was named a finalist for 2006 Thriller Award by the International Thriller Writers. It was followed by Every Fear and A Perfect Grave, released September 2007.

Wade is loner who grew up in the shadow of a brewery in a blue-collar neighborhood. His old man, Henry Wade, is an alcoholic who crawled into a bottle after Jason's mom walked out on them years earlier when Jason was just a kid.

Henry Wade let go of life to take a job in a brewery, haunted by an incident that happened a life time ago when he was a rookie Seattle cop. He never revealed his dark secret to Jason, who refused to be dragged down with his old man as he battled his demons.

Jason instead pursues his dream, putting himself through community college driving a forklift while freelancing crime stories. He eventually beats the odds, and several arrogant wealthy interns from big schools, to land a staff reporter covering crime at the Mirror.

Ethan Hawke, has the still-waters-run-deep, persona to capture Jason. He has the dark, quiet intensity I see in Jason. Hawke's mind-blowing Oscar-nominated job supporting Denzel Washington in Training Day did it for me.

Jason's gritty, edgy, but honest, hard-working, afraid at times, but the kind of guy who just will not give up. He learns from the mistakes he makes along the way to becoming what he is: An every day hero who does not consider himself a hero. A kind of Springsteen-esque street warrior.

Jason first saves himself from what should have been a dead-end life, then he works on rescuing his old man.

For the role of Henry Wade, I always thought of two guys. Nick Nolte, or Harvey Keitel. Each has the presence, weight and depth to play a man whose spirit died in single-life changing instant that haunts him. An incident he cannot disclose or discuss it. One so painful it has to be numbed by alcohol.

To see Hawke and either, Nolte or Keitel, take my story from the page to the screen would be very cool.

In addition to the Jason Wade series, Mofina's novels include Be Mine, If Angels Fall, Cold Fear, No Way Back, and Blood of Others, which won an Ellis award for Best Novel. He won a second Ellis award for his short story “Lightning Rider” in the anthology Murder in Vegas.

The Page 69 Test: Every Fear.

Visit Rick Mofina's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Chris Knopf's "Two Time"

Chris Knopf is the author of two Sam Acquillo Hamptons mysteries, The Last Refuge and Two Time.

He took Two Time through the "My Book, The Movie" exercise and came up with this take for a film adaptation:

Now that Dreamworks has greenlighted Marshal's script for Two Time, I guess we have to think casting.

Sam Acquillo is perfect for Sean Penn. Sam's in his early 50's - older than Sean, but not by much, and by the time this gets through development he'll be much closer, right? Plus, it's much more impressive for an actor to stretch a little older than go younger. Sam's a physically vital 50's, who likes to stay in shape, notwithstanding a tendency to smoke and drink too much.

He's not a classically handsome guy, but women go for him. He's got a big, busted up nose and curly gray hair. He's an ex-pro boxer. He has an inner rage that manifests itself in a calm and disciplined outward demeanor, until the provocation gets to be too much. In fact, anger management and eruptions of violence are two of Sam's livelier qualities. Think Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence.

Sam's very intelligent and well educated. He's had a successful corporate career as a design engineer, which he blew up. Along with his home life. So there's loads of inherent tragedy in his situation, well leavened by a cynical, mordant wit.

He's trying to achieve a rapprochement with his grown daughter, whom he loves unconditionally. More fodder for dramatic expression.

In the Sam Acquillo books, all the action takes place in the Hamptons, though mostly the Hamptons few know about. You get to flash on the glitterati, but the action is on the back roads, working class neighborhoods and dive bars. I think Sean is one of very few actors who'd be able to keep all this in balance, without tipping into cliché, using the various contradictory elements to good dramatic and comic effect.

For his principle love interest, Amanda Anselma, I'd want to cast Annabella Sciorra, with her Italian beauty, underlying sexuality and gift for tragedy. (Though in my mind's eye I admit Amanda sort of looks like Anne Archer at about forty with a really nice tan.)

With some thicker, redder hair, freckles and both her comic and tragic personas in full force, Drew Barrymore would make a great Jackie Swaitkowski.

If Rick Schroder would agree to add about fifty pounds, he'd be great as Joe Sullivan. Orlando Bloom would also have the chance of a lifetime to play slightly older as Burton Lewis. (As would Jude Law if Orlando was busy.) Bob Hoskins would own Paul Hodges and Christina Ricci could play his daughter Dotty in her sleep.

Ben Affleck, an underrated actor, could project the complex, high-energy, self-absorbed, yet slightly sinister nature of Butch Ellington. It would be interesting to see him play against Rosie O'Donnell as Butch's wife Dione. Parker Posey will have to play Appolonia Eldridge, that's obvious.

I think I've busted the casting budget, but could someone see if Jim Carrey's available for a cameo as Ross Semple? I think his body-of-work would benefit from another dramatic part, but Ross would also give him a chance to show flashes of inner lunacy.

As far as directors, Sean Penn said Clint Eastwood was "the least disappointing icon I ever met." With that sort of endorsement, maybe they'd like to team up again. If not, Paul Thomas Anderson or David Cronenberg are skillful with tense, intimate interplay, have a nice sense of place and pull highly credible and distinctive dialogue out of their actors.

Visit Chris Knopf's website to learn more about the Sam Acquillo Hamptons mysteries.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nathan Walpow's "The Manipulated"

Nathan Walpow is the author of The Manipulated, the latest of his four "Joe Portugal" mysteries.

Joe Portugal in the movies? Why not? Here's who his creator sees populating the adapted films:

I've thought about casting my protagonist, Joe Portugal, a TV commercial actor who keeps stumbling over dead bodies, pretty much since the first book came out in 1999. Never came up with anyone I've been truly happy with. A few years ago I started considering Hank Azaria (who I was in a comedy improv class with a couple of decades ago). He'd be good, but seeing him doesn't quite make me jump up and say, "Hey, that's Joe." Another name that's come to mind lately is Steve Carell. I've seen him in a couple of movies, and I think he'd work nicely, but again I don't experience the that's-Joe moment. I watch The Daily Show every day, and Jon Stewart would be right physically; he's got the comedy chops, but I'm not sure about the more serious stuff. Finally, give him a few more years, and I'd consider John Cusack, who I think is vastly underrated.

For Gina Vela, who starts out as Joe's best friend and by the fourth book is his wife, I would love to see Vanessa Marcil, who I've been watching on Las Vegas. She's a little young for the part, but I don't care. She got the right blend of smarts, cynicism, and hotness. I'd also be happy with Laura San Giacomo. And, of course, if someone insisted on casting Salma Hayek, I wouldn't argue.

For Joe's father, Harold The Horse Portugal, we've got to have Alan Arkin. For Alberta Burns, the homicide detective who becomes Joe's friend, I'd like April Grace, who I first saw on Joan of Arcadia. For Eugene Rand, Joe's not-quite-ready-for-social-interaction friend, I'd like Todd Louiso, who was so good in High Fidelity. For Ronnie McKenzie, Joe's next-door-neighbor and protege ... well, hell, we might as well have Scarlett Johansson. And for John Santini, who only showed up in The Manipulated, the most recent book -- but will be a big part of future ones -- I'd like Jon Polito, who's been in a bunch of Coen Brothers movies (not that I'm a big fan of Coen Brothers movies).

Read an excerpt from The Manipulated and learn more about Nathan Walpow and his books and short stories.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sam Reaves's "Homicide 69"

Sam Reaves was raised in small Midwestern towns but has lived in Chicago or its environs for most of his life. He was president of the Midwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America from 2001 to 2003. He has published eight novels prior to Homicide 69, five as Sam Reaves and three as Dominic Martell.

Here he takes Homicide 69 through the "My Book, The Movie" exercise:

I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it, though the literary purist in me wants to resist seeing things in Hollywood terms. I definitely do not have actors in mind when I write the book; the characters in my mind’s eye are creations out of whole cloth. It’s when the book is finished that the thoughts start to sneak in: the dream of a movie sale, the idle pastime of wondering who might play the roles. Maybe a Russell Crowe type of look....

In all honesty, I’m handicapped by my relative lack of familiarity with Hollywood actors. I don’t watch a whole lot of movies, and I can’t always put a name to a face I recall. Russell Crowe I can identify, but I don’t think there’s a role for him in Homicide 69, my latest novel, which tracks a Chicago homicide dick through the turbulent summer of 1969. So who do we go with?

Mike Dooley is middle-aged and starting to get worn down by the job, a man who in his youth spent three long years out in the Pacific fighting the Japanese and has twenty hard years on the job. I can see him clearly: a sturdy, athletic man (he played a year of minor league baseball in that last idyllic summer before the war) a shade over six feet tall, broad in the shoulders and steady on his feet, starting to thicken a little around the waist but still a formidable opponent in a fight. The hair is going gray at the temples and the eyes have a bit of a heavy-lidded, hooded look; they’ve seen it all. Dooley is a man with a mission in a department with too many cops for sale. “My job is to catch killers, and I don’t expect anything for it but a paycheck,” he says.

There are probably a lot of actors who could do a jaded homicide dick to perfection, so let’s narrow the field a little. Homicide 69 is a Chicago book, deeply rooted in the city’s history and culture, and it deserves Chicago actors. Nothing steams me like movies supposedly set in Chicago in which all the actors sound as if they’re from New York. If Homicide 69 gets to the big screen, I want to see Chicago guys up there. And let’s start with the director: I can’t think of anyone better to make this film than Michael Mann, the Chicago guy who made Thief and Crime Story. Mann grew up in sixties Chicago and is eminently qualified to put a credible version of it on the screen.

As for Dooley, I run through the list of actors I know, and another Chicago guy pops up, not least because he’s worked with Michael Mann: William Petersen. He’s about the right age and has about the right persona. He’s got the look, the presence, the gravitas and the attitude. He could capture Dooley’s stubborn integrity in a corrupt world.

Finally, there would be a bit part late in the film for a man who really was a Chicago cop during the summer of 1969. While researching the book I came across a small item in the Chicago Tribune that referred to an arrest made by “policeman Dennis Farina.”

I’m not going to tell you what part Farina would play, because it would be a spoiler. When you read the book you’ll see it.

Homicide 69 is all about Chicago, and only Chicago guys can do it justice on the screen.

Visit Sam Reaves's website and his blog.

Read an excerpt from Homicide 69 and see how the Page 69 Test served the novel.

--Marshal Zeringue

Vicki Lane's "Elizabeth Goodweather" books

Vicki Lane is the author of three "Elizabeth Goodweather" novels with a fourth on the way in the coming year.

Here she runs the novels through the "My Book, The Movie" exercise:

Who could play the leading roles in a movie made from my book? Who might direct?

Jeez, Marshal asks the hardest questions.

Okay, I’m thinking a trilogy with my first three books and I’ll ask the Coen Bros. to direct simply because a.) I adore them and b.) if they can do a movie around a pregnant sheriff from a small town in Minnesota, a fifty-something Appalachian widow with a law enforcement significant other ought not to be too much of a stretch for those boys.

There are only two of my characters in the current three books that I’ve actually visualized as looking like actors. Phillip Hawkins, the burly, balding ex-detective friend/love interest of my protagonist Elizabeth Goodweather, is described as looking “like Danny DeVito, but tall.”

The other is Aidan, a performance artist in Art’s Blood, of whom an onlooker drools, “that blond boy ... quite delicious. Just like that gorgeous elf in the Lord of the Rings films.” That, of course, would be Orlando Bloom.

But I think Maggie Smith could do justice to Lily Gordon, the aristocratic dowager with a secret in Art’s Blood and Anne Hathaway (Becoming Jane) looks just right for Rosemary, Elizabeth’s older daughter who takes a major role in Old Wounds.

And that was as far as I could go. So I turned to my friend Gretchen who lives in Hollywood and knows about this stuff. Her (abridged) list for Signs in the Blood is below with my comments in italics.

Elizabeth: needs to be tall and not beautiful – handsome would be nearer the mark. And she’s in her fifties and looks it. Though this may never happen in Hollywood.

Penelope Ann Miller (perfect look, nice voice)

Vanessa Redgrave (needs no explanation)

Susan Sarandon (empathetic; great-looking)

Little Sylvie: an Appalachian Botticelli

Dakota Fanning (right age, right look, freakishly believable in every part she plays)

Amanda Bynes (might get the young people into the movie theater)

Laurel: very tall, red dreadlocks

Maggie Gyllenhaal (great, offbeat look; could enhance the character's humorous side)

Milla Jovovich (can look believable when she's not covered in make-up, plus she'd also look great with dreadlocks)

Hawkins: since Danny DeVito’s too short, we have to look elsewhere

Jeff Daniels (affability also makes him instantly suspicious)

Robert Patrick (a face that practically screams, "I've got secrets!")

Don Johnson (stunt casting!)

Sam Neill (will make it easy to cast Elizabeth because every gal in town will want to co-star with him)

Dennis Quaid (looks right for the part and needs work

Robert Duvall (dream on)

Ed Harris (Robert Duvall, only younger)

James Garner (probably too old, but audience would root for him)

Treat Williams (looks right for the part; good actor)

Gene Hackman (probably too old, but he'd be great just because he's Gene Hackman)

Bruce Greenwood (my personal frontrunner; great-looking, believable, perfect)

Creepy but Sexy Snake Preacher: old bedroom eyes

Keith Carradine (too perfect to explain)

Jon Voight (an ugly, intense guy with buckets of sexual charisma) hey! Harice the preacher’s meant to be handsome!

Mark Harmon (has played Ted Bundy)

Lance Henriksen (great-looking, but believable as a pushy mountain preacher)

Creepy but Creepy Daughter-Raping Preacher: tall, thin, intense pale eyes

William Forsythe (gives me the willies just thinking about it)

Harry Dean Stanton (too easy)

Randy Quaid (looks crazy; can really convey evil when he wants to)

David Carradine (already extremely creepy; can squint like nobody's business)

Bill Nighy (take away that British accent and he would look right at home screwing his daughter and hearing voices)

Thanks, Gretchen....

Read more about the "Elizabeth Goodweather" books at Vicki Lane's website and her blog.

The Page 69 Test: Art's Blood.

--Marshal Zeringue