Todd Merer's "The Extraditionist"

In his thirty years as a criminal attorney, Todd Merer specialized in the defense of high-ranking cartel chiefs extradited to the United States. He gained acquittals in more than 150 trials, and his high-profile cases have been featured in the New York Times and Time magazine and on 60 Minutes. A “proud son of Brooklyn,” Merer divides his time between New York City and ports of call along the old Spanish Main.

Here Merer shares his dreamcast for an adaptation of The Extraditionist, his first novel:

In my mind’s eye, when creating characters I view him or her as someone I’ve seen before. Even if I’ve only seen that someone via films. If I were to dream cast The Extraditionist, here are the actors I would love to see in the movie (note that some of my favorite movies are quite old, so my casting spans the decades of Hollywood history).

BENN BLUESTONE.   Bryan Cranston/Robert Mitchum/Robert Ryan
LAURA ASTORQUIZA.   Monica Bellucci
FELIPE MONDRAGON.   Claude Raines
KANDI KAUFFMAN.   Amy Schumer
RIGO.   Peter Lorre
JILLY.   Veronica Lake
FOTO.   Cesar Romero
FERCHO.   Leo Gorcey
TRAUM.   Brian Dennehy
VAL.   Klaus Kinski
GENERAL UVALDE.   Robert Duvall with a brush mustache
JOAQUIN BOLIVAR.   Richard Conte
NATTY GRABLE.   Akim Tamiroff
RAFAEL BORG.   Dennis Hopper
CHAZ SCALLY.   Abe Fish
NELSON CANO.   John Leguizmo
EVGENY KURSK.   Vladimir Putin’s twin brother

Learn more about The Extraditionist.

--Marshal Zeringue