(“the definitive Vancouver crime novel”), Cut You Down (“successfully brings Raymond Chandler into the 21st century”), and Hell and Gone ("the best crime writer in Canada").
Wiebe’s other books include Never Going Back, Last of the Independents, and the Vancouver Noir anthology, which he edited.
Wiebe’s work has won the Crime Writers of Canada award and the Kobo Emerging Writers prize, and been shortlisted for the Edgar, Hammett, Shamus, and City of Vancouver book prizes.
Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of Hell and Gone:
Hell and Gone is the third novel in the series featuring Vancouver PI Dave Wakeland. As such, it hearkens back to the classic film noirs like The Big Sleep, the great neo-noirs like The Conversation, and also to classic British crime shows like Prime Suspect and Luther. All of those are influences. But rather than take the easy route and dream cast, say 1970s Gene Hackman, I wanted to choose contemporary talent, because Hell and Gone is a story about modern-day violence.Visit Sam Wiebe's website.The Setup
Wakeland is the modern-day Jim Rockford (of The Rockford Files)—the person you want in your corner when there’s trouble. Tough, loyal, and handy with his fists, Dave is one half of Wakeland & Chen, Vancouver’s top private security firm. A capable and experienced detective, who’s seen just about everything.
But what happens in Hell and Gone shakes Wakeland to his core.
A robbery breaks out on the street in the early morning. Wakeland witnesses the violence from his office, getting a look at the shooters as they drive off. He leaps into action—literally jumping down from the fire escape to perform first aid on the wounded. A hero.
But when he enters the building where the shooters came from, he sees something so beyond his experience that when the police ask him what he witnessed, Wakeland refuses to say.
Soon Wakeland is caught between a ruthless police chief and a pair of gang leaders, all of whom want the shooters found, no matter the cost in human life.
The only way for Wakeland to come to grips with this is to find the shooters—before they find him.In Front of the Camera
Rather than a physical type, when I think of Wakeland I think of a mindset: competent, compassionate, driven. Wakeland starts out confident and gets badly shaken up, and then slowly, painfully, pieces himself back together as he pieces the case together.
I think Wyatt Russell (The Lodge, Winter Soldier) would do an interesting job as Wakeland, because he has the look of a classic television PI like Selleck or Garner, but can play haunted and obsessed, damaged in some way. That’s an interesting paradox.
A good runner-up would be Brian Gleeson (Phantom Thread, Love/Hate). Both fair haired second-generation actors, coincidentally! (Maybe I should add in Scott Eastwood…)
For Jeff Chen, Dave’s partner, Max Zhang (Zhang Jin) (Ip Man 2, Master Z) would be a great pick. I really like him in the Ip Man films. Jeff has a grounded but debonair attitude to the security and private eye business, which conflicts with Wakeland.
After the shooting, a mysterious woman in a green jacket shows up following Wakeland. Celina Jade (Arrow, Triple Threat) has an elegance and danger that would work for the part.Behind the Camera
Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) or Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin) would be my choices. The look of the city and the immediacy of the action are key—Hell and Gone is a story about violence in contemporary Vancouver.
I think Gorrman Lee (The Order, The Imperfects) or Theresa Rebeck (NYPD Blue) would do a bang-up job on the script.
There are certain elements, such as the Vancouver setting, which I think are important to keep, and others (Wakeland’s appearance) which I’d be happy to see changed in service of telling a great story.
My Book, The Movie: Invisible Dead.
Q&A with Sam Wiebe.
The Page 69 Test: Hell and Gone.
--Marshal Zeringue
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