also nonfiction, is Police Craft. Plantinga began his career in law enforcement in 2001 as a Milwaukee police officer. He is currently a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department assigned to street patrol.
Here Plantinga dreamcasts an adaptation of The Ascent, his debut novel:
My debut novel The Ascent is a thriller set in a violent maximum security prison. The main character is Kurt Argento, an ex-Detroit street cop. After running afoul of a corrupt local sheriff's department, he's imprisoned under false charges. Julie Wakefield, a grad student and the governor of Missouri's daughter, is touring the prison for a grad school class. A malfunction in the prison's security system releases a horde of prisoners and a fierce struggle for survival ensues. Argento has to help a small band of staff and civilians, including Julie and her state trooper handlers, make their way through the prison to safety.Visit Adam Plantinga's website.
I didn't start off with any particular actors in mind when I began writing The Ascent, although another character remarks that Argento looks like an even angrier Jason Statham. Argento is 5'9 and just over 200 pounds and exudes menace. He's one of the good guys but when you see him walking towards your car, you instinctively lock your doors. I think ideally the casting department would find him on a rugby field somewhere, possibly getting into a post-game brawl with the other team.
Julie Wakefield is cerebral and athletic, a distance runner who competes in endurance events. She doesn't have any of the training or experience Argento does, but she's tough and resourceful so when everything breaks down in the prison, she more than holds her own. I see her like a young Emily Blunt. Emily Blunt rules. She can range from playful (The Fall Guy) to convincingly gritty and dark (Sicario).
The Ascent was optioned by Universal for television last year so there's a chance, however slim, that it may find its way to the screen at some point.
--Marshal Zeringue
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