Alma Katsu's "Fiend"

Alma Katsu's novels include Red London, The Fervor, Red Widow, and The Deep. Prior to the publication of her first novel, she had a thirty-five-year long career as a senior intelligence analyst for several U.S. agencies, including the CIA and NSA, as well as RAND. Katsu is a graduate of the master's writing program at the Johns Hopkins University and received her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University. She lives in West Virginia with her husband and is a contributing reviewer for the Washington Post.

Here Katsu shares some ideas for the cast in an adaptation of her new novel, Fiend:

In the case of Fiend, this isn’t a hypothetical. We optioned Fiend for a TV series shortly after we buttoned up the final version of the manuscript, literally days after the Los Angeles wildfires. As an aside, when my film agent said we were going to go on submission, I thought she must be crazy but she was right. There was a lot of interest and despite everything going on in Hollywood at the time, we got a great offer.

There are four main characters in the novel. First is Zef, the father and patriarch of the Berisha family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in the world. The Berishas are known for being ruthless, but they’re also dogged by rumors that they’ve benefitted from an ancient power that’s somehow been gifted to them. They call it “the family blessing,” a power that sees things fall in their favor and that their enemies are punished. I could see Oscar Isaac as Zef: handsome but hard and ruthless. He’s got the strong facial characteristics needed for this character: the piercing eyes, strong jaw, prominent nose.

Even though there are multiple narrators, Maris is ostensibly the book’s protagonist. She’s the middle of Zef’s three children. She thinks she’s the obvious choice to take over as head of the family and the business empire, but since the Berisha empire is patriarchal and has been for a thousand years, that role belongs to her older brother Dardan.

Maris adores her father and wants nothing more than to win his approval. Ironically, she’s the only one that takes after Zef, with his ethnic features. The Berishas have selectively bred themselves to a Western ideal and Maris’s sister and brother both take after their mother, a former model. Maris is short and stockier, with wiry hair and an olive complexion. Alia Shawkat would be my choice for Maris, with her unconventional beauty and obvious intelligence.

Dardan is the reluctant heir. While he had been a spoiled brat as a child, as he’s been drawn into the company and made privy to the family secrets, he’s been sort of scared straight. He understands that he will be taking on a tremendous burden for the family, one that’s going to damn him for eternity. He takes after his mother: tall, handsome, more European looking than Zef and Maris, more god-like than merely attractive. A tragic figure. I don’t have an actor in mind but it could be a breakout role for a handsome unknown.

The last major character is Nora, the youngest child. She’s the wild one, the one that wants nothing to do with the family business, who not-so-secretly wishes they would stop being so ruthless and greedy (a most un-Berisha-like quality). I had Elizabeth Debicki in my head as I wrote the character. Nora, like Dardan, takes after Olga: tall, slender, classically beautiful. But she’s also a bit subversive and unconventional, which keeps her family off balance.

I suppose there is a fifth major character and that’s the Protector—if it really exists. You really have to read to book to find out more. I’ve had a conversation already with the studio about how the Protector will be portrayed and I think there’s a number of ways you could go. But there’s only one way in the book, and I can’t wait to see readers’ reaction to it.

Visit Alma Katsu's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Taker.

My Book, The Movie: The Hunger.

The Page 69 Test: The Hunger.

Writers Read: Alma Katsu (March 2020).

The Page 69 Test: The Deep.

The Page 69 Test: Red Widow.

Q&A with Alma Katsu.

The Page 69 Test: The Fervor.

Writers Read: Alma Katsu (April 2022).

My Book, The Movie: Red London.

The Page 69 Test: Red London.

The Page 69 Test: Fiend.

--Marshal Zeringue