Bryan Gruley's "River Deep"

Bryan Gruley is the Edgar-nominated author of seven novels and one award-winning work of nonfiction. A lifelong journalist, he shared in The Wall Street Journal's Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. A longtime Chicago resident, he now lives in northern lower Michigan with his wife, Pamela.

Here Gruley dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, River Deep:

If River Deep was a movie or, my preference, a streamed series, I would hope for Vince Gilligan, creator of my favorite series ever, Breaking Bad, to direct this cast:

Isa Briones, the prickly young doctor in TV’s The Pitt, as our courtroom hero, Devyn Payne. She’s attractive enough, tough enough, saucy enough. Different from my pick in Bitterfrost (the young agent from hit TV series Slow Horses), but I’d never seen Briones before.

Fiona Dourif, also from The Pitt, as the accused murderer Catriona Dulaney (OK, my wife and I love that series, but so does everybody else). Dourif's character in The Pitt wears an ankle monitor—just like Catriona. And she’s a tough redhead.

Jeff Daniels, Michigan guy, as Detective Garth Klimmek. This was my pick for Bitterfrost and I’m sticking with it. Like Klimmek, Daniels is great at playing a semi-grumpy but honest character.

Billy Bob Thornton—hell, yeah—as Hooper. He looks like I imagine Hooper would look, and could easily adopt Hooper’s near-cynical view of humanity—minus the southern accent.

Kyle Chandler as Jimmy Baker. Jimmy doesn’t have a point-of-view role in River Deep, but he’s still an important character. Last time I chose Timothy Olyphant, which would work too, but Chandler has the rugged looks of a good guy like Jimmy.

Jodie Foster as Circuit Judge Darlene Esper. Foster would be great at delivering the judge’s comic skepticism and dominance of her little world. Kate Winslet would work just fine, too.

Jack Lowden as Sammy Hardt. The Slow Horses heartthrob would draw viewers into Sammy’s character and then—sorry, no spoilers. Jesse Plemons of Breaking Bad or even Daniel Radcliffe could step into Sammy’s shoes.

Visit Bryan Gruley's website.

The Page 69 Test: Starvation Lake.

The Page 69 Test: The Hanging Tree.

The Page 69 Test: Bleak Harbor.

The Page 69 Test: Purgatory Bay.

The Page 69 Test: Bitterfrost.

Q&A with Bryan Gruley.

My Book, The Movie: Bitterfrost.

--Marshal Zeringue