Benderspink Attacking 'The Straw Men'
Filed under: Drama, Horror, Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Newsstand
Michael Marshall is one lucky writer -- he published a well-received trilogy, which was adapted into a comic series by Zenescope, and now The Straw Men are coming to the big screen. According to Variety, Benderspink has snatched the rights to the to the novels and the comic books, presumably in order to adapt some combination of them. Unfortunately, I can't rustle up a preview of the comic -- but you can check out the gorgeously creepy covers on Zenoscope. I'm not sure I could have these laying beside my bed, they're pretty nightmarish.
It sounds like the book is, too. The story begins with two men calmly opening fire at a McDonald's in Palmerston, Pennsylvania before jumping ahead ten years to meet up with Ward Hopkins, who is convinced the death of his parents was no accident. Elsewhere, a 14 year old girl is kidnapped by a serial killer, and two FBI Agents are on the manhunt to find him. These events are no coincidence, they're the first clues to the nightmarish individuals known as The Straw Men. Marshall's thriller has received nothing but praise -- Publisher's Weekly squeamishly noted its "dismemberment scenes," Stephen King praised it, and Newsarama is calling it "one of the best horror thrillers ever written."
There's no director or screenwriter attached yet -- and Benderspink is adapting every other graphic novel known to man, so this could sit in pre-production for awhile, which gives us all time to read the book. Has anyone out there read it or the comic? Tell us everything (well, not everything, but give us a good review) in the comments below.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-01-2008 @ 8:20PM
Dan said...
This is so COOL! I read The Straw Men YEARS ago, and then a few after that discovered that he wrote two sequels. It IS nightmarish...its creepy as all hell, but one of my favorite books. I've read it three or four times. It's violent, suspenseful, haunting...I'm PSYCHED.
Basically, the focus starts out with Ward, who comes home at the news of his parents death and he's really distraught and lost at the hands of the event. So, he is sifting through their belongings one day and he finds a note stuffed in his father's favorite armchair that says "we're not dead."
Meanwhile, the other two important protagonists, Nina and (John) Zandt are connected to one another before their story becomes interwoven with Ward's.
Basically, Nina is an FBI agent who is part of the investigatation of the (aforementioned in Elisabeth's article) kidnapping, and she contacts Zandt (who is a FORMER fed), because it is the same kidnapper that the two of them were involved with investigating years before-in edition to having an affair.
*****MILD SPOILER****
The reason why it is so personal for him is that one of the kidnapper's victims was his daughter.
I'm leaving out some of the beginning details, and I'm not going to elaborate further, so as not to spoil the book, but I have read in probably close to several hundred books in my lifetime, and this is by far one of my favorites. The characters are compelling (especially Zandt-who is badass as hell), the villian is terrifying-and real, and the mystery/storyline is great with some really unique twists. I really can't say enough good things about the series, though The Straw Men is my favorite by several strides. Take it from me, or Stephen King, read this book! It will be a SWEET movie!
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12-01-2008 @ 8:30PM
Dan said...
NOTE: My bad...Zandt used to be a plain old police detective, not a fed...my memory is a little hazy, its been awhile!
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12-02-2008 @ 4:49PM
nate said...
why palmerton of all places? how strange
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