Douglas Corleone's "Night on Fire"

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Douglas Corleone is a former New York City defense attorney and winner of the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Competition for One Man's Paradise. He now lives in the Hawaiian Islands with his wife and son.

Here he shares some preferences for the above-the-line talent for an adaption of his new novel, Night on Fire:

The initial inspiration for my protagonist, hotshot defense attorney Kevin Corvelli, was Robert Downey, Jr.’s character Harry Lockhart in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Downey is usually who I picture while writing Kevin Corvelli, though Downey’s a bit older than Kevin, and now, with the Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes franchises, maybe too mainstream. Still, I’d love to see him in the role.

Kevin’s law partner Jake Harper is an older attorney, a transplant from Houston, Texas. I picture a laid-back Jon Voight with gin blossoms. Their investigator Ryan Flanagan or “Flan,” hails from New Orleans, and is described in One Man’s Paradise as a “Billy Bob Thornton with different tattoos.”

In Night on Fire, Kevin’s client and eventual love interest is a stunning but troubled young bride charged with arson and murder. I envision Claire Danes for the role.

I love what Francis Ford Coppola did with John Grisham’s The Rainmaker, so he’d be my first choice to direct. Danny Boyle is perhaps my favorite director, so if Coppola isn’t available, I’d be delighted to work with Danny. And I thought Brad Furman did a stellar job with Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer, so I’d be interested to see what he could do with Robert Downey, Jr. as Kevin Corvelli.

All right, gentlemen and Ms. Danes – the ball is now in your court. Call me.

Learn more about the book and author at Douglas Corleone's website.

The Page 69 Test: One Man's Paradise.

The Page 69 Test: Night on Fire.

Writers Read: Douglas Corleone.

--Marshal Zeringue