I am pretty late on this, as Duane talked about over a month ago, but Duane Swierczynski has sold the film rights to The Blonde. The buyer? Actress Michelle Monaghan. Fans of crime films should know her, she has starred in Gone Baby Gone, Mission Impossible III and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

“The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a little harmless flirting. Harmless, that is, until the blonde leans forward and says, “I poisoned your drink.”

She tells Jack that unless she can keep someone within ten feet of her at all times, she’ll die. And if he wants the antidote, he’ll have to take her back to his hotel room and promise to stay by her side.

Jack thinks: psycho. But as the violent night wears on, and he encounters a relentless government assassin, a threatening voice on a cell phone, a deadly waitress, dirty cops, and shady cab drivers . . .

He begins to believe her.”

The book came to her attention via actor-turned-screenwriter Paul Leyden. Leyden and Monahan are friends (his wife is her best friend) and apparently were looking to work together on something.

It is great to see more and more crime novels being purchased for film. The genre has gone far beyond the simply “whodunits” and have complexity and depth in the characters. Many of them offer fantastic opportunities for actors looking for juicy roles.

Read the whole story from the L.A. Times.

Kudos to The Rap Sheet for bringing it to my attention.