Television adaptation: ‘The Coroner’ by Matthew Hall

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Matthew Hall is a British screenwriter and novelist, often credited as M.R. Hall, who practiced law until 1995 when he became a full time writer. His first novel “The Coroner” was published by PanMacmillan in 2009 and was shortlisted for the Crime Writer’s Association Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 2009. It is the first in the Jenny Cooper series which centers around Jenny Cooper, a lawyer who is appointed Severn Vale District Coroner. She is hoping for a quiet life where she can recover from a traumatic divorce but the office she inherits from the recently deceased Harry Marshall contains neglected files hiding dark secrets and a trail of buried evidence. Adapted into a television series by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it stars Serinda Swan as a recently-widowed coroner in Toronto who investigates suspicious deaths and has been renewed for a third season. The first season premiered on the CW on August 5.

In “The Coroner,” the tragic death in custody of a young boy seems to be linked to the apparent suicide of a teenage prostitute and the death of Harry Marshall, the previous coroner. Jenny discovers that Marshall was behaving strangely before his death and that he was investigating a case but abruptly changed his mind. In the face of powerful and sinister forces determined to keep both the truth hidden and the troublesome coroner in check, Jenny embarks on a lonely and dangerous one-woman crusade for justice which threatens not only her career but also her sanity. Subsequent books in the series include: “The Disappeared,” “The Redeemed,” “The Flight,” “The Chosen Dead,” “The Burning,” “A Life to Kill” and “The Innocent” – a short story.

In the television series, Jenny is a former ER doctor whose husband dies of an aneurysm and leaves them in debt because he had a gambling problem. She suffers from clinical anxiety and is haunted by her husband’s sudden death and her inability to save him since she was there when he collapsed. During her first case, she fires the senior coroner when she uncovers his apathetic attitude and afterwards she is faced with the possibility that his past cases will have to be re-investigated. It also stars Roger Cross as Detective Donovan “Mac” McAvoy who helps Jenny in her investigations. The first two episodes show promise and the troubled Jenny, who powers through her own demons to speak for the dead, is an intriguing character.

Television adaptation: Snowpiercer by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette

snowpiercerposter — Snowpiercer the series premieres Sunday May 17 on TNT. Photo: google

Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette are French comic book creators who created the post-apocalyptic French graphic novel Le Transperceneige. It was first published in 1982 under the title Le Transperceneige and later retitled The Escape. An English translation was released in 2014 by Titan Comics, consisting of two volumes: Snowpiercer: The Escape and Snowpiercer: The Explorers. A third volume, Terminus, was released in 2016, followed by a prequel series in 2019. In the graphic novel, an attempt to stop global warming via climate engineering catastrophically backfires and creates a new ice age, the remaining humans now ride the Snowpiercer, a circumnavigational train. It was adapted into the 2013 South Korean-Czech science fiction movie Snowpiercer starring Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer, John Hurt and Ed Harris. Now it is an upcoming television drama series that will premiere on TNT on Sunday May 17 and stars Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connally.

In Snowpiercer, humanity rides in a 1,001 car train called Snowpiercer starting in 2014. By 2031 they have become segregated by class with the elite in the extravagant front cars while the poor are forced into squalid tail compartments by armed guards. In the movie, Curtis Everett is a member of the lower class tail section who leads a revolution against the elite of the front of the train. The series is a reboot of the film’s continuity. It questions class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival and has already been renewed for a second season.

Television adaptation: ‘Tales From the Loop’ by Simon Stålenhag

Simon Stålenhag is a Swedish artist, musician and designer specializing in retro-futuristic digital images focused on nostalgic Swedish countryside alternate history environments. Most of Stålenhag’s artwork was initially only available online but was later released for sale as prints. Since then, it has been turned into two narrative art books, “Tales From the Loop” in 2014 and “Things From the Flood” in 2016. Both focus on the construction of a supermassive particle accelerator called the Loop. The settings of his artwork have formed the basis for the Amazon television drama series Tales From the Loop. All eight episodes of the first season were released simultaneously April 3 on Amazon Prime Video.

Tales From the Loop science fiction drama television series based on Simon Stålenhag’s art book. It explores the mind bending adventures of the people who live above the Loop, a machine built to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe. The machine is now making possible what was once considered science fiction. It stars Rebecca Hall as Loretta, Tyler Barnhardt as Danny Jansson and Daniel Zohlgadri as Jakob.

I have not read the book, but after watching the first two episodes, it is understandable why Amazon calls it “perfect for fans of E.T. and Stranger Things.” The series is set in the 80s and has that nostalgic look and feel that has recently become popular. With science fiction themes like time traveling, body swapping and robots, it appeals to fans of The Twilight Zone who appreciate mind-bending stories.

According to Amazon, “Tales From the Loop” is the first narrative artbook from acclaimed author and artist Simon Stålenhag about a fictionalized suburban town in the 1980s inhabited by fantastic machines and strange, imaginative beasts. In 1954, the Swedish government ordered the construction of the world’s largest particle accelerator. The facility was complete in 1969, located deep below the pastoral countryside of Mälaröarna. The local population called this marvel of technology The Loop. These are its strange tales. From the same author who wrote the imaginative artbook The Electric State, this “haunting,” (The Verge) “sophisticated sci-fi” (The Nerdist) follows the bizarre stories from otherworldly creatures and is a page-turner readers will not be able to put down.

Television adaptation: ‘I Know This Much Is True’ by Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb is an American author of several novels including “I’ll Take You There,” “She’s Come Undone” and “I Know This Much Is True;” the last two were both selected for Oprah’s Book Club. He was the director of the Writing Center at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich and has taught Creative Writing in the English Department at the University of Connecticut. “I Know This Much Is True” is the bestselling novel about identical brothers Dominick Birdsey and Thomas Birdsey, who suffers from schizophrenia. Dominick struggles to take care of his twin brother while discovering the truth about his own family. It has been adapted into a limited television series that will air on HBO and premieres on Sunday May 10. Mark Ruffalo stars in the double role of Dominick and Thomas.

According to Amazon, in “I Know This Much Is True,” Dominick Birdsey, is a forty-year-old housepainter living in Three Rivers, Connecticut. He finds his subdued life suddenly disturbed when his identical twin brother Thomas, a paranoid schizophrenic, commits a shocking act of self-mutilation. Dominick is forced to care for his brother as well as confront dark secrets and pain he has buried deep within himself—a journey of the soul that takes him beyond his blue-collar New England town to Sicily’s Mount Etna, the birthplace of his grandfather and namesake. Coming to terms with his life and lineage, Dominick struggles to find forgiveness and finally rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his troubled twin.

Television adaptation: ‘The Bone Collector’ by Jeffery Deaver

Jeffery Deaver is an American mystery and crime writer who has written both stand-alone novels, “Mistress of Justice” and “The October List” and numerous series like the Rune Trilogy, the Location Scout series and the better known Lincoln Rhyme series. His works have appeared on bestseller lists around the world including, among others, The New York Times, The Times, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Los Angeles Times. The first novel in the Lincoln Rhyme series, “The Bone Collector,” which introduces Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic forensic criminalist, was adapted into a movie in 1999. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, is a new crime drama series based on the book and will premiere on NBC on Friday January 10, 2020. The series follows NYPD officers Amelia Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme as they solve cases together while attempting to catch the newly resurfaced serial killer known as the Bone Collector. It stars Russell Hornsby as Lincoln, Arielle Kebbel as Amelia and Michael Imperioli as Rick Sellitto, Lincoln’s partner.

According to Amazon, “The Bone Collector” revolves around Lincoln Rhyme, who was once a brilliant criminologist, a genius in the field of forensics until an accident left him physically and emotionally shattered. Now a diabolical killer is challenging Rhyme to a terrifying and ingenious duel of wits. With police detective Amelia Sachs by his side, Rhyme must follow a labyrinth of clues that reaches back to a dark chapter in New York City’s past and reach further into the darkness of the mind of a madman who will not stop until he has stripped life down to the bone.

Television adaptation: ‘The Family’ by Jeff Sharlet

Jeff Sharlet is an American journalist, author and contributing editor for Harper’s, Virginia Quarterly Review and Rolling Stone. His work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Esquire and The Washington Post and he has written the books “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” “C Street” and “Sweet Heaven When I Die.” “The Family” investigates the political power of The Family or The Fellowship, a secretive fundamentalist Christian association led by Douglas Coe. It was developed into a documentary web television miniseries that premiered on Netflix on August 9.

According to Amazon, in “The Family,” the group insists that they are just a group of friends, yet they funnel millions of dollars through tax-free corporations. They claim to disdain politics, but congressmen of both parties describe them as the most influential religious organization in Washington. They say they are not Christians, but simply believers. Behind the scenes at every National Prayer Breakfast since 1953 has been the Family, an elite network dedicated to a religion of power for the powerful. Their goal is “Jesus plus nothing.” Their method is backroom diplomacy. “The Family” is the startling story of how their faith, part free-market fundamentalism, part imperial ambition, has come to be interwoven with the affairs of nations around the world.

Television adaptation: ‘NOS4A2’ by Joe Hill

nos4a2 Joe Hill is an American author and comic book writer whose work includes the novels “Heart-Shaped Box,” “Horns,” “NOS4A2” and “The Fireman.” He has also written the short story collections “20th Century Ghosts” and “Strange Weather” as well as the comic book series Locke & Key, the latter which won the British Fantasy Awards in 2009 and 2012 and an Eisner Award in 2012. NOS4A2 focuses on a woman trying to save her son from a vicious, supernatural killer who has set his eyes on him. The television adaptation, consisting of ten episodes, will air on AMC starting on Sunday June 2 and stars Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx and Ashleigh Cummings as Vic McQueen.

“NOS4A2” follows Victoria “Vic” McQueen, a young working-class artist who has a secret gift for finding things, like a misplace bracelet, a missing photograph or answers to unanswerable questions. She also discovers that she has a supernatural ability to track the seemingly immortal Charlie Manx. Manx feeds off the souls of children, then deposits what remains of them into Christmasland, a twisted Christmas Village of Manx’s imagination where everyday is Christmas Day and unhappiness is against the law. He drives a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the vanity plate NOS4A2 which allows him to slip out of the everyday world and into the terrifying Christmasland. When Vic was young, she was the only girl to escape Manx’s evil grasp and now all grown up, she just wants to forget. But Manx has never forgotten Vic and now she must defeat Manx and rescue his victims, one being her own son, without losing her mind or falling victim to him herself.

Fan-favorite marathon of Supernatural on TNT

To celebrate the 300th episode of the hit series Supernatural, TNT has curated the top 25 fan-favorite episodes, which will air Monday February 4 through Thursday February 7 during a Fan-Favorite Marathon. (TNT, 2019)

In Supernatural, Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) lose their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. Subsequently, their father John raises them to be soldiers and teaches them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America and most importantly, how to kill it.

Episode rundown:
Monday, February 4, 2019
• 10am – Various & Sundry Villains
• 11am – Devil’s Bargain
• 12pm – Scoobynatural
• 1pm – Tall Tales
• 2pm – Mystery Spot

Tuesday, February 5, 2019
• 2am – Sex and Violence
• 3am – Monster at the End of This Book
• 4am – Good God, Y’all
• 5am – Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
• 10am – Exile on Main Street
• 11am – Two and a Half Men
• 12pm – You Can’t Handle the Truth
• 1pm – Family Matters
• 2pm – Clap Your Hands if you Believe

Wednesday, February 6, 2019
• 10am – Hello, Cruel World
• 11am – Defending Your Life
• 12pm – Slash Fiction
• 1pm – The Mentalists
• 2pm – What’s up, Tiger Mommy?
• 3pm – Remember the Titans
• 4pm – The Great Escapists

Thursday, February 7, 2019
• 10am – Clip Show
• 11am – Sacrifice
• 12pm – The Things we left Behind
• 1pm – Inside Man

Television adaptation: Deadly Class by Rick Remender

deadlyclass Rick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist and is best known for his work on Image Comics such as Deadly Class, Fear Agent, Black Science as well as Marvel Comics’ Uncanny X-Force. Deadly Class is an action genre graphic novel which follows students enrolled at King’s Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts, a secret high school in San Francisco as they train to become the next generation of top assassins for crime families across the globe. The television adaptation will premiere on Syfy on Wednesday January 16 and stars Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Luke Tennie, Liam James and Michel Duval.

Deadly Class begins with the story of teenage orphan Marcus Lopez Arguello as he transitions from living on the streets to being enrolled into a school of assassins. The academy is run by Master Lin and is composed of children of mob bosses and mass murderers who are learning the same trade as their parents. It then continues to follow the stories of the individuals enrolled in the academy and many of their eventual downfalls. Volumes in the series include Reagan Youth, Kids of the Black Hole, Snake Pit, Die for Me, Carousel, This Is Not the End, Love Like Blood and Never Go Back.

TNT’s limited series I Am the Night

iamthenight Director Patty Jenkins’ highly anticipated limited suspense drama, I Am the Night, starring Chris Pine premieres Monday, January 28, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) on TNT. Written by Sam Sheridan and inspired by true events, I Am the Night tells the gripping story of Fauna Hodel, a teenage girl who is given away at birth and grows up outside of Reno, Nevada. Fauna lives more-or-less comfortably with the mysteries of her origin, until one day she makes a discovery that leads her to question everything. As Fauna begins to investigate the secrets of her past, she meets a ruined reporter, haunted by the case that undid him. Together they follow a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Los Angeles gynecologist, Dr. George Hodel, a man involved in some of Hollywood’s darkest debauchery, and possibly, its most infamous unsolved crime. (TNT, 2019)

The project was shot in key iconic Los Angeles locations and landmarks including Sowden House, Greystone Mansion, Huntington Gardens, Chili John’s, The Boom Boom Room and many more. Cast includes India Eisley as Fauna Hodel, Tony Award Winner Jefferson Mays as George Hodel, Leland Orser as Peter Sullivan, Yul Vazquez as Billis, Dylan Smith as Sepp, Golden Brooks as Jimmy Lee, Justin Cornwell as Terrence Shye, Jay Paulson asOhls and Connie Nielsen as Corinna Hodel. I Am the Night is produced by Turner’s Studio T, with Jenkins, Michael Sugar with Pine and Sheridan serving as executive producers. Carl Franklin and Victoria Mahoney each direct two episodes.

TNT and Cadence13 will release a ground-breaking eight-part podcast documentary series, Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia, a companion to TNT’s six-episode suspense drama I Am the Night. The podcast series will premiere Wednesday, January 30 and joins Turner Podcast Network’s portfolio of podcasts available on Apple Podcasts and many other podcast platforms.

Root of Evil, executive produced by Emmy® award-winner Zak Levitt, EVP of Documentary Content at Cadence13, is the Hodel family’s story in their own words, a behind-the-scenes revelation of their family’s crimes, secrets and multi-generational struggles carrying the Hodel name. Family members will open up and share their own psychological traumas and perspectives on their ties to Hollywood’s notorious Black Dahlia murder.

Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro, daughters of Fauna Hodel, host the podcast series in first-person, telling their family’s sprawling story together with other Hodel brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. This is the first time they have opened up to publicly share their experiences of the family’s dark history with a story that spans generations, including their connection to the infamous Black Dahlia murder.

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