One fascinating film and very different books....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION: MYSTERY/CRIME:

NYT bestselling author Patrick McManus's THE DOUBLE JACK MURDERS, from the Bo Tully mystery series, again to Amanda Murray at Simon & Schuster, by Phyllis Westberg at Harold Ober Associates.

THRILLER:

NYT bestselling author of L.A. OUTLAWS and the forthcoming THE RENEGADE T. Jefferson Parker's next two books, again to Ben Sevier at Dutton, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group (NA).

Screenwriter David Schow's INTERNECINE, in which a jaded LA ad exec picks up a strange key, and quickly finds himself in the center of a plot involving the darkest secrets of modern espionage, the hidden history of Hollywood, and some very big guns, to John Schoenfelder at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal, for publication in Winter 2010, by John Silbersack and Scott Miller at Trident Media Group (NA).

FILM:

Duane Swierczynski's SEVERANCE PACKAGE, about a corporate media relations director who learns that the firm was a front for a covert intelligence agency that is being shut down immediately, with every manager scheduled to be terminated -- literally, to Lionsgate, with Marc Platt and Adam Siegel producing, and Brett Simon attached to direct and co-write the script with Swierczynski, by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, on behalf of David Hale Smith of DHS Literary.

NON-FICTION
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

President of the Economic Strategy Institute and former trade advisor during the Reagan and Clinton Administrations, Clyde Prestowtiz's THE GREAT BETRAYAL: Learning to Speak Euro and Yuan in the Coming Post-Dollar World, a grand narrative history of the past sixty years that shows how the U.S. government has consistently subverted sound economic policy to geopolitical and great power ends, resulting in the weakened economic position we find ourselves in today; arguing that today, key U.S. business and Wall Street leaders, abetted by influential academic and political figures, continue to compromise America's long-term economic interests and that the key to a rapid turnaround, which is in our power, is to finally put to rest outdated economic theories, to Emily Loose at Free Press, by Susan Rabiner at Susan Rabiner Literary Agency.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Garry Wills's ROME AND RHETORIC: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, to Jennifer Banks at Yale University Press, in a very nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Andrew Wylie at The Wylie Agency (World).

Lincoln scholar and military historian Gary Ecelbarger's THE DAY DIXIE DIED: The Battle of Atlanta, painting a panorama of the most dramatic and decisive one-day battle (July 22, 1864) ever fought on American soil, a battle that killed or wounded one out of every six fighters and doomed the Confederacy, to Rob Kirkpatrick at Thomas Dunne Books, by Ed Knappman at New England Publishing Associates (World).

MEMOIR:

Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps' BUILT TO SUCCEED, promising to reveal the secrets of his success and go behind the scenes of his approach to training, competition, and winning, built around a narrative thread of the eight final swims of the 2008 Olympic games, with anecdotes about his family, his coach, his passion for the sport, and lessons learned from unexpected challenges and obstacles (he was raised by a single mother and overcame a diagnosis of ADHD), to Dominick Anfuso at Free Press, for publication in December 2008, by Scott Waxman and Farley Chase at the Waxman Literary Agency, in association with Peter Carlisle of Octagon.

REFERENCE:

YouTube sensation and philologist Marina Orlova's HOT FOR WORDS, a look at your most burning questions about the origins of words, to Bruce Nichols at Collins, in a very nice deal, by Frank Weimann at The Literary Group (World English).

UK:

Frank Coles's HOW TO DRIVE A TANK and other skills every man should have, the antidote to self-help books: this is 'the dangerous book for men' -- including how to hot-wire cars, where to hide your financial assets, unarmed combat, disappearing without trace, how to tie a bow tie, pick a lock, and many other practical skills real men should have, to Tim Whiting at Little Brown UK, in a very nice deal, for publication in 2009, by Ian Drury at Sheil Land Associates.

Wrap...