A farang is dead and the Bangkok police have a confession the next morning from a young paint-thinner addict. He claims he killed Ben Hoadly, an expat Brit, but Calvino has his doubts when he sees heavy bruises on the kid’s face. In no time Calvino is working both sides, out to find the killer for Hoadly’s wealthy father, and eager to clear the addict’s name for a beautiful friend who runs a charity in the slums. With the help of his best friend, Pratt, a Shakespeare quoting Thai police colonel, and his loyal assistant, Ratana, Calvino plunges into the dangerous world of addicts, dealers, fortune tellers, inexpensive hit men, oversexed foreigners, and professional bar girls.

Palmer is also putting together a draft for the upcoming movie Dune. Production for Spirit House is still in the baby stages at this moment, so nobody else is reported to be attached. It’s pretty easy to assume that they want to make a franchise out of this, given the plain fact that this novel is one of eleven books that center on the same private eye character and his dangerous adventures. It’s now merely a matter of whether or not the execution will be good enough to boost that kind of revenue, as is the risk with every other potential franchise film out there nowadays.

The script was penned by first timer Julia Brownell and garnered attention from Iron Ocean Films. Brownell got some help and input for the story from Cameron Bunce and Dan Halsted who will also be producing. Biel is in the middle of filming for “The A-Team” and is part of the voice cast for the upcoming animated film “Planet 51″ that comes out in theaters November 20th.