CASPER, Wyo. – A novel by Wyoming author C.J. Box is being used as the inspiration for a new TV series recently purchased by ABC Television.
According to Deadline, the series called “The Big Sky” is a procedural thriller that follows private detective Cassie Dewell and ex-cop partner Jenny Hoyt as they search for two sisters who were kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote Montana highway.
“The Big Sky” is based on Box’s 2013 novel “The Highway,” which is part of a series of books following the characters Cassie Dewell and Cody Hoyt.
The series is written and produced by David E. Kelly, who was hugely successful with several past TV series’ including “Ally McBeal,” “Picket Fences,” “Chicago Hope,” and more recently the HBO hit “Big Little Lies.”
In an interview with Cowboy State Daily, Box said the series will be “dark and scary.”
“A lot of people who have read (the script) say it is one of the creepiest things they’ve ever read,” he said. “The pilot I read scared me, even though I knew what was going to happen.”
Box told Cowboy State Daily he’s sold the rights to a number of books to production companies, but nothing until “The Highway” has been produced.
It’s not the first time a Wyoming author has successfully seen a book turned into TV gold.
The A&E series “Longmire” ran for six seasons and was based on Wyoming’s Craig Johnson’s book series “Walt Longmire Mysteries.” The annual Longmire Days in Buffalo celebrates the character and town that inspired the books.
