Warner Bros buys into A Conspiracy of Paper

From Variety – Warner Bros has snapped up the rights to David Liss’ mystery novel, A Conspiracy of Paper, for Scott Free to produce. Danny Strong (Recount) is set to adapt the London-set story for the screen.

Set in early 18th century London, A Conspiracy of Paper is a thriller set against the beginnings of stock speculation and the retreat from a mineral-based currency. Story follows Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish former boxer living on the fringes of criminal society who becomes entangled with powerful financial giants.

No doubt the success of Sherlock Holmes helped this project along…

Book Jacket:

Benjamin Weaver, a Jew and an ex-boxer, is an outsider in eighteenth-century London, tracking down debtors and felons for aristocratic clients. The son of a wealthy stock trader, he lives estranged from his family—until he is asked to investigate his father’s sudden death. Thus Weaver descends into the deceptive world of the English stock jobbers, gliding between coffee houses and gaming houses, drawing rooms and bordellos. The more Weaver uncovers, the darker the truth becomes, until he realizes that he is following too closely in his father’s footsteps—and they just might lead him to his own grave. An enthralling historical thriller, A Conspiracy of Paper will leave readers wondering just how much has changed in the stock market in the last three hundred years. . . .

You can read an excerpt here.