The Devil Made Him Do It
Erik Larson, author of the
best-selling Isaac's Storm, has decided on his next book of
historical nonfiction, which he's likening to both Ragtime and
The Silence of the Lambs. The Devil in the White City will look
back at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, focusing
specifically on Dr. Henry Holmes, who ran the World's Fair Inn,
where guests sometimes checked in but didn't check out. ''He was
America's first known serial killer, a cross between Ted Bundy
and Hannibal Lecter,'' says Steve Ross, editorial director of
Crown, who expects to publish the book in the fall of 2002.
Memoirs Sure to Strike a Chord
In other deals, Irish tenor
Ronan Tynan reached a $400,000 deal with Warner to write his
autobiography. ''He's overcome so many things,'' says Warner
editor Diana Baroni, who will publish the ''inspirational memoir''
in spring 2001.... Kiss cofounder and long-tongued,
makeup-covered rocker Gene Simmons — a.k.a. The Demon — has made a
six-figure deal with Crown to write his autobiography. Born
Chaim Witz in Haifa, Israel, Simmons will tell ''a classic
immigrant's tale mixed with a rock star's story,'' says Kristin
Kiser, the Crown senior editor who made the acquisition. ''Here
is a man who wears a mask on stage, and the book will reveal
what's behind that.'' The as-yet-untitled book will be out in
2002.
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