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IUPUI PROFESSOR'S NEW NOVEL WRAPS BASKETBALL MANIA INTO A MURDER MYSTERY, READING SCHEDULED

INDIANAPOLIS - Academia, law and Hoosier basketball mania set the art-imitates-life background for author and IUPUI professor David Schanker's newest book - "Natural Law."

The "action-packed thriller" is a "philosophical mystery that examines our moral responsibility for our actions," Schanker said.

Schanker will read excerpts from "Natural Law" at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 29 in Room 508 Cavanaugh Hall, 425 University Blvd., on the Indiana University-Purdue University campus.

"Natural Law," released earlier this month as a sequel to Schanker's "A Criminal Appeal," is a drama about a Marion county deputy public defender who investigates the murder of an arrogant law professor. It features the return of heroine Nora Lumsey, and the introduction of a new character, police detective Luther Cox.

"Schanker effectively shuttles back and forth between (Lumsey's and Cox's) perspectives, giving the reader a view from both sides of a case that moves from raggedy trailer parks to well-appointed law school offices to the splendidly appointed domain of the real power at the university, the rapacious basketball coach," a reviewer wrote.

Schanker holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in fine art from New York University and Columbia University, respectively. The novelist, who also earned a law degree from IU School of Law - Bloomington, teaches creative writing and screenwriting in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

Mystery Writers of America nominated Schanker's 1998 "A Criminal Appeal" for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Dell published the novel in paperback. The book was also printed in a Japanese version.

After reading "A Criminal Appeal," Emmy-winning actress Camryn Manheim of "The Practice" grabbed the movie rights for the novel, and enlisted Whoopi Goldberg to co-star with her in a film adaptation.

However, Manheim's one-year option on turning "A Criminal Appeal" into a movie has been released, Schanker said. Several roadblocks, including Manheim's announcement that she was pregnant, halted planned production of a movie. The star gave birth to a son earlier this month.

Schanker says Manheim hasn't given up her plan to portray the heroine public defender in the English department professor's novel.

"She is still interested in starring in the film, hoping someone else may pick it up," or she may pick it up again herself," Schanker said.

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