American columnist and bestselling author Ellis Henican will write the official “as told to author” account of the historic Luang Cave rescue operation for publisher Ballantine Books.
It is to be titled Into the Dark: The Dramatic Story of the Thai Cave Rescue.
Ballantine, a division of Penguin Random House, acquired the English-language rights to the story from the Creative Artists Agency in an auction that just wrapped up this week, reported the New York Post.
The book will, reportedly, use alternating first-person accounts from each of the boys from the Wild Boar boys soccer team, their young coach Ekkapol Chantawong, and divers Dr. Craig Challen and Dr. Richard Harris.
“There’s a lot that nobody knows yet — the whole back story of who these kids really are and what exactly went on inside the cave. Also how the rescuers, especially the two Aussie cave-diving doctors, figured out how to sedate the kids and dive them out unconscious,” said Henican, the author.
“We have exclusive cooperation from all the key players.”
Henican is most known for his work as a columnist for Newsday and AM New York as well voicing the character “Stormy” on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim animated series Sealab 2021. He is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller The Party’s Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat.
Clearly, he is a man with diverse interests.
According to a Ballentine spokeswoman, they are aiming for a hardcover publication “hopefully in 2019.”
From books to documentaries to movies, it appears there’s no shortage parties in the entertainment industry fighting for the rights to tell the historic story.
