Hearing that a comic novel takes place in a mine is not the best way to get my attention for a spot on this show. C’mon! A mine? And yet I’ve now fallen for that pitch twice with no regrets. The first was William Kent Kruger’s thrilling Vermillion Drift. And now I’m recommending writer Daniel Pyne’s second novel, A Hole in the Ground Owned by a Liar. It’s a very different story, an adventure with darkly comic overtones. Both books are page-turners; so much for anti-mines prejudice! DANIEL PYNE audio excerpt: "I was interested in doing things that I don't get to do when I'm writing films or television."  Pyne has an advantage as a storyteller in print. Besides having previously written a popular cult novel in Twentynine Palms, he’s best known as a successful, experienced Hollywood screenwriter. For example, Pyne was a writer on films such as Any Given Sunday, Pacific Heights, two really good Michael J. Fox movies, Doc Hollywood and The Hard Way, Fracture, the film version of Miami Vice, and the remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Last year, Pyne gave his all to the Fox television drama “Alcatraz,” produced by JJ Abrams and starring Sam Neill, Jorge Garcia, Parminder Nagra, Sarah Jones and Robert Forster. He was a writer, executive producer and co-showrunner on the series, which was cancelled after just one season. If you’re one of those people who still likes to discover a really good story, I heartily recommend Daniel Pyne’s A Hole in the Ground Owned by a Liar. Daniel Pyne • • • • •