The entry begins:
The Dark Below is set in a small West Texas town on the northern rim of the Concho Valley—an austere landscape of scrub and cattle, scattered with abandoned Cold War infrastructure and the kinds of memories that never quite stay buried. The body of Chase Loudermilk, a student at the local community college, is discovered in a derelict, flooded missile silo on his family’s property. His death appears to be a suicide, but Teddy Drummond, his criminology professor, is unconvinced.Visit Sherry Rankin's website.
A former detective with a complicated home life, Teddy quit the force five years ago after a hostage negotiation ended in tragedy. Since then, she’s tried to live quietly—to be a good mother to her two children, to maintain an uneasy truce with her ex-husband, and to avoid the ethical and emotional quagmires she once navigated daily. But she also misses the excitement and sense of purpose police work once gave her.
Chase’s death doesn’t sit right with Teddy, and she allows herself to be drawn into an investigation that forces her to confront old guilt and divided loyalties—and to work alongside the woman who hates her most.
Teddy carries her own deep reservoir of personal grief, which she keeps carefully contained, throwing herself into work at the expense of her relationships. She has sharp professional instincts but feels profoundly uncertain as a mother and a friend. My dream casting for Teddy would be Emily Blunt. She has a rare ability to project intelligence and resolve without hardness, and she excels at conveying inner conflict through stillness and restraint. She could play Teddy as I imagine her—weary, capable, and quietly relentless.
Opposite her is Raina Bragg, Teddy’s former best friend turned bitter adversary. I can easily imagine her played by...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Killing Plains.
The Page 69 Test: The Killing Plains.
Q&A with Sherry Rankin.
My Book, The Movie: The Dark Below.
--Marshal Zeringue
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