Bantam picks up thriller in high-six-figure strike

First-time writer gets publisher to agree to 'Special Circumstances'

NEW YORK -- Could San Francisco lawyer Sheldon Siegel be another Scott Turow or John Grisham? Bantam certainly hopes so, having offered a whopping $850,000 Wednesday for Siegel's first novel, the legal thriller "Special Circumstances," as well as his next book.

Bantam publisher Irwyn Applebaum bypassed a Dec. 7 auction planned by agent Margret McBride with his preemptive world rights bid. New York editors had just received the manuscript the day before Thanksgiving.

"Special Circumstances" features hapless Mike Daley, a former public defender and priest who gets fired from his high-powered San Francisco criminal defense firm, and ends up defending a former colleague accused of murdering two firm members. The second book may have some of the same characters.

McBride has tapped Phil Raskin at Endeavor as co-agent for film.