Attack of the Clowns. (Sorry. I meant Clones.)

The NY Times' Janet Maslin has been complaining about the explosion of Da Vinci Code imitators on the market. Put that together with brilliant serial killer stuff, Harry Potter wannabes, and about all that's left is romance and chicklit. Oh, sorry, there's Christian Apocalypse Lit like the aptly named Left Behind series. (I'm thinking of writing my own version, the Right Behind series; two cheeks are better than one.)

After reading Maslin's article, David Thayer e-mailed me his plot for a sure-fire bestseller (no, you can't have it):

What if Hannibal was living in wine country waiting for the label on a new release to signal an army of skeletons rising from the soil of Napa Valley to ravage the countryside? And only a perky winemaker fresh out of UC Davis can save the Bay Area?

By "Hannibal" I'm assuming he means Hannibal Lecter, though Mr. Thayer is a bit of a Roman-Empire scholar, so he might mean the Carthaginian guy with the elephants. Either way, it sounds like a winner. Add in an explanation of why the Smiley-Face symbol suddenly became so widespread in the 70s, and how Jesus' descendents were linked to the killing of JFK, and we'll never need another popular novel again.

Or did I miss something?