1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After talking to them on the phone, Zhou Yan didn't work anymore and went straight to bed. He was quite tired after running around all day.

When Zhou Yan was sleeping, it was just 12:30 noon New York time.

Harry Kane was playing golf with his friends outside when he suddenly received a call from Zhang Youan. He put away his club and went home without finishing his game.

Around two o'clock, a young man rang his doorbell and handed him a manuscript.

Harry Kane was overjoyed when he got the manuscript. He started flipping through the manuscript in his hand before he even walked to the sofa.

This is the English manuscript of Zhou Yan's new book "Shutter Island". Harry Kane has been waiting for this manuscript for some time, so as soon as Zhang Youan called him, he couldn't wait to come back.

The story of the novel is set in a mental hospital called Boston Bay, which is dedicated to holding criminals who have become mentally ill due to serious crimes.

This closed and mysterious mental hospital is like a bottomless black hole, attracting countless eyes. Once you step in, you will find yourself trapped in an endless mystery.

A missing case occurred on the island, and federal police officer Teddy and his partner were sent to the island to investigate the missing case.

However, Teddy's purpose of this trip is not simple. In addition to investigating the missing case, he also wants to find the murderer who killed his wife and children on the island.

But the process of finding the murderer is not easy. As the investigation deepens, Teddy discovers that there seems to be some unspeakable secret on this island.

And these secrets are all related to the murderer he wants to find.

……

The rhythm of the novel was better than Harry Kane expected. He originally thought that traditional writers like Zhou Yan, when writing this kind of detective novel, would explore human nature more and ignore the development of the story.

But the facts were completely opposite to what he expected. The novel had a fast pace and almost no extension, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the story. The writing style was not at all like those of literary writers.

Harry Kane was led step by step into the mystery by the words of the novel. Many things seemed to have clues, but they were all hidden in the fog and could not be seen clearly.

And every time Harry Kane felt that he was about to grasp the truth, he found that there was another reversal. The key is that every reversal was very smooth.

In addition, the novel's narrative perspective is very flexible, always interweaving between Teddy's memories and reality, which makes people even more confused.

This sense of dislocation should be deliberately designed by Y in order to challenge the readers' thinking.

Every seemingly simple and irrelevant plot may be closely connected to the truth. Harry Kane dare not slack off for fear of missing important clues.

In a trance, Harry Kane felt like he was engaging in an intellectual contest with someone.

But this object is uncertain.

Perhaps he had put himself in the shoes of the protagonist Teddy, fighting against the mastermind behind everything.

It may also be to compete with the author from the reader's perspective.

There is even a possibility that he is competing with the protagonist Teddy.

The last possibility is the most confusing and even terrifying for Harry Kane.

It was not until the end, when Harry Kane saw the truth of the ending, that he suddenly realized. No wonder he felt like he was competing with the protagonist, it turned out that all this was fake.

The murderer he was looking for who killed his wife turned out to be himself.

When seeing this part, Harry Kane's reaction was almost the same as the protagonist's, he couldn't believe it.

Yes, I can’t believe it.

In fact, looking back now, the protagonist seems to have vaguely realized, or remembered who he is, but he is unwilling to accept it in his subconscious.

Thinking of this, Harry Kane felt his scalp tingling.

He obviously didn't figure this out while reading the novel, but subconsciously he had the same feeling as the protagonist.

Many of the details mentioned above can confirm all of this.

Recalling some of the previous details, Harry Kane turned the manuscript to the front again and began to look for the details he had just seen one by one to confirm.

After Harry Kane reviewed the previous details, he was more and more impressed by the power of Y's new book, as the details were perfectly done.

It is precisely because of such perfect handling of details that he is tightly drawn into the plot when reading the novel, and the protagonist's deepest feelings are also projected onto him.

It is precisely because of these details that the subsequent reversal is both sudden and reasonable.

As a professional who has been immersed in the book industry for many years, Harry Kane knows that the sales of this novel cannot be bad.

First of all, it is of high quality and very special.

The quality of the book is one thing, but the story is even more important.

Many good books may not necessarily achieve good sales, but special books are often very popular.

Besides, Harry Kane knew that a movie adapted from this novel was already in preparation.

This means that "Shutter Island" already had a unique advantage in its early promotion.

And even without the movie, the name Y alone is attractive enough.

Although Y is almost unknown in the American book industry, he is very famous in the music, film and television industries.

American readers are very interested in celebrities crossing over to write books and are willing to support them.

After becoming famous, most people will eventually go down one path - selling books.

However, most of the books sold by celebrities are their autobiographies or some storytelling articles.

It is rare to find someone who has written a serious novel like Y.

At that time, not only Y's fans will support it, but also other people who like to join in the fun. Everyone is also curious about what it is like for a musician to write a novel.

……

Harry Kane thought about it for a moment, then picked up the phone and dialed.

Soon, the call was connected, and a deep male voice came from the other end, "Hello."

"Dant, it's me, Harry." Harry Kane smiled.

The man on the other side also laughed, "Harry, why did you call me suddenly?"

"Of course, because I wanted to chat with you."

"Harry, you know I don't mind chatting with you, but I know you didn't call me just to chat. Tell me, what's the matter?"

"I have a friend who wants to publish a book, so I came to call and ask you."

"A book?" Dante's voice was full of doubt. "It's just a book. Do you think you have to call me?" Harry Kane smiled. The person on the other end of the phone was Dante Selfo, the head of the business book department of Bantam Book Group.

If it was just an ordinary book, it would not be worth it for him to call Dent personally, but "Shutter Island" is not an ordinary novel, and its author is not an ordinary author.

"Dant, do you know Y-chou?" Harry Kevin asked.

"Y-Chou? It sounds familiar, but I forgot where I heard it."

Dante Selfo doesn't usually pay attention to the music industry, so he doesn't know much about Y-chou. He may have heard his name occasionally in the news but didn't write it down.

"Y is a very outstanding musician. He just won the Oscar for Best Original Score this year. He also composed Mariah Carey's "Young and Beautiful" and "Some Like You."

"Oh, I remember these two songs were written by a Chinese, right?"

These two songs are so popular that even though Dante Selfo doesn't usually pay attention to the music industry, he is familiar with them.

Moreover, "Someone Like You" is still very popular recently and is still on the charts every week, but it does not dominate the top of the charts like it did when it was first released.

The song "Someone Like You" set a record. After the single was released, it won the championship for 17 consecutive weeks, becoming the single with the longest consecutive championship time.

This record is very scary because there are only 52 weeks in a year, and a song has won the weekly championship for one-third of the time, which means that the song had undisputed dominance in that year.

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The key point is that being the champion for seventeen weeks also means one thing, that is, the number of weeks this song has been on the charts must be far more than seventeen.

It's impossible for it to be number one for seventeen weeks and then fall off the charts in eighteen weeks.

Under normal circumstances, after falling from first place, one can basically stay at the top of the list for a while.

It is no exaggeration to say that in the past few months, the song most heard on the streets is "Someone Like You".

Of course, I have also listened to "young and beautiful" a lot. Although this song has only been out for a short time, it has become a classic.

Now Mariah Carey will sing these two songs whether she is performing at a commercial show or holding a concert.

Hearing that Dante Self knew a little about Zhou Yan, Harry Kane smiled and said, "Yes, he is a Chinese. I think he should also be the Chinese with the highest music album sales, or the Asian."

"His achievements are indeed amazing, but why are you talking about him suddenly?" Dante Selfo asked curiously.

"Because Y-chou is the author of this book."

"Oh, I see." Dante Selfo thought he had understood the situation. "He wrote an autobiography and wants to publish it?"

"No, no, no, if he was just publishing an autobiography, there was absolutely no need for me to call you."

"It's not an autobiography? It's a storytelling article?"

"It's a novel. A suspense novel."

"Mystery novel?" Dante Selfo showed some interest.

He knew that if it was just an autobiography, it would be completely uninteresting.

But it would be more interesting if this famous musician wrote a suspense novel.

"Yes, a suspense novel, and a very good suspense novel. I forgot to tell you that Y-chou is not only a musician, he is actually a well-known writer. His novels are very well-known in China and Japan. The movie "Tree Hole", which won the Special Jury Award at the Berlin Film Festival a few days ago, was adapted from his movie of the same name."

Dante Selfo's jaw dropped in shock. "You mean, he's also a novelist? The kind whose novel-adapted film won an award at the Berlin Film Festival?"

"Well, he is very well-known in the Chinese literary world."

Harry Kane said this very skillfully. Zhou Yan is indeed very famous in the Chinese literary world, but his fame is not entirely based on his novels, but more on his other identities.

But Dante Selfo believes that Zhou Yan's works have a strong influence in China.

Of course, although they are old colleagues, it is impossible for Dante to believe everything Harry Kane says. He must verify some information.

However, Dante has basically believed things like winning the award at the Berlin Film Festival, because this kind of information is so easy to check, and there is no need for Harry Kane to lie about such things.

If it is true as Harry Kane said, then Y-chou's new book does have great potential and is indeed worth Harry Kane's call.

At this time, Dent had already begun to take it seriously. Although their Bantam Group was the industry leader, they also focused on performance. He would not let go of a work like this that was destined to be a best-seller.

"Harry, let me ask James to contact you... No, you should just give me the manuscript of the novel."

James is the editor-in-chief of the editorial department. Normally, it is James who reads the manuscripts, but this time Dent decided to take a look at it himself first.

Firstly, he was quite interested in the novel, and secondly, he was also trying to save face for Harry Kane. After all, Harry Kane had already called him.

Although Harry Kane no longer works for the group, his career is getting better and better, and he is still their client, so this relationship must be maintained.

"Okay, I'll send it to you in a moment. Also, I have something else to tell you."

"whats the matter?"

"Warner Bros. has picked up this novel to be adapted into a movie. The preparations for the movie are now basically complete and filming will begin in a while. By the way, the director is Martin Scorsese."

"What, it's been confirmed that it will be adapted into a movie?" Dent's voice suddenly rose an octave.

Dante Selfo knows what it means to have a novel that is about to be adapted into a movie directed by a big name like Martin Scorsese.

Unless something unexpected happens, it will definitely be a best-selling novel.

When Dante Selfo heard that the novel had been confirmed to be adapted into a movie, he became even more interested in the novel.

"Harry, you must come today."

Harry Kane laughed and said, “Haha, just prepare the coffee and wait for me.”

"No problem. When you get here, I'll make you coffee myself."

……

Harry Kane wasted no time and went to Dante Selfo's office with the manuscript that afternoon.

After Dante Selfo finished reading "Shutter Island", he held the manuscript tightly in his arms and was reluctant to let go for a moment.

He said that he was determined to get the novel published and all the conditions were set.

However, Harry Kane said that he was only responsible for bringing the book to Bantam, and as for the specific terms, it would be up to Y-chou's agent to come.

Dante was afraid that things would get more complicated, so he asked Harry Kane to call Zhang Youan on the spot.

After the phone call, both parties roughly understood each other's intentions, but the specific conditions still needed to be discussed.

The two sides had a pleasant conversation. Although they did not reach a complete consensus, they had basically figured out each other's bottom line and were sure that they could accept the other party's bottom line. (End of this chapter)