It might not be a household name here in the States just yet, but The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, from Swiss novelist Joël Dicker, is currently sweeping Europe.  Warner Bros. decided to keep ahead of the trend, and has acquired the film fights, with Ron Howard attached to direct; Howard will also produce along with Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment.  Deals for producers Eugenie Grandval and Claire Lundberg are also in the works.  The book's story follows a young, hotshot novelist who finds himself in the midst of scandal as his American literary mentor is implicated in the disappearance and murder of a 15-year-old girl.  Hit the jump for more.

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Deadline reported that WB has closed a deal for the film rights for The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair with Howard directing.  Howard is currently in post-production on another adaptation, Heart of the Sea, taken from Nathaniel Philbrick's novel, "In the Heart of the Sea," which chronicles the sinking of the whaleship Essex.

Dicker's novel isn't even on shelves here yet, but it's selling in the millions overseas.  The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair is due out here on May 27th.  Here's a look at the book's synopsis (via Amazon):

August 30, 1975: the day fifteen-year-old Nola Kellergan is glimpsed fleeing through the woods, never to be heard from again; the day Somerset, New Hampshire, lost its innocence.

Thirty-three years later, Marcus Goldman, a successful young novelist, visits Somerset to see his mentor, Harry Quebert, one of the country’s most respected writers, and to find a cure for his writer’s block as his publisher’s deadline looms. But Marcus’s plans are violently upended when Harry is suddenly and sensationally implicated in the cold-case murder of Nola Kellergan—whom, he admits, he had an affair with. As the national media convicts Harry, Marcus launches his own investigation, following a trail of clues through his mentor’s books, the backwoods and isolated beaches of New Hampshire, and the hidden history of Somerset’s citizens and the man they hold most dear. To save Harry, his own writing career, and eventually even himself, Marcus must answer three questions, all of which are mysteriously connected: Who killed Nola Kellergan? What happened one misty morning in Somerset in the summer of 1975? And how do you write a book to save someone’s life?