THEY DESERVE TO CASH IN:

Counting the cash from love of Underbelly-style true crime books (Holly Byrnes, March 23, 2009, Daily Telegraph au)

The success of Underbelly and its TV and literary spin-offs has delivered local writers and producers a gangster-led economic boom.

As one of the godfathers of the original book Leadbelly: Inside Australia's Underworld Wars - which inspired last year's hit TV series - author Andrew Rule has banked more than industry kudos for the phenomenon.

With co-author John Silvester, Rule confirmed the pair has another Underbelly book on the drawing board - "a companion'' to the third TV series which Channel 9 has commissioned for next year.

That follows the sale of the first TV series to the UK - airing to critical acclaim on FX channel now _ and negotiations with a London publisher to distribute the 12 books by the pair using the Underbelly title.

I can't praise it any more highly than to say: Underbelly is every bit as good as The Wire.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 23, 2009 12:32 PM