Marshfield author's serial-killer book to be turned into Amazon series

Oscar-winning director Edward Berger is about to begin production on the fact-based story of a Cape Cod man who went on a murder spree in the late 1960s.

Berger, whose film “All Quiet on the Western Front” recently won four Oscars, including best international feature, is adapting the book "Helltown," written by Marshfield resident Casey Sherman, for Amazon Studios.

“The television series has been a long time coming,” Sherman said. “I sold the rights to the story before I had even finished writing the book.”

Mohamed El Masri (“Severance”) is writing the eight hourlong episodes for Robert Downey Jr. 's production company. Oscar Isaac (“Moon Knight”) will play the key role of author Kurt Vonnegut.

The book, Sherman’s 15th, chronicles the brutal murders in which at least four (and probably more) young women were dismembered in Provincetown and Truro in 1969. The slayings caught the attention of Vonnegut, at the time a struggling novelist living in Barnstable with his wife and five children.

The killer, Tony Costa, is described by Sherman as “a Manson-type character” who was a “charismatic … god-like figure.”

'Badlands,' 'Rosalita,' 'Rising':Another 'unforgettable' Springsteen show at the Garden

“He lured young women into the woods, beheaded them and buried them in shallow graves,” Sherman said. “This book took a lot out of me. My wife would make me take a break for a few days, or a week. It invaded my dreams.”

The manhunt unfolds through the eyes of Vonnegut. Sherman said Vonnegut was selling Saabs on Route 6A while struggling with writer’s block during the penning of “Slaughterhouse-Five.” Vonnegut became obsessed with the hunt for the killer and even formed a dangerous bond with Costa, who became known as “Tony Chop-Chop.”

“Vonnegut’s daughter knew the killer,” Sherman said. “She migrated with that hippie culture in Provincetown that would later adore Kurt.” (Vonnegut’s son, Dr. Mark Vonnegut, a Milton resident, is a longtime pediatrician with a practice in Quincy.)

Sherman said Cape residents were shocked by the “barbaric” nature of the killings occurring in such an idyllic seaside setting.

“Kurt was a POW in Dresden, and he has seen war horrors,” Sherman said. “Now he’s seeing it in his own backyard. He used his background as a crime reporter in Chicago in the late ’40s, early ’50s, and put those skills to work.”

Sherman said the production team hopes to film the series on the Cape.

“Provincetown is very much its own character in this story and it would be hard to film anywhere else,” Sherman said.

In addition to best international feature, “All Quiet on the Western Front” won Oscars for cinematography, production design and score. The film, a remake of Lewis Milestone’s 1930 antiwar epic, is a haunting depiction of life and death in the World War I trenches. It can be streamed on Netflix.

Sherman is a veteran investigative reporter and a former WBZ-TV news producer. He also wrote the Coast Guard rescue drama "The Finest Hours," which was adapted into a film starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck. It was filmed in Quincy, Norwell and on the Cape. Sherman’s book “Patriots Day,” about the Boston Marathon bombing, was made into a movie with Mark Wahlberg.

'Saints, Sinners & Serial Killers':Boston crimes make for great storytelling at the Wilbur

Sherman and co-writer Dave Wedge, of Milton, also penned "Ice Bucket Challenge: Pete Frates and the Fight Against ALS"; "12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady's Fight for Redemption," about the New England Patriots' Deflategate scandal; and "Hunting Whitey," a chronicle of the pursuit and capture of infamous crime boss James J. “Whitey” Bulger.

In 2003, Sherman published his first − and most personal − book, "A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler."

'Compelled to tell their stories':South Shore reporters are focus of 'Boston Strangler'

The book tells the story of Sherman's search for the man who killed his aunt, Mary Sullivan. She is believed to be the Boston Strangler's 13th and last victim. Much of Sherman’s research in deconstructing the single-killer myth was the basis for “Boston Strangler,” which began streaming on Hulu last week. In it, convicted murderer George Nassar is alleged to have also participated in the killing spree.

“They basically took the second half of my book and gave it to Keira Knightley’s character,” Sherman said. “I exposed inaccuracies. I interviewed Nassar in prison. There’s no pride of ownership, as long as it’s out there for the world to consume.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: 'Helltown': Marshfield author's serial-killer book to be Amazon series