Before he ever wrote a book, Jeffrey Konvitz first worked as an agent for CMA. He was also general counsel for a theatre chain, became a productive executive for MGM, and finally began producing films.
It was as a producer that he noticed an interesting trend: most of the scripts that ended up being successful movies were signed by the major studios before they ever got close to circling his desk. He decided the only way to combat that was to produce original films, and ended up writing his first screenplay.
Two years later, Konvitz got the idea for what would become his debut novel, The Sentinel. He first imagined it as a film, but after getting turned down by multiple studios, he redrafted the screenplay into a novel where it eventually sold to Simon and Schuster.
Within six months of being published, the studios that turned down his screenplay pitch were vying for the movie rights, which he sold to Universal in 1973. The Sentinel was so popular that when he published the sequel, The Guardian (also titled The Apocalypse), the first print run sold out in 10 days.
Over the course of his career, Konvitz went on to publish four novels, write three screenplays, and produce 14 movies. He gained notoriety throughout Hollywood for becoming one of the top independent production executives and led two Nasdaq-listed entertainment companies.
If you’re looking for a cinematic read filled with terrifying twists, check out these four novels written by Jeffrey Konvitz.
The Sentinel
For aspiring model Allison Parker, moving into a brownstone on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is a dream. But things aren’t exactly what they seem.
She can’t shake the feeling that a reclusive blind priest is watching her. And she hears strange noises in the apartment above hers, the one that is supposed to be empty.
It doesn’t take long before she sets out to understand what’s happening in her building, only to be plunged into a nightmare filled with demons, sin, and an evil that wants her to join in its sinful misdeeds—and it won’t take no for an answer.
The Guardian
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, there’s a building with a sinister history. One that its residents thought was firmly in the past.
But when a young woman discovers a burned body reminiscent of two previous murders and is raped, her husband goes on a mission of revenge. Everyone is a suspect.
The blind and paralyzed nun who seemingly stares out of an upstairs window. A cunning priest who appears to want to save the innocent.
But nothing is what it seems. And it’s impossible to predict what you’ll do when you come face to face with evil.
Monster: A Tale of Loch Ness
At the bottom of the Loch Ness, a creature has lived undisturbed for centuries.
Every now and then, it would rise to the surface, only to disappear again. Its legend throughout Scotland grew.
But one day, a group of men came to the Loch Ness looking for oil. Their search disturbed the creature as their greed pushed them closer and closer to its lair.
To survive, it must attack. And when it does, it will be an explosion of fury that will shock the world.
The Circus of Satan
It all begins in 1878 in a bar in the Five Points. A teenage Jewish boy kills a member of the Irish Whyo Gang, all under the protection of the corrupt Tammany Hall.
The kid is murdered, and the Irish slowly gain control of the police, the gangs, and even the politicians. But with power comes enemies.
By 1910, a gambler named Billy McGuinness comes to New York backed by gangsters Max and Moses Annenberg, who want nothing more than to tear Tammany Hall down.
Weaving in and out of historic events, maneuvering through the forgotten people of the time, McGuinness inadvertently plays a role in shaping the future of crime in New York City, driven by his own dark demons.
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