The other day we told you that Variety had broken the news that Bad Twin, the Lost tie-in book, was written by acclaimed mystery writer Lawrence Shames. Shames doesn't confirm that he's the author of the book, but he does have a few things to say about it:

"It is interesting how closely his prose style resembles mine. He sets a lot of the story in places I've been." He also says that the book is "excellent" and "everyone should read [it]."

Ha!

[via TV Tattle]

When Bad Twin, the Lost tie-in novel supposedly written by an ill-fated passenger of Oceanic Flight 815, was published a few months ago, rumor and speculation ran wild. Some said that Lost fanatic Stephen King had written it, while others thought it was Jerry Seinfeld (huh, I never heard that one). But Hercules over at Ain't It Cool News points us to a Variety article that says the book was written by...Lawrence Shames!

Shames is a well-known mystery writer, with a series of books set in Florida, and also a ghostwriter who has helped pen books by various people. But it seems that the people behind Lost aren't entirely happy with his work on the book.

It would have been great if Seinfeld had written the book: "What's the deal with airline peanuts? You get this little package of peanuts, it's hard to open, and before you know it, some guy on an island doesn't punch a button in time, and an electromagnetic field causes the plane to crash. I mean, am I right people?"

Bad Twin, the novel "by" Gary Troupe (it's an anagram of "purgatory," but the Lost producers have already said that they're not in purgatory, damn it!), who was "on Oceanic Air Flight 815," is a hit. Lost fans are buying it in hopes of perhaps learning some more clues about what the hell is happening on the TV show. My guess is that it's just going to drive fans more crazy, though the family in the book is "Widmore."

Has anyone read it yet? Is it any good, as a novel, regardless of the Lost tie-in? There's a rumor going around that Stephen King actually wrote it, but publishers and Lost folks are keeping quiet.

Sawyer was reading the manuscript last week on Lost, and now it is out on bookshelves. Bad Twin is being billed as a book written by a man named Gary Troup, who hasn't been heard from since Oceanic flight 815 disappeared after leaving Sydney, Australia in September 2004 (yes, the book description on Amazon does give a date for that fateful flight). 'Gary Troup' is an anagram for 'Purgatory'. By the way, there are already mostly positive customer reviews.

The description on Amazon says the book is about a private investigator named Paul Artisan who investigates the disappearance of one of a set of twins (the "bad twin"). It says, "Troup's long-awaited Bad Twin is a suspenseful novel that touches on many powerful themes, including the consequence of vengeance, the power of redemption, and where to turn when all seems lost."

Will you read the book this summer? By the way, if you don't feel like reading, the audio version is available on iTunes.