I woke up today with a new pitch idea. It’s a thriller that resolves into a courtroom drama. Hear me out if you’re an acquisition editor or publisher. Any resemblance to persons or events living or dead is coincidental.

A rogue family wants a new home, but opts for home invasion, what with home prices, interest rates, and all. They invade an inhabited house and relegate the current residents to a corner in the dark and dingy basement.

One day, the detained family attempts to escape, but their plans are thwarted, and they are punished by having their meals withheld. In a last-ditch effort, the father runs up the stair and kills two of the children of the family keeping them captive.

As an act of retaliation, the dominant family kills the children of the captive family, but the authorities hear the gunfire and control the situation.

In the next chapters, the killers face judge and juries. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave it here. In order to make the story relevant and accessible to modern audiences, I’ll make it topical: The invasive family will be Jewish and the invaded will be Palestinian. It may be too subtle, but I think some readers will catch on.

There’s my pitch. If you are connected to a publisher, please contact me, so we can talk details. Feel free to leave comments below. If you have any ideas about how the jury verdicts might fall, I’d love to see them.