Adaptation Angst: Boneshaker

According to io9, my source for all news geekery, Cherie Priest's steampunk alt-history novel Boneshaker got a movie deal. It's very early in production, so all we know is that the Nurse Jackie screenwriter has been tapped to pen the adaptation. Priest's novel, nominated for a Hugo last year, is a pretty snappy little book that I reviewed over on my Examiner site. Basically, she gives us a version of 1880s Seattle where the Civil War is still raging, and steam-powered gadgets and goggles dominate the city. Why do I think the first novel in Priest's "Clockwork Century" is getting this attention? One word: Walkers. I suspect that the studio is hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the Walking Dead by playing up the flesh-eating zombies that the novel's eponymous gold-seeking drill had a hand in creating, and which are contained within a nightmarish "Old City" into which the main characters descend. Much like the acclaimed AMC series, the novel isn't really about the undead at all, but rather the living: Boneshaker is the story of a son seeking the truth about his father, and a mother who will turn herself into an action hero to protect him. A steampunk Walking Dead? Yes, please.
Adaptation Angst: 2