Some Blowhard is Running the Wash Post Website

Otherwise, why would the venerable broadsheet allow this literary fuck up?

Washingtonpost.com is publishing fiction for the first time, serializing the debut novel of Post Business section reporter David Hilzenrath.

The book, "Jezebel's Tomb," is a thriller set in the present-day Middle East. It features a journalist who investigates a bombing and tries to track down a mysterious 2,000-year-old document that may hold a dangerous secret. It is a biblical mystery reminiscent of "The Da Vinci Code."

Hey, check out the doozy of a book jacket!

Blech. We wonder about these Wash Postie.comers and their reasons for serializing a fiction novel by one of their own business reporters -- instead of say, opening the opportunity to a new writer, an established (way more talented) novelist, or a 12-year-old who drafted his first copy of a brand new Star Wars tribute. Anything but another Da Vinci Code rip-off. Anyone but someone who already writes for the newspaper -- an investigative financial reporter, no less. We're all for career crossovers, and yet...what the eff?

Dave, you're one crafty bastard:

After he was turned down by publishers repeatedly in 2005, "a light bulb went on," said Hilzenrath, 41, a 19-year Post veteran. "There's a better way: Use the power of the Web for promotion and the power of on-demand publishing to reduce the upfront cost," he said.

Yes, we thought so. And now we're so bored we can't even get through a full chapter excerpt, available free every Monday. Go read one yourself here, if you care. Or email David and tell him you're not jealous of his online book deal. Even if he did research the thing for 10 years. Poor dude.