Universal Pictures has tapped Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to adapt James Siegel's novel DECEIT, reports Variety. Lorenzo Di Bonaventura is producing the pic.

Warner Books will put DECEIT on sale Aug. 9. Tome centers on a newspaper reporter busted for fabricating stories. Afterward, while working for a small-town paper, he stumbles onto a dark conspiracy stemming from government radiation testing in the 1950s. But given his history, he can't get anyone to believe him.

Brandt and Haas' credits include several other U projects, including "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Wanted," a comicbook adaptation that Timur Bekmambetov will direct.

DECEIT is Siegel's fourth thriller. Previous titles include "Derailed," which was released by Miramax in November, and "Detour," which is in development at Paramount.