Clint Eastwood turned Lehane's "Mystic River" into a best picture Oscar winner, while Ben Affleck adapted his "Gone Baby Gone" into an acclaimed thriller and Martin Scorsese is currently working on a big-screen version of Lehane's "Shutter Island."

Raimi, who is best known for directing the "Spider-Man" trilogy, is developing "The Given Day" and plans to produce, as well as direct, a film based on it, Variety.com said.

The new Lehane book, which is to be published this fall, is set in 1919 Boston as soldiers return home from World War I, bringing with them an epidemic of Spanish influenza, and as attempts to unionize the police department have set the stage for a historic strike, the entertainment industry trade paper said.