Spain's Filmax has optioned the rights to Fernando Marias'novel Invader (Invasor).

The novel blends reality and horror fantasy in the tale of aSpanish doctor who returns from a peace mission in the Iraq War, where he wasunwittingly involved in a double murder, to find his home and family lifemysteriously afflicted.

Filmax is best known internationally for its fantasy andhorror titles such as Jaume Balaguero's Darkness and Brad Anderson's The Machinist.

Last November Filmaxunveiled plans to begin optioning rights to local best-sellers to adapt them asEnglish-language features for the international market. Its first title wasthriller The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud (La Hermandad De La Sabana Santa).

It is not the first foray into film for Marias, who co-wrotethe script for Paco Plaza's The Second Namefor Filmax. Among other film and TV work, he adapted his novel TheEnd Of A Mystery (La Luz Prodigiosa) tocinema for director Miguel Hermoso, winning the Grand Prix at the MoscowInternational Film Festival in 2003.