Perry said Indiana Jones offered a creative playground, the character also added challenges because of his cult status.

"Basically, Indy is a classic adventure hero," Perry said. "Despite all obstacles and odds, he's like the energizer bunny, he just keeps on going.

"And while Tom Selleck was originally cast in the role for the first movie, it's hard to imagine anybody but Harrison Ford playing the part. Part of Ford's appeal is that he seems like an ordinary guy who rises to the challenge.

Reluctantly sometimes -- 'Why'd it have to be snakes?'-- but he still does what needs to be done."

The era of the book added some historical flavor but also placed some limitations on Indiana's physical abilities.

"In the new Indy book, he's 44 and back in World War II when the action takes place, that was past middle age -- average life expectancy for a man was the early- to mid-sixties," Perry said. "Camping on the hard ground and being chased by zombies is apt to make a man past middle age wonder: 'And why am I doing this again?' At least I thought so, so that's how I wrote it. Some fans loved that, some didn't.

"One of the biggest problems working in a known universe with franchised characters are the readers's expectations as to how a character will behave. Fans who love the tales sometimes get very invested in them, and will be unhappy if you don't tell the story how they think it should be told. I've worked in a few of these shared universes, which include some kidvid toons, and book and story editors are cognizant of how characters ought not violate their established persona. Sometimes my view of a persona will take the narrarative in a direction I like but some fans don't."

Perry has sold short stories, novels, animated teleplays, non-fiction articles, reviews, and essays, along with a couple of unproduced movie scripts. He wrote for  Batman: The Animated Series, and one of his scripts was nominated for an Emmy. His novelization of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire made The New York Times Bestseller List, as did the novelization for the summer blockbuster movie Men in Black, and his ten collaborative novels for Tom Clancy's Net Force series. He's written more than 60 novels, and if there's anyone you can trust to deliver an enjoyable journey with a lovable character, it's Perry.

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Scott Nicholson is the author of seven thrillers, including They Hunger, as well as six original screenplays, two story collections, and the comic series "Dirt." He was the original bass player in the Killer Thriller Band. His virtual haunt is www.hauntedcomputer.com.