It can be hard to find anything that is not coronavirus related in the news these days. But The Boston Globe is looking to buck that trend by publishing a new serial novel, 'The Mechanic,' written by Ben Mezrich.

The paper will publish a chapter or two a day for the next two weeks, with chapters one through four already out.

Mezrich, best known for his non-fiction books, told Jim Braude on WGBH News’ Greater Boston Monday that the story is akin to “Dickens by way of Dan Brown.”

“It’s a thriller. It takes place in Boston. It starts off at the Encore Casino and the main character, so far — I don’t want to give too much away — is a young woman who is a card counter,” he said. “But she’s not who you think she is, and she uncovers something,” said Mezrich, who also wrote "The Accidental Billionaires" that was the basis for the movie "The Social Network."

Mezrich said the newspaper writing process and style was something that he had to adapt to.

“A serial novel like this isn’t done often," he said. And The Boston Globe came to me and said, ‘Would you be interested in doing something like this?’

"It’s very quick — you’re writing a whole book over 14 days,” he added.

It’s a difference in format that Mezrich said he could find other writers enjoying as well.

“I think writers on a whole would love to do this… It’s an amazing experiment the Globe is doing, so I was thrilled to just do it. It’s nice to be able to see something else [in the paper],” he explained.