Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Publishing Deal - Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is to write a YA series. I've enjoyed several of his crime books and the French film based on his "break-out" novel Tell No One is brilliant. From The Independent:

Bestselling mystery/thriller author Harlan Coben is set to write a three-book young adult series, announced publishing blog GalleyCat on April 26. The books will tell the story of a teenager investigating "a conspiracy that may reach deep into his family history."


Coben has written 19 books, 47 million copies of which are in print worldwide. He is best known for his suspense novels, including a nine-part best-selling series about sports agent and sometimes murder investigator Myron Bolitar, as well as several standalone novels, among them his most recent title, Caught, which has also topped bestseller charts.

The new young adult series, Coben's first books written for that audience, will include appearances by the characters Myron Bolitar and Win Lockwood. The first book will be published in 2011.


Read the whole article here.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Review: I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison and illustrated by Susan Hellard (March 2010, Macmillan Children's Books, ISBN: 0230743528)

First Line:
My Journal
Monday, 7 February 1791

Jane looks like she could die.

Review: At sixteen, Jenny Cooper is a year older than her cousin Jane Austen. The book opens with both of them in an unspeakably awful boarding school in Bristol and Jane is seriously ill with a fever. Jenny knows that the only way to save her friend is to write to Jane's mum. To do so she must venture out at night, unaccompanied and risk ruin and scandal if she's discovered, to deliver a letter to the post-inn. When she does so, she meets the handsome Captain Thomas Williams who looks after her and sees her back to school safely. Thomas holds Jenny's future in his hands but promises not to tell anyone that he has seen her out, alone.

The action then shifts to Jane's home at Steventon to which Jane is returned, along with Jenny for recuperation. The girls are then allowed to stay on there and take lessons. The remainder of the book is devoted to Jenny's experiences with the Austen family and her attending balls and the return into her life of a dashing young Captain.

The story is told by way of lengthy journal entries, written in a clear language which makes this story suitable for younger readers as well. Jenny is the main character but Jane's personality is also well evoked and may lead readers to seek out more about Jane herself as well as her novels and possibly the film Becoming Jane which portrays a relationship between Jane and Tom Lefroy - who briefly appears in this novel.

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend is a stately paced novel which takes the reader into the eighteenth century with ease and there is intrigue aplenty in the last 50 pages. I found this a quick read and though I thought the romance element a little improbable due to Jenny's youth and naivety it is in fact based on true life events, though the real Jenny was a bit older. I appreciated the illustrations by Susan Hellard which added another level of charm to this book.

Cover: This is an exceptionally pretty cover which caught my attention.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Library Loot (45) & review copies

I went to the London Book Fair earlier this week and the two books in yellow on the photo below are proof copies from the Australian publisher Text Publishing.


Library

The Diary of a Dr Who Addict
by Paul Magrs (I've been waiting for this one for sooo long.)
It's the 1980s and David has just started secondary school. He's becoming a teenager, but still hanging onto the rituals of childhood, particularly his addiction to Doctor Who, sharing the books with his best friend and neighbour, Robert, and watching the TV show. But time moves relentlessly on, and Robert starts rejecting the Doctor in favour of girls, free weights and new music. Against a backdrop of Bowie, Breville toasters and trips to Blackpool, David acknowledges his own abilities and finds his place in the world.

Oh My Goth by Gena Showalter
Fiercely independent high school senior Jade Leigh is every bit the nonconformist. With her goth appearance and her sarcastic wit, she doesn't hide her disdain for her lame teachers or the boring jocks in her classes. Who needs them, she values her individuality and free thinking more than anything else in the world. But everything changes after her smart mouth lands her in hot water and the school principal decides to teach her a lesson she won't likely forget. Jade is shocked to find herself in a virtual reality game that is a Freaky Friday-like alternate world - where suddenly everyone around her is goth and she's just one of the crowd.

Proof/Review Copies

Divine by Mistake
by P C Cast (MIRA, available now)
From the bestselling author of the "House of Night" series comes the award-winning world of Partholon, rich in goddesses, intrigue and magic. The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on holiday is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess...Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while there's an upside - what woman doesn't like lots of pampering? It also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Can Shannon survive this new world and ever find her way home?

The Byron Journals
by Daniel Ducrou (28 June, Text Publishing)
Andrew and his mate Benny have finished school and are heading for the holiday of their lives in Byron Bay. They are not sure what they’re looking forward to most: the surf, the girls, the music, the partying or just being away from Adelaide.

Things don’t go to plan, and Andrew loses his mates. But he finds Heidi. Heidi is not like anyone he’s ever met before, and she takes him into her world, which feels a million miles away from his past. But is Andrew really prepared for the ride he’s about to take?

The Byron Journals is an exciting debut novel by a fresh new voice in Australian literature. Fun, and sometimes frightening, it takes a clear-eyed look at the desire to escape your past and the dangers of running headlong into your future.


This Is Shyness by Leanne Hall (2 August, Text Publishing)
A guy who howls. A girl on a mission to forget.

In the suburb of Shyness, where the sun doesn’t rise and the border crackles with a strange energy, Wolfboy meets a stranger at the Diabetic Hotel. She tells him her name is Wildgirl, and she dares him to be her guide through the endless night.

But then they are mugged by the sugar-crazed Kidds. And what plays out is moving, reckless...dangerous. There are things that can only be said in the dark. And one long night is time enough to change your life.

Friday, April 23, 2010

2010 CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist Announced

The eight books on this year's Carnegie Medal shortlist are:

ANDERSON, LAURIE HALSE CHAINS
Bloomsbury (Age range 11+) ISBN: 9780747598077


GAIMAN, NEIL THE GRAVEYARD BOOK my review
Bloomsbury (Age range 9+) ISBN: 9780747569015


GRANT, HELEN THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN my review
Penguin (Age range 14+) ISBN: 9780141325736


HEARN, JULIE ROWAN THE STRANGE
Oxford University Press (Age range 12+) ISBN: 9780192792150


NESS, PATRICK THE ASK AND THE ANSWER
Walker (Age range 14+) ISBN: 9781406310269


PRATCHETT, TERRY NATION
Doubleday (Age range 11+) ISBN: 9780385613705


REEVE, PHILIP FEVER CRUMB
Scholastic (Age range 9+) ISBN: 9781407102429


SEDGWICK, MARCUS REVOLVER my review
Orion (Age range 12+) ISBN: 9781842551868


The winner will be announced at a ceremony at BAFTA in London on 24th June. Read more about the Award and the shortlist, here.

Breaking Dawn in Paperback at Last

The Bookseller reports today that Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn will be released in paperback in the UK and the US on 3 August:

The title will be available from 3rd August priced £7.99, with the publication date coinciding with the American paperback release.

Samantha Smith, Atom editorial director, said: "With everything Stephenie Meyer we try to do everything at the same time, so one set of fans doesn't get the book before the other set of fans. She is one of those true brand authors. Her fans are her fans and they will buy her books no matter what time of the year they come out."

The paperback edition has been a long time coming, with the hardback first published in the UK on 4th August, 2008.

The jacket image on the paperback will remain the same as on the hardback. Smith explained: "We've kept the images consistent across all of our Stephenie Meyer hardbacks and paperbacks. The Twilight Saga images are so iconic—there's such a strong association with them from the fans and the retailers—that I can't imagine changing it."

Read the whole article here.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Library Loot (44) & a review copy


Library

Mr Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange (not strictly YA...)
Elizabeth Darcy is the happiest woman alive when she steps into the carriage that is to take her on her wedding tour - until she sees the look of torment on Mr Darcy's face and discovers that he has a deep, dark secret that nearly destroys their love, their marriage and even her very life. Darcy and the rest of his family are vampires that cannot be outside during sunrise or sunset. Lady Catherine is at the source, having turned Georgiana into an undying friend for her vampiric daughter, Anne, and then Darcy as the perfect mate for Anne. Now Lizzy and Darcy must travel across the Continent to the Pyrenees to find a way to break the curse. But Lady Catherine won't give up her undead without a fight - The Y in "Vampyre" is a tribute to the first vampyre story in print in the English language called simply "The Vampyre". It was written by John Polidori, a physician in the employ of Lord Byron and who, whilst staying by Lake Geneva with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary's stepsister Claire Clairmont amused themselves by reading and writing ghost stories. Two of the greatest horror stories came from that night Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" and "The Vampyre".

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend
by Cora Harrison
When shy Jenny Cooper goes to stay with her cousin Jane Austen she knows nothing of the world of beautiful dresses, dances, secrets, gossip and romance that Jane inhabits. But Jane is already a sharp observer of the customs of courtship, and when Jenny falls utterly in love with the dashing Captain Thomas Williams, who better than Jane to help her win the heart of this most eligible of men?

Review

Della Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton (pub. 6 May in the UK)
Della's over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party -- but then she discovers her diary has disappeared...When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della's distraught -- how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

Friday, April 16, 2010

Read The Vampire Diaries - Nightfall - online

HarperTeen are continuing to make L J Smith's The Vampire Diaries books available to read online. So far The Awakening and The Struggle from the original 4 books are up there and they've just added The Return: Nightfall.

Nightfall is the first in a new trilogy, and can be read in full here.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Trailer Thursday - The Reckoning

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong was published last week.

The nail-biting climax to Kelley Armstrong's bestselling Darkest Powers trilogy Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, Chloe happens to be a genetically engineered necromancer who can raise the dead without even trying. She and her equally gifted (or should that be 'cursed'?) friends are now running for their lives from the evil corporation that created them. As if that's not enough, Chloe is struggling with her feelings for Simon, a sweet-tempered sorcerer, and his brother Derek, a not so sweet-tempered werewolf. And she has a horrible feeling she's leaning towards the werewolf...Definitely not normal.


Publishing Deal - de Gunzburg & Wild

This sounds interesting, I confess though that I haven't read The Moonstone. I think I may have seen a tv adaptation a long time ago... From The Bookseller:

Publisher Pushkin Press is moving into the YA market with a sequel trilogy to Wilkie Collins’ classic The Moonstone.

The Moonstone Legacy by Diana de Gunzburg and Tony Wild will be published in May. When 14 year-old Lizzy Abercrombie's mother dies in an accident, Lizzy discovers that her death may be linked to a family curse and the terrible past of her ancestor, George Abercrombie.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Publishing Deal - Jenny Valentine

Jenny Valentine has signed up for two more books with HarperCollins though no news of the contents yet. From The Bookseller:

HarperCollins Children's Books has signed a further two books by teen author Jenny Valentine.

The first of the teen novels under the new deal will be published in summer 2011.

The publisher declined to reveal the plot details, or the figure paid for the deal.

HarperCollins has published Valentine since 2007. Her fourth teen novel, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight, will be published in August alongside children's title Iggy & Me on Holiday. HarperCollins will also repackage her teen backlist that month.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Library Loot (43) & a review copy

As well as the library and review books this week I also downloaded a free e-book of Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr from HarperTeen.

Library

Pretty Bad Things by C J Skuse
Sixteen-year old twins in Candy-Store crime spree twins, Paisley and Beau Argent are in the headlines again. Last time, they were the 'wonder twins', when as six-year-olds they were found alive in woods after three days missing following their mother's death - three days spent looking for their dad. Now at sixteen, life's not so wonderful. Out-cast and exploited by their money-grabbing grandmother they're still clueless about their dad's whereabouts - until they discover an old letter from him. That's when they decide to hit the road - and make headlines again. Holding up fast-food joints in Las Vegas might seem extreme but if they can get on the news, and tell their dad they need him, they might get the dream reunion they never thought could happen.

Review

I was very surprised (and pleased) to receive this:

Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw (published 13 May in the UK by Headline)
Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort. Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane -- the High Council's most feared man -- recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace. The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft -- a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Vampire Diaries - the Prequel(s)

Exciting news from The Bookseller today - more Vampire Diaries books, with a twist:

...Hodder Children’s Books is to publish three new titles in L J Smith’s Vampire Diaries series, which is currently being televised on ITV2 in the UK.

The new books by L J Smith will be prequels to the original books and will be called Vampire Diaries: ­Stefan’s Diaries.


Read the whole article here.

New Covers for The Mediator series

Meg Cabot's The Mediator series has been rejacketed and bound into 3 volumes of two. Supposedly not out until May, I spotted these in WH Smiths yesterday. I've reviewed the first four in the series on audio book.
Do these covers make the series look darker than it is?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Free e-book of Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr is now available as a free epub e-book, with bonus material from the Harperteen website.

The bonus material is two deleted scenes plus an extract from Radiant Shadows (due out on the 20th).

Also available to download for free is a two part short story, Stopping Time set after Ink Exchange.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Beautiful Malice - Cover

Rebecca James has kindly sent me a copy of the cover for Beautiful Malice. It is similar in style (but not colour) to the one I posted before:


Beautiful Malice will be published 1 July by Faber.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Published in April (UK)

Here are some of the titles that are published in the UK in April. I will put a link to this post and previous and subsequent "monthly" lists in my sidebar. Title links go to amazon.co.uk. Feel free to let me know of others to add to the list.

A list of titles published in January, can be found here, February's are here and March's list is here.

Tim Bowler - Blade: Cutting Loose (1st, OUP, pb)
Theresa Breslin - Prisoner of the Inquisition (1st, Doubleday & Co Inc, HB)
Candace Bushnell - The Carrie Diaries (29th, HarperCollins Children's Books, HB)
Jim Carrington - Inside My Head (5th, Bloomsbury Publishing, pb) UK debut
Patrick Carman - Skeleton Creek (5th, Scholastic, pb)
P C Cast - Elphame's Choice (16th, Mira Books, pb)
P C & Kristin Cast - Burned (27th, ATOM, HB)
P C & Kristin Cast - Tempted (27th, ATOM, pb)
Steve Cole & Chris Hunter - Tripwire (1st, Corgi Childrens, pb)
Gillian Cross - Where I Belong (1st, OUP, pb)
Simone Elkeles - Perfect Chemistry (1st, Simon & Schuster Children's, pb)
Sam Enthoven - Crawlers (1st, Corgi Childrens, pb)
Christopher Fowler - Hellion: The Curse of Snakes (29th, Andersen Press Ltd, pb)
Lara Fox - Miss Understanding: My Summer on the Shelf (1st, Hodder Children's Books, pb)
Hilary Freeman - Lifted (1st, Piccadilly Press, pb)
Adele Geras - Dido (29th, David Fickling Books, pb)
Keith Gray - Hoodlum (29th, Definitions, pb)
Rachel Hawkins - Hex Hall (1st, Simon & Schuster Children's, pb) review
Julie Hearn - Rowan the Strange (1st, OUP, pb)
Gregory Hughes - Unhooking the Moon (29th, Quercus Publishing Plc, pb)
Stacey Jay - You Are So Undead to Me (8th, RAZORBILL, pb)
Ann Kelley - Koh Tabu (1st, OUP, pb)
Ally Kennen - Bedlam (5th, Marion Lloyd Books, pb)
Ally Kennen - Sparks (5th, Marion Lloyd Books, pb)
Kate Kingsley - Young Loaded and Fabulous: Kiss and Break Up (1st, Headline, pb)
Nick Lake - Blood Ninja (1st, Corvus, pb)
Derek Landy - Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days (1st, HarperCollins Children's Books, HB)
Gabrielle Lord - Conspiracy 365: April (1st, Hodder Children's Books, pb)
Anthony McGowan - Einstein's Underpants - And How They Saved the World (1st, Corgi Yearling Books, pb)
Ebony McKenna - Ondine (5th, Egmont Books Ltd, pb)
John Mayhew - Mortlock (5th, Bloomsbury Publishing, pb) UK debut
Amy Meredith - Shadows (1st, Red Fox, pb) review
Jaclyn Moriarty - Dreaming of Amelia (2nd, Macmillan Children's Books, pb)
Jaclyn Moriarty - Feeling Sorry for Celia (2nd, Macmillan Children's Books, pb)
William Nicholson - Rich and Mad (5th, Egmont Books Ltd, pb)
Michelle Paver - Ghost Hunter (1st, Orion Childrens, pb)
William Peterson - Triskellion 3: The Gathering (5th, Walker Books Ltd, pb)
Aprilynne Pike - Spells (29th, HarperCollins Children's Books, pb)
Luisa Plaja - Swapped By a Kiss (29th, Corgi Childrens, pb)
Celia Rees - The Fool's Girl (5th, Bloomsbury Publishing, HB)
Justin Richards - Doctor Who: Apollo 23 (22nd, BBC Books, HB) review
Carrie Ryan - The Dead-Tossed Waves (8th, Gollancz, HB)
Chris Ryan - Battleground: Code Red (29th, Red Fox, pb)
Marcus Sedgewick - Revolver (22nd, Orion Childrens, pb)
Darren Shan - The Thin Executioner (29th, HarperCollins Children's Books, HB)
Darren Shan - Hell's Heroes (29th, HarperCollins Children's Books, pb)
Tucker Shaw - Anxious Hearts (27th, Harry N. Abrams, Inc, HB)
Sarah Singleton - The Island (1st, Simon & Schuster Children's, pb)
Andreas Steinhofel - The Pasta Detectives (5th, Chicken House, pb)
Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell - Wyrmeweald (29th, Doubleday Children's Books, HB)
Jonathan Stroud - Heroes of the Valley (1st, Corgi Childrens, pb)
Robert Swindells - Dan's War (15th, Barrington Stoke, pb)
Kate Thompson - The White Horse Trick (1st, Red Fox, pb)
Robin Wasserman - Crashed (1st, Simon & Schuster Children's, pb)
David Yelland - The Truth about Leo (1st, Puffin, pb) UK debut

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Library Loot (42) & a review copy

Sorry for the poor quality photo. I wanted to show the proof cover of Ally Carter's I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You:


Library

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
(fantasy's not really my usual fare but I've heard such good things about the lead character)
In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her Uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to carry out his dirty work, punnishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. Breaking arms and cutting off fingers are her stock-in-trade. Finding life under his rule increasingly unbearable Katsa forms an underground Council, whose purpose is to combat the destructive behavior of the seven kings - after all, the Middluns is only one of the seven kingdoms, and each of them is ruled its own king with his own personal agenda for power. When the Council hears that the King of Liend's father has been kidnapped Katsa investigates . . . and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap him, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced fighter who challenged her fighting skills, for the first time, as she and the Council rushed the old man to saftey? Something dark and deadly is rising in the north and creeping across the continent, and behind it all lurks the shadowy figure of a one eyed king . . .

Savannah Grey
by Cliff McNish
It's a difficult time for fifteen-year-old Savannah Grey - she's settled into her latest foster placement, but her body is acting strangely. Then other strange things begin to happen: nature, it seems, is exerting an overpowering force on the world. Birds behave erratically; gusts of wind blow leaves so fiercely they seem to lure people away. And Savannah discovers she has supernatural powers. Meanwhile, she feels drawn to the new boy Reece whose life is even stranger than hers. Quickly Savannah and Reece realise that nature has a purpose for them both. For they are on course to meet the vile and evil Ocrassa, who wants to destroy the world by corrupting nature. And it wants Savannah Grey to help realise its savage intent.

Shadow Kiss
by Richelle Mead
It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy and Rose is close to graduation, but since making her first Strigoi kills, things haven't felt quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all . . . might be seeing ghosts. Consumed by her forbidden love with her tutor Dimitri and protecting her best friend, the Moroi princess Lissa, Rose is in no state to see the deadly threat that will change her entire world - and make her choose between the two people she loves most.

plus I forgot to photograph this one:

Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Taylor sisters of Spirit Vale are ready to spread their wings. After growing up in a small town where people are more interested in talking to the dead, the girls are eager to experience a wider, brighter, more exciting world. While Mimi is drawn into high society, Jane finds herself involved with two men who will change her life dramatically - although in very different ways. When reunited with the younger three on board the Titanic, the sisters prepare for the voyage of a lifetime without realising their futures hang in the balance.




Review

This came completely out of the blue and I'm so pleased. I've been eyeing up the US edition for a while. I loved Alias and read some of the tie-in books.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
by Ally Carter (6 May UK)
Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses – but it’s really a school for spies. Cammie Morgan is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways (three of which involve a piece of uncooked spaghetti). But the one thing the Gallagher Academy hasn’t prepared her for is what to do when she falls for an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl.

Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through a mall without his ever being the wiser, but can Cammie have a normal relationship with a boy who can never know the truth about her?

Friday, April 2, 2010

Win: Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide by William Hussey (UK only)

Thanks to Galactus, I have 1 copy of Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide by William Hussey to give away. To enter, just submit your details in the form below. One entry per person please. The competition will close on 16th April 2010 and is open to UK residents only and all contact information will be deleted once the winner has been notified.
(You don't have to follow this blog to enter but I'm very grateful to those who do :).)

The first in a terrifying trilogy, read on if you dare: Jake could now see the demon fully. Its body was a mass of steely sinew, its arms roped with muscle. Six fingers sprouted from its hands, each ending in lethal talons. The thing did not possess a nose; instead a large hole, bubbling with green mucus, occupied the middle of its face. Mr Pinch's tongue flickered between his teeth and slurped across his fat lips. He was hungry. When a violent storm rages around the little village of Hobarron's Hollow, a young boy is sacrificed 'for the greater good'. His blood is used to seal a mystical doorway and prevent an apocalyptic disaster known only as the Demontide. Twenty-five years later, another boy, Jake Harker, is about to be drawn into the nightmare of the Demontide. Witches and their demon familiars stalk his every move, and his dreams are plagued by visions of a 17th Century figure known only as the Witchfinder. When his father is abducted, Jake must face the terrible secrets kept by those closest to him and a shocking truth that will change his life forever . . .

More information, downloads and extracts can be found on the Witchfinder website


Thursday, April 1, 2010

Trailer Thursday - Death Cloud

Death Cloud by Andrew Lane, the first in a new series of authorised young Sherlock Holmes adventures will be published on 4 June by Macmillan Children's Books.


The year is 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. His life is that of a perfectly ordinary army officer's son: boarding school, good manners, a classical education - the backbone of the British Empire. But all that is about to change. With his father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously 'unwell', Sherlock is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire. So begins a summer that leads Sherlock to uncover his first murder, a kidnap, corruption and a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent ..."The Death Cloud" is the first in a series of novels in which the iconic detective is reimagined as a brilliant, troubled and engaging teenager - creating unputdownable detective adventures that remain true to the spirit of the original books.

Watch the trailer below: