Orion's seven-figure fiction deal for Grylls

Bear Grylls is writing a series of action adventure thrillers for Orion.

Jon Wood, deputy group publisher, bought rights to the series for a “healthy seven-figure sum” from Caroline Michel at Peters Fraser & Dunlop.

The books will feature Dan Ranger, “ex-SAS, ecologist and adventurer extraordinaire”. Grylls will write the series with Damien Lewis, a former war reporter and journalist who has written non-fiction and fiction.

The first book in the series, Ghost Flight, will be published in May 2015.

Wood said: “A fantastic hero in Dan Ranger, fearsome pace and compelling mysteries from our recent past. The combination of two such great writers as Bear Grylls and Damien Lewis is an absolute winner and their expertise and passion for this new series will make it a huge success next year.”

In each book, Dan Ranger “will embark upon a ground-breaking expedition – one with quest-like, historical detective overtones – working out of his corporate and charitable headquarters aboard the MV Global Challenger”.

Grylls said: “This series of novels will combine the best of Bond, Bourne, and Indiana Jones in one gripping series of books. We take the former SF soldier Dan Ranger into the murky depths of covert modern-day Nazism, gritty survival and the Special Forces brotherhood in a way we have never seen before. Hold tight for the adventure.”

Grylls’ most recent book is True Grit (Bantam Press), which tells the true stories of adventurers who inspired him. Later this year Bantam Press will release Your Life – Train For It, a fitness guide by Grylls.