Atlantic Books acquires Tony Santorella’s ‘anarchic’ follow-up to Bored Gay Werewolf

Atlantic Books has acquired Tony Santorella’s “anarchic” new book, Shy Trans Banshee.

James Roxburgh, publishing director for Atlantic Fiction, bought world rights, including audio and Free-to-View, directly from the author, and the book will be published in Halloween 2025 in hardback, trade paperback and e-book.

Acquired during London Book Fair, Shy Trans Banshee is the follow-up novel to Santorella’s Bored Gay Werewolf (Atlantic Books), which published last year and is in production with See-Saw, the makers of Netflix’s “Heartstopper”.

“Brian, Nik and Darby — three friends practiced in ennui, binge-drinking, hooking up with strangers and fighting supernatural crime (when Brian’s not committing it as a werewolf once a month) – have been sent by Abe Van Helsing to track down a colleague who has gone missing in London,” the synopsis says. “As they putz around the city, following any leads that might help them find their British counterpart, they uncover a clairvoyancy smuggling ring, located right in the heart of the financial district. Who’s kidnapping all the fortunetellers in Soho and why?”

Roxburgh said: “Shy Trans Banshee is a fabulous addition to the expanding cosmos: anarchic, sharp, joyful and big-hearted, a novel that wrestles with determinism, fintech capitalism, finding your chosen people and figuring out what to sing at karaoke.”

Santorella added: “Living through one too many ‘once in a lifetime’ events can really wear a werewolf out. I’m grateful to have the support of Atlantic Books – who else would entertain my pitch of ‘what if a banshee had imposter syndrome?’ Truly cannot have a better partner for this. I’m so excited to share what’s next for the Bored Gay Werewolf Scooby Squad as they reluctantly use their supernatural gifts to fight the banal cruelty of the financial sector.”