Chris Ryan moves to Zaffre

Bestselling author Chris Ryan is leaving Hodder & Stoughton for Zaffre Books in a move that will unite his adult fiction with his children’s books under the Bonnier Books UK umbrella.

UK Commonwealth rights in Manhunter, the first novel in a new adult thriller series, were acquired by Kate Parkin, m.d. of Adult Trade Publishing at Bonnier Books UK, in a "major" two-book deal brokered by Barbara Levy at Barbara Levy Literary Agency.

Manhunter introduces Joe Bowman, an ex-SAS hero battling opioid addiction and his own inner demons. The synopsis reads, "Following a botched operation in Afghanistan, Bowman is recruited into 'The Cell', a covert unit within the SAS working alongside the police – a unit so secretive most of the other guys in the regiment don't even know it exists."

Ryan said: "I’m delighted to be working with Kate Parkin, Ben Willis and the brilliant team at Bonnier. Manhunter is a high-concept thriller I’m incredibly excited about. It is my most timely and urgent thriller to date and I can’t wait to introduce Joe Bowman to readers in 2021."

Parkin said: "My association with Chris Ryan goes back to The One that Got Away, the legendary bestselling account of Chris’s solo escape across enemy lines in the wake of the Bravo Two Zero mission. I am hugely excited to welcome him to the Zaffre list. Chris’s authentic voice and unique storytelling abilities, underpinned by his personal experience and deep inside Special Forces knowledge, place readers right at the heart of the action – and with Manhunter they can look forward to the thrill-ride of their life."

Willis, publishing director at Zaffre Books, added: "Having grown up in a military family, I’ve always hoovered up stories of SAS heroism and I so couldn’t be more thrilled to be publishing a true master of the genre. Anyone who’s met Chris will tell you he is a truly gifted storyteller and we have big plans to build on his existing audience of superfans as we unleash Joe Bowman on the world."

Ryan, a former SAS corporal, has written more than 50 books, selling 4.8 million copies for £30.2m through Nielsen Bookscan's UK TCM, with Ultimate Weapon his bestseller on 236,007 copies sold in paperback. He was part of the SAS eight-man team chosen for the famous Bravo Two Zero mission during the 1991 Gulf War and was the only member of the unit to escape from Iraq for which he was awarded the Military Medal. Three of his colleagues were killed and four captured

Zaffre Books will launch Manhunter in hardback, e-book and audio in May 2021. Bonnier will support it with an "unmissable brand-level" marketing and PR campaign intended to "reinvigorate" the writer's sales.