'Every parent's nightmare’ thriller to Piatkus

Piatkus has acquired two thrillers by debut novelist Samantha King for a “significant" five figures. 

The Choice is positioned as a "superlead" title for Piatkus, publishing in hardback in 2017 and paperback in 2018. The novel, pitched as "hypnotic suspense”, comes complete with "a staggering twist you won't see coming”, according to the publisher, tackling the parental “nightmare” scenario: what if you had to choose between your children? 

Associate publisher of Piatkus Fiction, Emma Beswetherick, bought world rights from author King directly.

Beswetherick said: "As a mother myself of two young children I have often thought about the ‘Sophie’s Choice’ scenario as being one of scariest things a parent could contemplate. King has done absolute justice to this most psychologically complex of set-ups and has written a clever, sophisticated and page-turning thriller that left me completely stunned."