HarperCollins Children’s Books pre-empts two YA thrillers by Harris

HarperCollins Children’s Books has pre-empted two YA thrillers by Sarah J Harris, author of The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder and One of Them Was Murdered (HarperCollins).

Michelle Misra, publishing director, pre-empted world rights from Isobel Gahan on behalf of Alice Lutyens at the Curtis Brown Agency. The first book in the deal, Four Good Liars, which will be written under the pseudonym of Sarah Wishart, will be published in paperback in December 2023, accompanied by an “unmissable” marketing and publicity campaign. One of Them Was Murdered, the second book in the deal, will be published at a later as-yet-undisclosed date. 

Four Good Liars tells the story of four teenagers with little in common apart from the fact that they catch the same bus to school each day. The adventure begins when they narrowly survive a horrific clifftop crash and discover that their dead driver’s holdall contains one million pounds. They split the money but there’s a dangerous gang hunting for it and any wrong move or rash decision could prove deadly. Will they work together to save each other’s lives or will they do anything – and stop at nothing – to keep the money for themselves? 

Misra said: “This pacey, hooky novel has more twists and turns than the twistiest, turniest alpine pass! I knew and loved Sarah’s writing from The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder but nothing quite prepared me for the unexpected ending in this. Sarah is a master storyteller. Get ready for a roller-coaster of a ride!”

Nick Lake, fiction publisher, added: “With ambitious growth plans in YA, we’d been looking for a twisty thriller, and this propulsive, page-turning blockbuster is the perfect fit for our expanding list. I’m so thrilled to be matching the high-octane plot with an accelerated publishing schedule, to get the book into the hands of the teen readers who will love it as soon as possible.”

Harris commented: “I’m thrilled to be working with Michelle and the rest of the HarperCollins Children’s Books team. They have such enthusiasm and passion for my thrillers as well as an exciting vision for my writing career. I knew straight away that this was the perfect home for Four Good Liars and One of Them Was Murdered. I loved writing every twist and turn of Four Good Liars and I can’t wait to keep readers guessing when my book is published later this year!”