Whitaker's YA debut to Hot Key

Hot Key Books has acquired crime writer Chris Whitaker's YA debut The Forevers – a book in which the world is on a collision course with a giant asteroid and a group of teens make a pact to rewrite their future. 

The deal for world rights in all languages was brokered by senior commissioning editor Felicity Alexander with Catherine Summerhayes of Curtis Brown.

The book is about how a group of teenagers who find making it through the last summer on Earth "more difficult than they ever imagined", and it will publish in paperback on 8th July 2021.

Commenting on the deal, Whitaker said: "The teenage characters are the stars of my adult novels, so it made perfect sense to take on the challenge of writing my YA debut, The Forevers. I’m such a huge fan of YA fiction and couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Fliss and the incredible team at Hot Key Books."

Alexander added: "This is a stark and gripping novel, told in prose that is clear-eyed and unsentimental, that cannot fail to leave a lasting impression on all who read it. It’s a genuine thrill to be publishing the first venture into YA literature by one of the most exciting new writing talents on the crime and thriller market."

Whitaker is also the author of Tall Oaks (Twenty7), which won the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award, and All The Wicked Girls (Zaffre). His most recent novel for adults, We Begin at the End (also Zaffre) was selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month.