• RELATED STORIES

• Friday Project signs up paramedic's tale

  The Friday Project has sign...

• Mulholland Books acquires Max Barry

  Mulholland Books has acquir...

• C&R partners with du Beke for ballroom title

  Constable & Robinson ha...

• Norman makes first buy for Hutchinson

  Hutchinson senior editor Sa...

• Football wisdom for Bloomsbury

  Bloomsbury has acquired a b...

Headline poaches Kuzneski

08.04.11 | Graeme Neill

Chris Kuzneski has switched publisher from Penguin to Headline, with the latter publishing a new series about a team of treasure-hunting renegades.

Vicki Mellor, associate publisher at Headline, paid a "significant six-figure sum" for UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to four novels from Kuzneski. The deal was signed through Claire Roberts at Trident Media Group on behalf of Scott Miller.

The deal includes two books featuring Kuzneski’s longstanding characters, former Special Forces soldiers Jonathan Payne and David Jones. The books featuring these characters have been published in 20 languages. The deal also includes two books in a new series called The Hunters, which focuses on a team of renegades employed by a billionaire philanthropist determined to recover the world’s hidden treasures. The first title in The Hunters series will be published in February 2013, as well as the next book featuring Payne and Jones, which is as yet untitled.

Mellor said she planned to give the Payne and Jones books a fresh design for his Penguin backlist. She said: "I’m absolutely thrilled that we are going to have the opportunity to work with Chris on his fantastic novels. We have all been massive fans of Chris, and of Payne and Jones, since the beginning. His ability to blend non-stop action, ancient mysteries and wise-cracking humour into exhilarating thrillers is second to none.

"I was blown away by the proposal for The Hunters and we can’t wait for the opportunity to unleash these characters on the world," she added.

• Graeme Neill
• headline
• Rights deal