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Hodder Studios has signed Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, the writers behind “Ghost Stories", for two thrillers featuring magic and espionage.
Publisher Myfanwy Moore bought world rights from agent Simon Trewin at the Simon Trewin Agency. The Warlock Effect will be published in hardback, e-book and enhanced audiobook in autumn 2022, with Warlock’s Apocalypse publishing the following year.
“The Warlock Effect is set in 1950s Soho, where top illusionist Louis Warlock and his secret posse of eccentric assistants create extraordinary and baffling magic,” the synopsis reads. “His phenomenal expertise is noticed by the British Secret Service, which needs his lateral thinking and conjuring skills to defeat a deadly plot against the government.”
Hodder Studios said Warlock’s Apocalypse is set in the 1960s “in the glamorous but deadly world of the movies”.
The publisher said: “Pouring their joint obsessions with comedy, magic and horror into the novels, Dyson and Nyman will take the reader into a realm of secrets and betrayal, and offer a peek behind the curtain of a world which, though long lost, resonates with contemporary fears about identity and the malignant manipulation of our minds.”
Dyson is co-creator of the hit West End play and film “Ghost Stories” and a founding member of the team behind award-winning BBC series “The League of Gentlemen”. He has written for and script-edited many TV series, including “Killing Eve”, and co-created the Rose d’Or-winning comedy show “Psychobitches”. He is the writer of a novel and three collections of short stories, one being the Edge Hill award-winner The Crane that Builds the Cranes (Little, Brown).
"Ghost Stories" co-creator Nyman is also an actor, writer and magician. As an actor he was most recently acclaimed for his performances as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” and in ITV’s “Unforgotten”. He co-created Derren Brown's various TV specials and co-wrote and directed his stage shows, including Olivier Award-winning “Something Wicked This Way Comes”. He has written a number of books, including The Golden Rules of Acting (Nick Hern Books). He is a gold star member of the Inner Magic Circle and a recipient of the society’s coveted Maskeylene Award, which recognises lifetime services to British magic.
Nyman and Dyson commented: “We are incredibly excited to be writing our first novel together and Hodder Studio are the perfect partners for us. We’re packing in as much of our love of magic, thrills, shocks and twists as we can, and we can’t wait for people to get their hands on the book, to join us on the ride.”
Moore said: “I have long been a fan of both Jeremy and Andy’s work, and am absolutely thrilled we are publishing their next collaboration. Only their extraordinary talents could have created the world of Warlock, and we can’t wait to bring his adventures to the page.”