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TV hard man Ross Kemp has left Penguin for Random House, with Century publishing director Ben Dunn acquiring world rights to three books, including a début novel.
The deal, for a six-figure sum, was struck with Waheed Ali of Chorion. The first book in the new deal will be the début, Devil to Pay, which will feature an ex-soldier, Nick Kane, as its series character. The book will be published as an Arrow original in July 2010. That will be followed by “a major non-fiction project”, to be published by Century in October. A further novel will appear in 2011.
Dunn said he was “delighted” with Kemp’s move, adding: “I’m a huge fan of his bestselling books and thrilling documentary work for Sky. He has an incredible passion and insider knowledge of the military and his foray into fiction promises to be very exciting.”
Kemp said: “Ben has shown great understanding of who I am and where I’m coming from and he’s shown a lot of faith in commissioning both my fiction and non-fiction.” He added: “I’m thrilled to be moving and I’m looking forward to a long and fruitful career with Century and Arrow.”
Kemp first came to fame as one half of the infamous Mitchell brothers in BBC soap “EastEnders”, followed by a number of dramas for ITV including “Ultimate Force”. He has since become a TV presenter, fronting several documentary series on gangs around the world, and on the war in Afghanistan, for Sky 1. His books for Penguin include Gangs (2007), Gangs 2 (2008), Ross Kemp in Afghanistan (June 2009) and Pirates (September 2009).