Author and screenwriter Sarah Alderson is moving from Hodder imprint Mulholland to HarperCollins imprint Avon in a two-book deal, starting with a “perfect summer thriller”.
Editorial director Phoebe Morgan bought world English rights to both books from Amanda Preston at the LBA Literary Agency. The Weekend Away, the first of the two, has already been pre-empted in Brazil, with translation rights handled by ILA on behalf of LBA.
Morgan said: “The Weekend Away is the perfect summer thriller – two women go on holiday to Portugal, but only one of them returns. What really happened to Kate? You’ll be begging to know the answer come July. Sarah is so talented, and I’m delighted to be bringing her to HarperCollins.”
Alderson, currently writing on the CBS show SWAT, is a London-born, LA-based writer whose previous books include Friends Like These (Mulholland) and most recent release In Her Eyes (Mulholland). She also writes women’s fiction under the pen name Mila Gray.
She said: “I’ve been blown away by Phoebe’s passion and vision for The Weekend Away and I’m so very excited to be working with the innovative and enthusiastic team at Avon. I wrote this novel, about two best friends on a weekend away in Lisbon, after spending a weekend there with my own best friend. Foreign cities always inspire me story-wise and, as a frequent user of Airbnb and Uber, I saw the wonderful potential for a twisted thriller about who we choose to place our trust in.”
Preston added: “When I first read The Weekend Away, I knew we had something special here. As an author of nearly 20 novels, Sarah has such skill and talent for plotting and pacing as well as her incredible writing and with Phoebe and her amazing team behind her, I am super excited.”