He's unleashed an army of malevolent creatures on an American small town. He's travelled back to the formative years of the world's greatest detective. He's made sure that Goonies never say die. He's directed two Harry Potter movies. Now Gremlins and Young Sherlock Holmes scripter Chris Columbus has written his first novel.
Co-authored with Ned Vizzini (who counts TV's Teen Wolf among his credits), House Of Secrets is the first entry in a new trilogy, and we're delighted to be able to reveal the cover here:
What's it about? The story sees three children moving to an old spooky house after their dad loses his job. Built by a troubled fantasy writer, their new home is full of secrets (we guess the clue was in the title), and they soon find themselves on an epic adventure to get their hands on a "dark book of untold power" that will reveal something about their family's past.
“Welcome to Kristoff House,” the authors tease. “Consider yourself warned: here, a book is never just a story but an object of a dark magic and the gateway to epic adventure.
"As storytellers, we dabble in daydreams, revel in memories, and trade in secrets. And since there are two of us, we have a whole HOUSE OF SECRETS in store for you.
"We hope you’ll join us there.”
JK Rowling (a lady who knows a thing or two about kids books) is singing its praises as a “break-neck, jam-packed rollercoaster of an adventure”. Find out for yourself when it hits bookshops on 25 April 2013 from Harper Collins Children’s Books. Why not check out the book's Facebook page in the meantime?