Zaffre, the flagship commercial fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK’s Zaffre Publishing Group, has acquired Daniel Kraus’ Whalefall.
Ben Willis, publishing director, acquired UK Comm English language rights from Nicole Bond of Simon & Schuster US.
Whalefall is described as The Martian meets 127 Hours. In this powerfully humane and scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-tonne sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.
Author Daniel Kraus said: ‘I’ve written over twenty novels and have never seen a reaction to rival that of Whalefall. I have been incredibly touched by the emotional responses of American readers and can’t wait to introduce this primal and universal story to the rest of the world, beginning with Bonnier Books UK.’
Publishing Director Ben Willis said: ‘Whalefall is unlike any other book you’ll read this decade. While the pitch is blockbuster, beneath the surface is a tender, heartbreaking, hopeful and deeply moving tale of a grieving son and the power of the human spirit. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, and I can’t wait to share Daniel’s outstanding thriller with even more readers.’
Simon & Schuster US published Whalefall in August to major acclaim, including a rave review in the New York Times, who called it: ‘A crazy, and crazily enjoyable, beat-the-clock adventure story about fathers, sons, guilt and the mysteries of the sea’. Gillian Flynn, no.1 bestselling author of Gone Girl dubbed it: ‘Astoundingly great. Whalefall is, quite simply, a beautiful novel – a must-read story of the sea, the nature of awe, and the briny relationships between faths and sons.’ It has since gone on to become a USA Today bestseller, and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment has struck a pre-emptive film rights deal for Whalefall.
Whalefall will be published in hardback and audio on 23rd November 2023 following the ebook release earlier that month, from Zaffre.
