Publishing Deal - Gavin Esler

Gavin Esler, the BBC correspondent, has already got three thrillers under his belt dating from the 1990s, but has a new one out next year as part of a two book-deal. 'A Scandalous Man' will be out next May, according to The Bookseller:

HarperCollins has signed up BBC correspondent Gavin Esler to a two-book fiction deal. The first novel, a political thriller entitled A Scandalous Man, will be published in May 2008. The deal for British Commonwealth rights in the two books was struck with Toby Eady Associates.

Publishing director Susan Watt said: "I have been looking for a strong political novel for some time-it's such a naturally rich background for character and drama-and here at last is one. It makes you understand completely the all-consuming adrenalin of political power. All of us here are enormously excited to be publishing this and look forward to a highly stimulating publication."

Esler was the chief America correspondent for the BBC, and is now one the main presenters of BBC Newsnight. He said: "We have never lived in a more political age-from Iraq and Afghanistan to recycling and global warming. And yet we have never been so suspicious of politicians. A Scandalous Man attempts to explain how we got here."