news

I was just taking a look at my website and realised that I haven’t properly updated it for ages. Every time I do something interesting I think I’d better write a blog about it. And then something comes up, I have a book to finish, or something, and I never get around to it. Since my last update I’ve been out to Dubai for a literary festival, which was nice, I’ve toured a load of schools talking about the history of horror, I’ve made a new series of Down The Line for radio 4 (and a second series, Ancient Mysteries which I’ve written a separate blog about), but, most importantly of all, I’ve just finished the third book in the Enemy series, called The Fear…

(Not out until September – but here it is http://amzn.to/higson-thefear )

And, well, I thought I’d better tell you a bit about it. I get a lot of questions on this website, and also through twitter, so I guess I can now just direct everyone to this blog. So here goes...

If you remember, near the end of The Dead, DogNut tells Ed that he’s going to leave the Tower of London to go and look for Brooke. He obviously still fancies her and wants to make a name for himself. He is curious to see what’s out there in the rest of London.

The Fear follows him on his journey, so it starts about 10 days before the end of The Dead, before small Sam the Kid arrive at the Tower. DogNut sets off with Courtney and some new characters, including his two best mates, Marco and Felix, a gentle giant called Finn and a - frankly terrified - young girl called Olivia. They all have their different reasons for going on the expedition, trying to track down missing family and friends, helping DogNut, and in Courtney’s case, because she has fallen for him. They row up the river and their adventures really begin when they put ashore at the Houses of Parliament. From there on in they discover how other kids have been surviving in London. First they meet a group who’ve set up a new government at Westminster, and then they move on to find out what happened to David - last seen shooting a boy on Westminster Bridge. Not to give too much away, they also find a bunch of science nerds, led by a boy called Einstein, who are working in a lab trying to find out how the disease works.

As the story unfolds we meet some old friends - Brooke and Justin and the kids who crossed Westminster Bridge on the Tesco lorry. Maxie, Blue, Achilleus, and the Holloway crew, then there’s David and Rose and Jester at the Palace. Just-John, Karl and the squatters who set up camp in St James Park, also make an appearance. St George and his gang of sickos are back, of course, on their murderous rampage.

As well as familiar faces there are some important newcomers. Like Jackson -one tough girl - and a resourceful loner called Shadowman, who works as a sort of spy for Jester. There is also a new villain, a huge, obese sicko called the Collector. Those of you who’ve bought the paperback of the Dead will have read about him in the back of the book. Basically he’s a grown-up who lives in a flat full of stuff that he’s collected - comics, magazines, CDs, DVDs video games, electronic equipment, musical equipment, TVs, computers, toys, action figures… and dead children.

The book fully joins together the two sets of characters we met in The Enemy and The Dead and lays all the foundations for book four next year...

Let me tell you a bit about the series. I was originally commissioned by Puffin to write a trilogy but as I was nearing the end of The Enemy I realised that there was a lot I wanted to get into the story that wouldn’t fit into three books. I went back to them and asked if they’d be interested in more than three books as it would influence how I wrote the second book. I was very pleased when Puffin extended the book deal to six books. Of course, if I get to the end of the six books and kids want more then I might write more, but that decision is a couple of years away yet. I’ve worked out a story a will unfold over six books, basically it’s the original story from the trilogy expanded. To paraphrase Tolkien – ht tale has grown in the telling. What would have been book 2, the book that picks up moments after the end of The Enemy, with the Holloway crew about to arrive at the Natural History Museum, will now be book 4, which I’ve already started to write.

Does that make any sense?

To sum up, the original stories for books 1,2, and 3 will now be told in books 1,4 and 6.

What this means is that when Maxie, Blue and the others arrive at the Natural History Museum, readers will have a much better understanding of who all the other characters are that they meet there. As I say, I don’t want to give too much away, but the series is really building up to be something of an epic.

Unfortunately, those of you who want to know what happens to Small Sam will have to wait until the next book. That will very much be his story, and, in the meantime, I can’t wait until September when The Fear hits the streets.

All I have to do now is think up a really scary trailer for it…