PRESS RELEASE

* NEW IN PAPERBACK *The last thing you were expecting from

Anthony Horowitz,champion of books for boys…

This time, his hero is a girl.

THE POWER OF FIVE - EPISODE 4:

NECROPOLISBY ANTHONY HOROWITZMAY 4TH 2009WALKER BOOKS - £6.99 paperback

THE POWER OF FIVE: NECROPOLIS is the spellbinding fourth episode in Anthony Horowitz’s internationally bestselling supernatural sequence. The Old Ones have taken over Hong Kong, transforming it into Necropolis – City of the Dead. The air is poisoned and there is no way out…

Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Scarlett Adams is caught in a media storm after her mysterious disappearance. Scarlett’s true identity is about to be revealed. She is the fifth Gatekeeper: the last of the five who must stand together against the dark powers of the Old Ones.

NECROPOLIS is full of the action and adrenaline readers have come to expect from Anthony Horowitz, both from THE POWER OF FIVE and ALEX RIDER. In other ways, however, this novel shows Horowitz breaking new ground. Most notably, as he introduces Scarlett Adams – aka Scar. For the first time in his thirty-year career as a writer for young people, Anthony has created a female heroine.

Anthony Horowitz is the UK’s most popular male children’s author, with not just one but three bestselling book sequences to his name! Born in North London, he was only 23 when his first novel, ENTER FREDERICK K BOWER, was published in 1979. But it was in 2000, that the Horowitz phenomenon really exploded, with his creation of ALEX RIDER - the reluctant teenage superspy. Alex Rider’s seven

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missions to date have sold over ten million copies worldwide. Anthony’s work has been translated into 28 languages. In 2006, Alex’s first mission, STORMBREAKER hit movie screens worldwide, scripted by Anthony himself. In addition to the ALEX RIDER missions, Anthony writes two other bestselling sequences – the supernatural POWER OF FIVE novels and the comic detective adventures featuring THE DIAMOND BROTHERS. All three sequences top the book charts.

Anthony has an unrivalled reputation for getting boys, especially reluctant readers, into books. In 2007, Anthony was singled out by then Education Secretary Alan Johnson as the not-so-secret weapon to get boys reading. In 2008, Anthony was made the National Year of Reading’s first Champion Author due to his regular outreach work to Youth Offenders and Looked After Children throughout the UK.

2009 is a particularly busy year for Anthony. Following hard on the heels of publication of THE POWER OF FIVE: NECROPOLIS, Summer 2009 sees graphic novel editions of two of his bestselling titles – THE POWER OF FIVE: RAVEN’S GATE and ALEX RIDER: SKELETON KEY. Then, in October, Anthony is planning a brutal assault on Halloween with a new collection of horror stories for the whole family, cheekily titled MORE BLOODY HOROWITZ. Think TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED with a slash of Tarantino. Meanwhile, he is hard at work on Alex Rider’s eighth mission, to be published next year – which happens to be the 10th anniversary of the ALEX RIDER phenomenon. Anthony Horowitz redefines busy.

He enjoys parallel success as an award-winning screenwriter. He is the writer/creator behind MIDSOMER MURDERS (now in series 11 and screening in an incredible 167 countries) and the BAFTA award-winning FOYLE’S WAR, for which he has written 17 out of the 19 two-hour episodes. FOYLE’S WAR returns for its seventh series in 2009. Autumn 2009 will also see Anthony’s new five-part drama, COLLISION hit ITV’s prime time schedules. This “State of the Nation” piece promises to be one of the most talked about event dramas of the year.

Anthony is a regular guest critic on BBC TV’s NEWSNIGHT REVIEW and writes journalism on a wide range of issues for a variety of national newspapers. ………………………………………………………………

ANTHONY HOROWITZINFORMATION & INTERVIEW REQUESTS

CONTACT:JUSTIN SOMPERjustso@globalnet.co.uk+ 44 20 8341 6523