Darkmouth

Shane Hegarty is set to join the ranks of Darren Shan and Derek Landy with the arrival of Darkmouth, the first book in a new series Harper Collins are adding to their impressive horror canon.

Finn has been born into a line of Legend Hunters and is unlucky enough to live in the one place that Legends still attack. He's doing his best to live up to the family name but even being a guardian against evil in training doesn't stop you getting teased at school. When a new girl arrives in his class he's so delighted that she seems impressed by his impending role as protector of Darkmouth that he doesn't stop to wonder why on earth she'd move to the one blighted village that everyone else is desperate to leave. But just as Finn's training nears completion, a huge invasion of Legends is about to begin and there's a rather frightening prophecy that has got Finn's name all over it.

Interspersed with text from 'A Concise Guide to the Legend Hunter World', Hegarty's story takes place in a world mostly recognisable as our own, school is no fun and parents' expectations loom as larger than any minotaur's shadow. Darkmouth will sit perfectly next to Skulduggery Pleasant on the shelves of middle-grade readers who prefer their comedy served with a smothering of action and some rather hefty weaponry.