Derek Landy, bestselling author of the Skulduggery Pleasant series for young adults, has signed a deal with HarperCollins Children’s Books for a new YA trilogy. The first book in the Demon Road trilogy will be published in hardback in September with the second and third following at six-month intervals.

Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor sharp dialogue, according to the publisher, Demon Road “kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America”.

And the plot? “Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in...Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves. Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travellers, who are not at all what they appear to be…”

Landy says of his new project: “Having completely indulged myself whilst writing Skulduggery Pleasant, I needed my new series to be as frenetic, as frightening, and as fun. I am having an indecently splendid time writing about Amber and Milo and the 1970 Dodge Charger they drive (that may or may not have a murderous mind of its own). I am excited that our six-month publishing schedule means that the books will be moving almost as fast as the car itself, as we get them into the hands of our voracious readers.”

Publisher Nick Lake said: “We first published Derek Landy in 2007 and are so delighted that he’s now taking us to a whole new realm. A filmic thrill-ride, Demon Road is a journey that all of Derek’s fans will want to take – and legions of new readers will come along for the ride too. Magical, terrifying, and with a classic Landy twist on the misfit teen, it is an epic adventure in widescream – the story of one girl who really can say that her parents are monsters.”

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy burst onto the publishing scene in 2007. The last three books have been number-one bestsellers in Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Global sales exceed 5 million copies and the series can be read in 36 languages. The epic adventure series has won the Irish Book of the Decade and the Red House Children’s Book awards.