Bantam Takes Thriller Series from Idris Elba, Adam Hamdy

Mar 11, 2026

Julian Pavia at Bantam acquired, in a three-book deal, U.S. rights to Exiles, the first in a new thriller series from actor Idris Elba and author Adam Hamdy, from Nicola Barr at Rye Literary. Release is planned for May 2027.

Katherine Armstrong at Simon & Schuster took U.K. rights, and translation rights have been sold in 16 territories. 

The series, per the publisher, "features Joe Kane, an MI6 field operative tasked with handling some of the agency's most complex and dangerous missions."

In Exiles, Joe Kane "is deployed to the African island nation of Mauritius to investigate the attempted murder of another operative" and must join forces "with Aliana Baptiste of the Mauritian Police, as they uncover a conspiracy with global implications." 

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