Barry Cunningham, the Bloomsbury editor who first saw the potential in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, claims to have struck gold a second time with Tunnels, a young adult novel about a boy archaeologist who finds himself drawn into a world of adventure after digging a hole.

"I knew from page one that Harry Potter was magic," says Cunningham. "Reading Tunnels gave me the same thrill, discovering a world of imagination just beyond our ordinary lives."

Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, the author of the book, originally self-published an edition of the novel that apparently sold out within hours of hitting the bookshelves. No word yet on when it will be released in North America.