His new series is being touted as the next Harry Potter, but Lindsay Jennings finds GP Taylor has more to offer than cheap imitation.

THE parallels are there - an orphan boy, the magical background, a cast of weird and wonderful characters.

But there the similarities between GP Taylor's new book, Mariah Mundi, The Midas Box, and JK Rowling's Harry Potter series end.

Mariah Mundi is the first in a series of seven books (okay, there's another parallel) from the former vicar, Graham Taylor, of Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Fans will be familiar with his work - the best selling Shadowmancer which is due to be made into a film, Wormwood and Tersias, and Shadowmancer's sequel, The Curse of Salamander Street. Mariah Mundi has all the hallmarks of his previous books - twisty plot, an array of inventively named characters, evil lurking around every corner - and more.

We meet Mariah as he travels north for a job at Scarborough's ominous Prince Regent hotel, having left the Colonial School where he was studying while his parents worked abroad. We're told, however, that his parents are now missing, presumed dead.

His job at the hotel is to assist Bizmillah the Great, a magician, in the stage shows which are held at the Prince Regent, owned by the intriguing Otto Luger. Mariah makes friends with fellow employee, Sacha, and discovers that previous assistants have had a nasty habit of disappearing.

The plot soon picks up pace as the pair discover a whole different level in the depths of the hotel, below the luxury enjoyed by the guests. In the slimy, greendripping walls of the basement and cellar they face sea-scuttling creatures and discover a secret hidden in an Egyptian sarcophagus. Pursued by villains, unsure who to trust, the plot hurtles on as they attempt to expose the eerie goingson at the Prince Regent - and escape with their lives intact.

Taylor has succeeded in creating a worthy successor to fill the post-Potter void, a tale which will no doubt appeal to both adults and children alike. His distinct style is there - the dry humour, a fantastical Victorian backdrop, the macabre scenes. It remains to be seen how Mariah grows as a character, if at all, and if Taylor can sustain our interest in him.

But the signs are that he will and, in time, lay the ghost of Potter to rest with new references being seen - to the next GP Taylor.