Well, talk about a jaw-dropping announcement. Publishers Lunch reports that effective February 13, Geoff Kloske will leave his job as executive editor of Simon & Schuster for Riverhead, where as publisher of the imprint he'll report to Susan Petersen Kennedy. In a press release, she says that "Luck would have it that Geoffrey Kloske, whom I have long admired, will now join Penguin Group's senior editorial team and take the helm of one of New York's finest publishing programs. His wide-ranging editorial interests, his eye for recognizing unique genius and his passion for publishing quality literature is undeniable."

At S&S, Kloske's edited a range of authors including Pete Hautman, A.J. Jacobs, John Sellers, Micah Garen, Dave Eggers, Sarah Vowell, Howard Dean, Shalom Auslander, and Philip Van Munching, but may be best known in the blogging world as the editor of former MB EIC Elizabeth Spiers' upcoming novel, THEY ALL DIE IN THE END. When reached for comment, Spiers (who's plenty busy today for other reasons) said it was too soon to know what Kloske's switch would mean for her book.

Today's announcement also pointed to Kloske hiring an additional editor shortly.