HE may be a wizard among wizards but it seems Harry Potter may have finally met his match in a vicar from North Yorkshire.

Ottakar's, Britain's leading book chain, has chosen Shadowmancer, a children's ghost story written by clergyman Graham Taylor, as its book of the month for June.

In doing so it has dealt an unexpected blow to JK Rowling, whose latest Harry Potter adventure, The Order of the Phoenix, is also published this month.

WH Smith is also considering whether or not to make Shadowmancer, a fantasy about a wizard who can summon shadows to commit dark deeds, its book of the month.

Incredibly, Faber and Faber - the publisher of Shadowmancer - actually brought forward the book's on-sale date to coincide with the latest Potter adventure.

Where other authors seem to be running scared - avoiding a June publication date - Faber and Faber seems happy for its new author to go head-to-head with JK Rowling.

Despite advance sales of more than 30,000, the Rev Taylor, vicar of Cloughton, near Scarborough, is determined not to be carried away. "I won't believe it until I see it," he said. "It's very flattering but I can't really get excited about it. I'm a Yorkshireman."

Yesterday, the Internet auction site Ebay was offering two signed copies for more than £600 each - and there was no shortage of bidders. Book collectors expect the final price to be more than £1,000 when the auction ends next Saturday.

The Rev Taylor admitted: "My life's like an episode of the X Files at the minute. You have no idea what's going to happen next."

Ottakar's defended the decision to snub Harry Potter. Marketing director Paul Henderson said the winners were chosen by an independent panel.

"We are not about promoting the best-selling book of the month, but the one we think is the best read," he said.