Our Price: AUD$22.95 (USD$)* ISBN: 978-1-920764-62-3 Subject: Young Adult/Science Fiction Publication Date: July 2004

Synopsis
All the other children at Thomas' school thought he was rather strange, preferring to spend his time alone reading rather than playing with them. Then one day, just before the school holidays, a mysterious girl wearing a fantastic golden headband, whom Thomas had never seen before, sat beside him on the bus, and almost immediately his world started to change.

Although Thomas didn't know it, he was an alien, and someone was searching for him, someone with a dark and mysterious secret that would draw him into a universe far beyond his wildest imagination.

About The Author
Chris Garrett was born in Hastings England in 1967 and emigrated to Australia with his parents when just a baby, and although he spent his entire childhood on the beach, he still managed to retain that pale-white and blotchy freckled skin that is much sought after by people of English origin.

He grew up in a small seaside town called Bargara near Bundaberg in Queensland where he swam a lot, went to a number of schools and rode motorbikes. Then in 1985 Chris left home and moved to Brisbane with the intention of becoming a chef. After four years of peeling vegetables he decided that he wasn't cut out to be a chef so he started working in IT, where he still works today as a Network Administrator for a large multinational organisation.

Chris Garrett has an overwhelming desire to write full time and still dislikes peeling vegetables.

Reviews
"Thomas Strange is a story to enthrall all ages, extremely well written in a format that is easy to read yet providing sufficient detail to make you feel you are there along side Thomas. This is a book that you simply cannot put down as each page brings another twist and you simply just have to keep reading till the end. This author is certainly going to entertain many ages with his easy to read, Science Fiction novels."
M.Brown - Vancouver, Canada

Beneath the headline Move Over Harry Potter, the Bundaberg News-Mail featured Thomas Strange and the Forgotten Past on 21/08/2004. The paper went on to say that the book "had children enthralled" with its "easy-to-read style" and that Chris Garrett "could become the next JK Rowling".

From The Book
Gran stood on the step and watched as Thomas ran down the street to the bus stop, and when she saw him safely there, she closed the door and walked down the hall toward the back of the house. In the kitchen she faced the blank area of wall between the fridge and back door, then she made a simple motion with her hand. Where there had been a wall there was now an opening. There had been no transition, no flashing lights, no shimmering scene; the wall had simply disappeared leaving a doorway in its place.

Lights came on automatically as she stepped through the mysterious opening. The room was small, barely wide enough for two people to pass. Halfway along one wall there was a small alcove containing what looked like a small television with a simple keypad, and at the far end there was a set of stairs leading down, a blue flickering light was reflected on the ceiling above.

She stopped in front of the alcove and pressed a key on the keypad. The device buzzed for a few seconds before the screen lit up revealing a man’s face. He had a young face with fair skin, green eyes and short wavy blond hair; around his head he wore a golden band.

"There may be a problem," said Gran.

"What does he know?" asked the man.

"Nothing yet," she said, "but he is beginning to suspect. Sending the girl wasn’t wise."

"That was my decision to make, not yours," he replied. "There was no harm in sending her."

"He knows about the band."

"Yes, I know."

"But..." said Gran, she seemed unsure how to respond. "What should I do?"

"You know what you have to do." It wasn’t a question.

"Yes sir," she said, then she pressed another key and the man’s face vanished from the screen.

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