IMPACT (ePub)

'At that moment, a thunderous boom rocked the icy stillness.  It battered their eardrums, shaking the rubble on the floor of the old cowshed.  Outside, crows scattered from the treetops, cawing loudly.

There was no mistaking the sound; they had heard it too often.  It was the echoing report of a shotgun.  And it was very near.

Instinctively, Terri opened her mouth to cry out, but Spike covered it with his hand and put a finger to his lips.  She clawed desperately at his fingers.

'Gullivan,' she choked.

She had scarcely uttered his name, when the whole wall erupted toward them with an enormous blast, that ripped through the timber of the cowshed, filling the air with a mass of choking dust, splinters of wood and ricocheting pellets.

With a painful crunch, their knees hit the hard stone floor as they crumpled into a heap, dragging their coats over their heads as debris rained down.

Rigid with shock, they waited, ears ringing in the darkness, trying to still their hearts, as if the pounding might bring Gullivan stomping towards them.  Several minutes passed as they huddled together, straining to hear any sound and then cautiously, Spike peeled back his hood and lifted his head.  Beside him, her voice still muffled by her coat, Terri whispered, 'He knows we're here...'

Spike is worried.  An elderly friend of the family, Joseph Price, hasn't been seen for several days and he is convinced Cornelius Gullivan has something to do with it.  His friends are equally convinced it's Spike's imagination working overtime again, until Spike's dog uncovers a bone.  The discovery plunges Spike and his friends into the adventure of a lifetime, with strange worlds, powerful crystals, vicious dinosaurs and a fantastic encounter with an alien race.

Can they save their new friends in time?

Meanwhile, the odious Gullivan has plans of his own - and they don't include the kids, or Joseph Price...