Publication Date: 9 January 2020

The Blurb

A small village in the wilds of Northumberland is rocked by the disappearance of twelve-year-old Tammy. Only her twin brother, Ethan, knows she is safe – and the extraordinary truth of where she is. It is a secret he must keep, or risk never seeing her again.

But that doesn’t mean he’s going to give up.

Together with his friend Iggy and the mysterious (and very hairy) Hellyann, Ethan teams up with a spaceship called Philip, and Suzy the trained chicken, for a nail-biting chase to get his sister back… that will take him further than anyone has ever been before.

Cover illustration by Tom Clohosy Cole

The Review

An enthralling, intergalactic adventure that grips from beginning to end, as tension and danger mount with each chapter.

Ross Welford has an unnerving ability to make the unthinkable utterly believable, with wit, warmth and wisdom.

Shining a light on human emotions and our love of stories in any form (books, tv, jokes), this is a really thought provoking read. Hellyann’s race see no need for either, as they don’t see that they serve a useful purpose.

The idea of humans being specimens in a zoo because these traits make them interesting to study and entertaining to watch opens up debate on how humane it is to keep animals in cages for our own scientific research and entertainment.

The portrayal of a family is crisis is carefully done, as we see mum and dad struggling to cope as days go by with the growing media circus surrounding their daughter’s disappearance.

The need for some normality, mixed with the need to do something makes everything Ethan does utterly believable. His ability to voice his feelings, for the reader if no-one else, make this a brilliant read for empathy. Flashbacks aid understanding of his relationship with Iggy, which we see turn from wariness and need to trust and friendship.

And, the alien tech? Never more have I wished I still had my copy of World Of The Unknown: UFOs!

Great for fans of:

• Sputnik’s Guide To Life On Earth by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
• The Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge
• Phoenix by S.F. Said