Strange Invaders
Visitors Book 1
Lynn Harnett
I was recently having a discussion with a young man in his early 20’s and asked about his favourite book, because that is what bibliophiles do. He immediately said Freak the Might by Philbrick. This is the eighth volume I have read by the author over the last few months. And it was something completely different!
The description of this volume state:
“With the adults possessed by alien invaders, can Nick, Jessie, and Frasier save their town? Twelve-year-old twins Nick and Jessie are woken up in the middle of the night by a blazing white light followed by a loud explosion. As they rush to the window, rain suddenly begins pouring down, and the water starts to glow. It is the strangest thunderstorm they’ve ever seen, and it stops as quickly as it started. Nick has a feeling it may not have been a storm at all, but visitors from another planet. When he and Jessie decide to investigate a strange sound downstairs, they find their mom and dad digging a hole in the basement. At least, they think it’s their mom and dad. But since when does their mom let them eat all the junk food they want, and why isn’t their dad going to work? Nick and Jessie know something is wrong, and if their hunch is right, their parents’ bodies have been taken over by aliens. It’s up to Nick, Jessie, and their best friend, Frasier, to solve the mystery and protect their town from an extraterrestrial threat.”
This volume was originally published by Scholastic in 1997, reprinted in 2006, and in 2014 republished by Open Road Media. I did not know anything about this book other than it is the first in a trilogy. It was an excellent Middle Grade novel. It is not a school story, but the main protagonists are school aged. It again reminds me a lot of the works of Andrew Clements, Arthur Slade or Gordon Korman. The more of Philbrick I read I am being reminded more and more of Madeleine L’Engle who wrote adult fiction, nonfiction, children’s fiction, teen fiction, and even theology.
A strange storm, parents who do not wake up. Then a whole town changed. Twins Nick and Jessie are awoken by the story and neighbour Fraiser realizes something is off the day after the storm. And as each day passes they get stranger and stranger. They find a weird scorch mark in the Badlands, and for some reasons zombie like aliens see attracted to the place as well. The three friends have to fight an extra-terrestrial threat and find a way to save the adults from their town. And the end leaves you desperate for the next volume.
Philbrick writes midgrade literature, young adult books and adult fiction. And some are even published under other pen names. I just randomly picked this as the next volume to read. It was a tossup between this and Cherry Street book 1. I have friends who call me a ‘completionist’ in that I find an author I really like and try to read everything they have in print, or have published.
I was hooked almost as soon as I started this volume. I had not read the description or any reviews I just dove in. I stayed up way too late to keep reading the night I started it. It was the first that I have read by Philbrick that was co-written. All eleven volumes attributed to Lynn Harnett were co-written with Philbrick.
This was an intriguing story. It is a quick fun read. And one I can easily recommend.
Books by Rodman Philbrick:
Max the Mighty Series:
Freak the Mighty (1993)
Max the Mighty (1998)
…
House on Cherry Street Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. The Haunting (1995)
2. The Horror (1995)
3. The Final Nightmare (1995)
…
Werewolf Chronicles Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. Night Creature (1996)
2. Children of the Wolf (1996)
3. The Wereing (1996)
…
Visitors Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. Strange Invaders (1997)
2. Things (1997)
3. Brain Stealers (1997)
…
Wild Series:
1. Wildfire (2019)
2. Wild River (2021)
3. Wild Wave (2024)
4. Wild Blizzard (2026)
…
Other Books:
Shooting Star (1982)
The Black Moon (1989)
Brothers and Sinners (1993)
The Fire Pony (1996)
Abduction (1998) (with Lynn Harnett)
The Mighty (1998)
Dark Matter (2000)
Rem World (2000)
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds (2001)
Coffins (2002)
The Young Man and the Sea (2004)
Lobster Boy (2005)
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (2009)
Listening To Kids In America (2011)
Zane and the Hurricane (2014)
The Big Dark (2016)
Who Killed Darius Drake? (2017)
We Own the Sky (2022)
…
Written as William R Dantz:
Pulse (1989) (as by William R Dantz)
The Seventh Sleeper (1991) (as by William R Dantz)
Hunger (1993) (as by William R Dantz)
Nine Levels Down (1995) (as by William R Dantz)
Written as by W R Philbrick:
The Big Chip (1990) (as by W R Philbrick)
…
J.D. Hawkins Series:
1. Shadow Kills (1985)
2. Ice for the Eskimo (1986)
3. Paint It Black (1989)
4. Walk on the Water (1991)
…
T.D. Stash Series:
1. The Neon Flamingo (1987)
2. The Crystal Blue Persuasion (1988)
3. Tough Enough (1989)
…
Written as by Chris Jordan:
Randall Shane Series:
1. Taken (2006)
2. Trapped (2007)
aka Lost
3. Torn (2009)
4. Measure of Darkness (2011)
…
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