The Particle Beast

by Ian C. Douglas

They say the truth can set you free. Yet on Mars the truth can kill. Zeke Hailey is happy enough at the Chasm, the 23rd century school for psychics. But an answer to a secret throws his life into chaos. Now Zeke must choose between his friends and his missing father. Mars, however, isn't ready to let him go. World famous translator Dr. Enki arrives with a sinister plan and he needs Zeke's ability to speak Martian to help him uncover an ancient Martian city. A hideous monster lurks in this alien ghost town, with the terrifying power to erase atoms. A creature so deadly, it must never get free. But more dangers are waiting for him inside than just the monster. Zeke must find a way to defeat his greatest enemy before the fabric of time and space unravels forever.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 18, 2017

About the author

The best writers are part-librarian and part-swashbuckler. At least that’s the career path Ian C Douglas has always tried to follow. After a nerdy childhood spent in the company of Tolkien, Lovecraft, and a certain time lord, Ian ran away to see the World. This quest for adventure landed in him countless scrapes, before finding himself teaching English in East Asia.

After ten years of hard grammar, he returned to his native England, and graduated with a MA Distinction in Creative Writing. He's written for video games, apps and is author of the YA sci-fi thriller The Infinity Trap. His stories have won prizes and he was a finalist in the Independent on Sunday’s writing competition. Ian is also a children’s history author and visits schools with bloodcurdling tales of the past. His writing has appeared at the V&A’s Toy Museum.

Ian lives near Sherwood Forest with his wife and children. When he’s not daydreaming about Martian landscapes, he teaches creative writing and writes theatre reviews.