The Translucent Boy and the Cat Who Ran Out of Time

by Tom Hoffman

A ghostly forest appears in Odo Whitley’s bedroom the same day he and Sephie Crumb witness the time twisting arrival of a furry extradimensional traveler. Odo and Sephie befriend Silas, the victim of a cruel bully, a frightened boy who possesses a remarkable and sometimes terrifying gift.

With help from the ghostly Lady in Black, Watson the Cat, irksome Mike the Mechanic, and the very peculiar Bakis Merriweather, Odo, Sephie, and Silas must travel to the distant worlds of Palusia and Emerus in search of an eccentric inventor who vanished in 1921.

–Liz Konkel, Readers' Favorite • 5 stars
"The Translucent Boy and the Cat Who Ran Out of Time is an adventure set in a world beyond imagination with charming characters, a delightful mystery, plenty of ghosts, and time traveling fun."

Genres: Fantasy

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2019

About the author

A veteran author of thrilling young adult and middle grade adventure stories, Tom Hoffman received a B.S. in psychology from Georgetown University and a B.A from the now-defunct Oregon College of Art. He has lived in Alaska with his wife Alexis since 1973. They have two adult children and four amazing grandchildren. Tom has been a graphic designer and artist for over 35 years. Redirecting his imagination from art to writing, he wrote his first novel, The Eleventh Ring, at age 63.

The Bartholomew the Adventurer Trilogy and the Orville Wellington Mouse adventures are multi-leveled stories and have been compared to classics such as Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and Neverending Story. The books were written for his grandchildren to first enjoy as thrilling adventure tales; then as adults to discover the underlying themes of ethics, metaphysics, philosophy, quantum physics, and spirituality. A common theme is the idea that there is no magic, only science we don't understand. The books were written to provide an alternate way to view the world we live in. To see all life as a single force, all life equally precious, no matter the form. A world where violence is not necessary, a world where the protagonists are changed forever by their difficult choices, by their own sacrifices. A world of empathy, kindness, and love. And of course, ten foot tall ancient robotic rabbits and gigantic carnivorous centipedes living on post apocalyptic planets!

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Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I read the title, I was all-in. "The Translucent Boy and the Cat Who Ran Out of Time” is a coming of age tale, with visionary, sci-fi, and fantasy elements. How difficult it is to be Odo Whitely, the nerdy, translucent boy, who is so easy to miss most people don’t even see him. But, it turns out that being so different—weird—is not always a bad thing. “…sometimes weird things turn out to be the most precious things in our lives, the things we cherish above all others.” Once again, Tom Hoffman delivers a cast of charming, lovable, and sometimes testy characters, whose desire to resolve mysteries set before them leads to extraordinary as well as extra-dimensional travel and adventure. As always, Mr. Hoffman’s writing style is witty, self-effacing, tender, philosophical, and hilarious. It’s only fair to say that I was sometimes a little at a loss because I hadn’t read Book 1: “The Translucent Boy and the Girl Who Saw Him” first. But now I must!

[Matt McAvoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent this book as a free review copy, and as I read – because I tend not to read blurb before my review reads – it became immediately clear that this was the second in a series. Because I had also not read the first instalment, this fact did give me a few problems, in terms of context, setting and character backstory; I had to piece much of this together myself. There were even aspects – such as the era in which it is set – which I didn’t realize until right near the end; for example, when the characters in the photograph are revealed, I found myself totally baffled, as I had no reason before that not to think that the present in the book takes place in our own modern times. My advice, therefore, in a nutshell, is that this book will probably make a good deal more sense if you first read its predecessor “The Translucent Boy and the Girl Who Saw Him”.

Still, once I got the gist, I was able to ease in relatively easily to the events, at least in the book’s first half. The “…Cat Who Ran Out of Time” is good fun for kids, from a quality author with a highly organized and creative imagination, and I really enjoyed seeing how the supernatural tension grew in the first half, as the super duo investigated the mysterious apparition “The Lady in Black”, against the backdrop of paying mood homage to Sherlock Holmes and “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. I enjoy children’s mystery books, and have to admit I found myself utterly engaged, at least right up until midway. However, at that point the book veered off into a completely different direction: that of full-blown sci-fi fantasy. Don’t get me wrong – it was very clear from early on that the two main characters were intergalactic/interdimensional travellers, and I’m sure – based on their reminiscences of extraordinary events – that there was a good deal more sci-fi fantasy in its prequel, but still I found myself a touch disappointed that it did not continue down the Conan Doyle-style supernatural mystery path, a genre I am undoubtedly more comfortable; though, of course I acknowledge the role of my own personal taste in this matter. I have to admit, once our super team started travelling on their quest to find the missing family in the photograph, I did find myself struggling a touch more to concentrate; as the young heroes bounded from one scenario to the next, to be honest, I was finding it harder to keep up with why.

I found the book a touch long, and felt it would probably have flowed slightly better without some of the events of its middle third. But, Hoffman has a wonderful imagination, and doesn’t do overkill with it, like many sci-fi fantasy authors. The book is presented very well and I am sure that the author will achieve deserved success from this series, in which I have no doubt he will continue to write prolifically.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this, second in the series, to be captivating, witty and entertaining. The world and characters are well-described and I have come to care about the main characters and some of the minor characters as well. This is definitely designed to be read in the order written in order to know the back story. I highly recommend it and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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[Rich Bisanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this two book sci fi

Folks the adventure continues with Sephie, Odo and new friend Silas. Dimension shifting at its best. Great characters and loaded with exotic creatures in various dimensions.

[David A. Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Total enchantment across dimensions, in this series!

I was totally captured and couldn’t stop reading both this wonderful tale and it’s predecessor. I love the characters, fantastic world-building, magical science and fabulous storytelling! Bravo! Read it! Devour it!