An adventure‑filled coming of age story set in World War II era Austin, Texas.

It is the summer of 1944, and young teen Charlie Hardin has been set loose on the streets of Austin, Texas with only one command from his parents: stay out of trouble. Charlie means to do just that. He never wants to disobey, but sometimes in a boy's life situations come up that he cannot ignore and still be true‑blue to his own restless soul. And when that time comes . . .

It's up to Charlie Hardin.

It's up to Charlie Hardin when a secret path over a wall topped with glass shards needs cutting through an ancient oak, even if that means venturing out on the brittle ends of tree limbs where any fall could break an arm, a leg–or a neck.

It's up to Charlie Hardin when a dog‑shooting neighbor must be taught to keep his hands off Charlie's loyal best friend, even if that means inventing the world's most effective long‑range pumpkin slingshot.

And it's up to Charlie Hardin to explore a boy‑sized storm culvert that leads into darkness simply because that's what a red‑blooded boy has to do, even if it leads to the heart of a perilous criminal plot built on Nazi schemes and greed.

Charlie understands that, no matter the cost, when danger arrives at his doorstep, to be brave, resolute, clever–and sometimes just a tiny bit nuts–is the only thing that counts, when all is said and done. For the one surefire ingredient every glorious summer adventure always requires is a willing and resolute adventurer. And in Austin, Texas, in the summer of 1942, that adventurer comes in the form of one unstoppable young teenager named Charlie Hardin!

An adventure‑filled coming of age story set in World War II era Austin, Texas.

It is the summer of 1944, and young teen Charlie Hardin has been set loose on the streets of Austin, Texas with only one command from his parents: stay out of trouble. Charlie means to do just that. He never wants to disobey, but sometimes in a boy's life situations come up that he cannot ignore and still be true‑blue to his own restless soul. And when that time comes . . .

It's up to Charlie Hardin.

It's up to Charlie Hardin when a secret path over a wall topped with glass shards needs cutting through an ancient oak, even if that means venturing out on the brittle ends of tree limbs where any fall could break an arm, a leg–or a neck.

It's up to Charlie Hardin when a dog‑shooting neighbor must be taught to keep his hands off Charlie's loyal best friend, even if that means inventing the world's most effective long‑range pumpkin slingshot.

And it's up to Charlie Hardin to explore a boy‑sized storm culvert that leads into darkness simply because that's what a red‑blooded boy has to do, even if it leads to the heart of a perilous criminal plot built on Nazi schemes and greed.

Charlie understands that, no matter the cost, when danger arrives at his doorstep, to be brave, resolute, clever–and sometimes just a tiny bit nuts–is the only thing that counts, when all is said and done. For the one surefire ingredient every glorious summer adventure always requires is a willing and resolute adventurer. And in Austin, Texas, in the summer of 1942, that adventurer comes in the form of one unstoppable young teenager named Charlie Hardin!

Download the comprehensive Teacher’s Guide here.

Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

W200402 February 2004 Monthly Baen Bundle

This Scepter'd Isle

by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis

The Rackham Files

by Dean Ing

Four and Twenty Blackbirds - Lackey

by Mercedes Lackey

The Warmasters

by David Weber, Eric Flint and David Drake

Conrad's Time Machine

by Leo Frankowski

DOOMSDAY. ARE YOU READY

Harve Rackham: Bounty hunter, race-car driver. His best friend is a hunting cheetah. Ready for "dirty" bombs from terrorists, or full-fledged nukes from a rogue nation, Harve has turned his California home into a survival shelter. He intends to pull through.

Shar McKay: Harve's little sister. Shar's latest fad is nuclear survival. She intends for her husband and kids to all pull through.

Ernest McKay: Engineer. He has the knowledge and skills to save his family. With his help they'll all pull through.

Kate Gallo: Runaway, forger, a tough street survivor. She's trouble—but when real troubles come down, Kate will always pull through.

They're tough, they're survivors, and this is their story: A novel of the day after Doomsday by a New York Times best-selling author.

Publisher's Note: Parts of The Rackham Files have been published separately, in the novel Pulling Through, in the volume Firefight: Y2K, and in the volume Combat, edited by Stephen Coonts. This is the first unified publication of the entire Harve Rackham series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dean Ing has written many bestsellers combining High-tech (and accurate) technology with fast-moving thriller plots in the vein of Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts, including the New York Times best seller, The Ransom of Black Stealth One. Kirkus Reviews has called his work "credible and entertaining." His 1980 novel Soft Targets has proven prophetic with its warning of the vulnerability of the United States to terrorist attacks. He is also a widely published science fiction writer, and has been a Hugo and Nebula Awards finalist. His contributions to the Man-Kzin Wars volumes have been among the most popular in that best-selling series. A former U.S. Air Force interceptor crew chief, Ing has designed, built, and raced prototype sports cars while becoming a senior research engineer in the aerospace industry for Lockheed, United, and others. He and his wife live in Ashland, Oregon.

TWO COMPLETE NOVELS OF THE MAN-KZIN WARS—
NOW AVAILABLE IN A SINGLE VOLUME

*The Children's Hour by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling: A new kind of question for the mighty felinoid warriors from the planet Kzin. After several ignominious defeats at the hands of the furless hominids from Planet Earth, at least one Kzin commander thinks he's got the answer: learn from the monkeys — cooperate to destroy! And it's working. But the humans have millennia of experience dealing with cooperative enemies, and what is perceived as a strength can sometimes be manipulated into a tragic flaw. Here's what can happen when one's rivals cooperate against one. . . .

* Cathouse by Dean Ing: Carroll Locklear was up to his ears in Kzinti. He hadn't planned it that way; what sane human would want to be trapped cheek by furry jowl with a bunch of homicidal bearcats But when he was taken prisoner, somehow the subject of Locklear's likes and dislikes never came up, and now he finds himself stranded on a planet of prehistoric Kzinti. To survive he must find common cause, if not with the males then with the females of that antique species. . . .
 

Praise for the Man-Kzin Wars series:

". . . excellent . . . gripping . . . expands well on Larry Niven's universe. . ." —Locus

"Well, you know the drill by now. Scream and leap to your nearest bookstore . . . they are going to sell out fast." —Rave Reviews

"Masterful handling of hard SF embedded within a rich background of character and plot." —Quantum

W200001 January 2000 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Apocalypse Troll

by David Weber

Eagle Against the Stars

by Steve White

Firefight Y2K

by Dean Ing

Dragonne's Eg

by Mary Brown

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE Armor will be self-repairing . . . Killer hornets will be bred to attack only the enemy . . . The forerunners of tunneling combat vehicles already exist. . . Manned aircraft could actually dodge laser beams of orbital platforms . . . Shoulder-fired rockets will be launched without heat or flash . . . Crews of space cruisers will be nested inside fuel pellets for protection . . . NOW DUCK! Publisher's Note: Firefight Y2K is a millennial Edition of Firefight 2000, with authorial retrospectives plus two chapters from the author's The Chernobyl Syndrome on how to survive the coming festivities.