Victor Appleton

It has been a couple years since Tom Swift solved the mystery and overcame the aftermath of a loss of helium in the undersea mines he once discovered. Since then not much of anything has happened that might be considered newsworthy in Helium City. In fact, he and his friend, Bud Barclay, haven't even traveled down there in all that time.Things are about to change A deep thrumming vibration begins to make itself noticed in Helium City. As it comes and goes with no indication of its origin or meaning, Tom designs and lowers a series of probes meant to discover what is coming from deep inside or even under the giant cavern filled with liquid helium. They give some answers and ask many more questions.In order to explore the possibilities-and impossibilities-Tom and Bud undertake a new adventure that sees them being lowered into the cavern in a totally unique sphere.What they find shocks them both, but they try to make a bad situation better. What they get is a bad situation getting more and more out of hand

In this hardbound edition of the 7th novel in the series, the planet Pluto suddenly disappears. There one minute and gone the next. Is this the start of an invasion? Tom Swift is called upon to investigate. For starters he agrees to refurbish and move the long-defunct Hubble Space telescope into a position where it might scan the now empty area. Finding nothing he builds an ultra fast space probe. But when that disappears as it nears the missing planet's position, it raises even more questions. A second probe is flung far to one side. The only thing to do is to go out himself, and so Tom sets about building a new, giant and incredibly fast spaceship, The Sutter. Before he can launch it, Pluto or something slightly larger reappears and begins heading inward toward the Sun. The problem is that the Earth is in the way. If Tom can't deflect this paradox planet from its course, all mankind might perish. But what secrets can this planet hold? And, why does it suddenly slow down inside Jupiter's orbit?

In this 10th book of the new Tom Swift Invention Series, young inventor Tom Swift finds himself with a mystery. Someone is insisting on a face-to-face meeting but refuses to tell Tom why or who he is. All sorts of bells and danger whistles go off in his mind. When the truth becomes known, it sets Tom on a path that will see him building a flying vehicle capable of locating buried bodies, being pressed into a rescue mission when a volcano erupts and threatens to destroy a major city, which then catapults him right into the toughest assignment he's ever faced. Flying through space or swimming deeper in the ocean than anyone ever has been child's play compared to what he faces. The very earth under our feet has a mysterious tear that could destroy several New England states. Nobody knows how long it has been there, but it isn't standing still It might even travel across the country eventually causing a super volcanic eruption under Yosemite. Tom has never faced the very planet he lives on as an opponent in a battle like this.

In this 8th in the new Tom Swift Invention Series, Tom Swift finds himself involved in a galactic mystery. Something very much like a black hole has been discovered a dozen light years away, but nobody can say for certain what it really is... or if it will affect the Earth. The thing about black holes is they suck in light so they can't really be seen.Tom wants to go investigate. Even his quickest unmanned rockets can't carry enough fuel for such a trip. So a shortcut seems to be the only chance. His knowledge tells him that wormholes are more than a science fiction hypothesis, but how the heck can he go about locating one? Even if he finds one, how can he determine where it might exit? When an old video surfaces showing proof to and open and willing mind that wormholes exist and can be opened for brief periods, he also finds it takes the power of a nuclear bomb to do so. If he overcomes all issues, he and Bud may be on a one way trip. They encounter the anomaly-and it's a doozy-but they also find themselves face-to- uhhh, hands? Giant ghostly hands beckon them, but what can it all mean? With little air and no fuel, what can Tom do?NOTE: Although this book shares a common title with one of the Tom Swift Jr. books published in late 1971, it IS NOT that book. Nor is it that story.