The Missing Case, by Simon Haynes

Beeeeep-BEEEEEP-beeeep-BEEEEEP!
At first Hal thought Stinky’s brain had overloaded, but then he recognised the fire alram. Sirens shrieked, hazard lights lashed, and a panicky voice blared from hidden speakers.
‘Fire alert. Fire alert. Emergency personnel report to the E-section canteen. this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!’
Hal and Stinky staered at each other in horror. now they were really in for it!

When Hal starts a fire in the space station’s kitchen, he is in big trouble. Now he’s going to miss the school camping trip. Unless he can do soemthing to redeeem himself. If he can entertain an important visitor’s child, his paernts will reconsider. But Alex is not at all what Hal expects. For startes, she’s a girl, and then she’s simply not that impressed with what the space station has to offer. It might just be that keeping out trouble is even harder, with Alex arund.

Hal Junior: The Missing Case is the second title in the Hal Junior series, and efatures more humours sci-fi adventures. Hal is a typically cheeky, adveturous kid, living in a settign which is anywhere BUT typical – an ageing space station. He has to use his sharp wits, and a lot of luck, to keep himself out of trouble.

Hal Junior: The Missing Case will appeal to primary aged readers.

Hal Junior: The Missing Case, by Simon Haynes
Bowman Press, 2012
ISBN 9781877034251

Available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

No Free Lunch, by Simon Haynes

A brief scream, a moment of weightlessness, a sideways wrench…Hal Spacejock awoke with a start, dragged from his vivid dreams by the Volante’s latest hyperspace jump. As his heart-rate slowed from frantic hammering to over-revved, he wondered whether it was too late for a career change. Anything other than the cargo business would do it. Primary school teaching, perhaps. Or law enforcement.

Hal Spacejock and his sidekick, the robot Clunk, have arrived on the planet Dismolle looking for some cargo jobs to make some quick credits and settle some debts. When Hal’s first customer turns out to be an attractive young woman, Hal decides his luck has changed. But soon, he and Clunk are living life at the same frantic (and chaos-riddled) pace as ever. Hal must decide whether to put his business or his beautiful new acquaintance first.

No Free Lunch is the fourth instalment in the hilarious Hal Spacejock. space-opera serial. With goodies, baddies, loads of life and death moments and, of course, plenty of laughs, fans of the earlier instalments will lap this one up, and those new to the series will be reaching for the earlier ones. And, as a bonus, those who missed the first instalment can now download it for free here.

Good stuff.

Hal Spacejock: No free Lunch, by Simon Haynes
Fremantle Press, 2008