PUFFIN BOOKS

Praise for TimeRiders:

‘A thril er ful of spectacular e ects’ – Guardian

‘Insanely exciting, nail-biting stu ’ – Independent on Sunday

‘This is a novel that is as addictive as any computer game’

– Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

‘Promises to be a big hit’ – Irish News

‘A thril ing adventure that hurtles across time and place at breakneck speed’ – Lovereading4kids.co.uk

‘Plenty of fast-paced action … this is a real page-turner’ –

‘Plenty of fast-paced action … this is a real page-turner’ –

WriteAway.org.uk

‘A great read that wil appeal to both boys and girls …

you’l nd this book addictive!’ – redhouse.co.uk

‘Contender for best science ction book of the year … an absolute winner’ – Flipside

ALEX SCARROW used to be a graphic artist, then he decided to be a computer games designer. Final y, he grew up and became an author. He has writ en a number of successful thril ers and several screenplays, but it’s YA ction that has al owed him to real y have fun with the ideas and concepts he was playing around with when designing games.

He lives in Norwich with his son, Jacob, his wife, Frances, and two very fat rats.

Books by Alex Scarrow

TimeRiders

TimeRiders: Day of the Predator

www.time-riders.co.uk

ALEX SCARROW

PUFFIN

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered O ces: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

pu nbooks.com

First published 2010

Copyright © Alex Scarrow, 2010

All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-141-95106-5

To Frances, Jacob, Max and Frodo – Field O ce, Norwich And as for you, dear reader, the fol owing message is encrypted for your eyes only:

ER YKU CPVO IPJPBOD TK DONKDO TCES TCOJ YKU

UJDOQSTPJD TCO EILKQTPJNO KR KJO WKQD –

LPJDKQP

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: 2026, Mumbai, India

CHAPTER 2: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 3: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 4: 2015, Texas

CHAPTER 5: 1906, San Francisco

CHAPTER 6: 1906, San Francisco

CHAPTER 7: 2015, Texas

CHAPTER 8: 1906, San Francisco

CHAPTER 9: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 10: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 11: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 12: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 13: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 14: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 15: 2015, Texas

CHAPTER 16: 2015, Texas

CHAPTER 17: 2015, Texas

CHAPTER 18: 2001, New York

CHAPTER 19: 2015, Texas

CHAPTER 20: 2001, New York