<DIV>“A riveting story with characters so finely drawn that I wonder if Dan Krokos actually is an alien.”—Eoin Colfer, <I>New York Times </I>bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series<BR><BR><I>The Planet Thieves</I> is the first thrilling installment of a new middle-grade series by Dan Krokos.<BR><BR>Two weeks ago, thirteen-year-old Mason Stark and seventeen of his fellow cadets from the Academy for Earth Space Command boarded the <I>SS Egypt</I>. The trip was supposed to be a short, routine voyage to log their required space time for summer quarter.<BR><BR>Routine goes out the airlock when they’re attacked by the Tremist, an alien race who have been at war with humanity for the last sixty years.<BR><BR>With the captain and crew dead, injured, or taken prisoner, Mason and the cadets are all that’s left to warn the ESC. They soon find out exactly why the Tremist chose their ship to attack: the <I>Egypt</I> is carrying a weapon that could change the war forever.<BR><BR>Now Mason will have to lead the cadets in a daring assault to take back the ship, rescue the survivors, and recover the weapon. Before there isn’t a war left to fight.</DIV>