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Find out moreM.G. Harris (M.G. stands for Maria Guadalupe) was born in Mexico City. When her parents split up, five year-old M.G. moved to Frankfurt, Germany, with her air stewardess mother and younger sister, and later to Manchester, England. Growing up as a Mancunian, M.G. based her formative years around the television series Doctor Who and Blake's 7 and the fortunes of Manchester United. As a teenager, during regular visits to her father in Mexico, M.G. became fascinated by Mayan archaeology. She made several trips to Mayan ruins in Yucatan and Chiapas and one such trip gave her the seed of the idea of what would later become The Joshua Files: Invisible City.
As a student, M.G. was interested in molecular biology and studied biochemistry at St Cross College, Oxford. M.G. spent several years working in research laboratories before setting up her own internet company. Whilst visiting family in Switzerland in 2004, a skiing accident left M.G. with a shattered tibia plateau. Forced to spend many weeks recuperating from surgery, she decided to keep a promise she'd made to herself to one day pursue a career as a novelist. Writing on a laptop next to her bed, M.G. began work on a techno thriller which combined her two intellectual loves - archaeology and biology. From this initial manuscript came the idea for a story featuring a young boy searching for a lost Mayan codex... and The Joshua Files were born.
In an attempt to cover up the fact that she's a bit of a geek, M.G. spends as much time as possible going out to salsa clubs to dance. She adores anything written by her quartet of literary gurus: Haruki Murakami, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino. M.G. lives in Oxford with her husband and their two daughters. She was the fastest-selling UK debut children's author of 2008.
You can visit the official M G Harris fansite by clicking here.
She introduces The Joshua Files in this video (and in case you missed the first one, Invisible City, there are also some intriguing details about the plot):
From Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson and bestselling author M. G. Harris, comes the second in this gripping new action-adventure series. Ben Carrington's dream has become a reality: he's finally a member of Gemini Force. But, still suffering from the deaths of his parents, it's a bitter-sweet triumph. When news reaches GF1 of a gang of illegal 'ghost' miners trapped after a South African mining disaster, Ben is glad to spring into action with the team. But it soon emerges that the company, Auron, doesn't want its miners found. Ben must work out who to trust if he's to ensure that Gemini Force pulls off its most difficult mission yet ...
This exciting new series is based on an original idea from Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson. Our hero is Ben Cameron, sixteen years old. His father has been killed in a climbing accident, and the book opens at the funeral, with an impressive fly-past organised as part of the commemorations. When something goes wrong, two of the pilots are left dangling from their parachutes thousands of feet up and first his mother, and then Ben goes to their rescue. Skip this scene if you suffer from vertigo, but don’t worry, it’s just the first in a series of nail-biting adventures as Ben fights for a place in elite, top-secret rescue organisation, Gemini Force. The technology is up to date, but the ingenuity and action-based plotlines that made Thunderbirds so distinctive is the same. Great fun for fans of Young Bond. ~ Andrea Reece Lovereading4kids comment - Prepare yourself, the action and adventure not only starts immediately, it simply doesn’t stop. 16 year old headstrong Ben has a fabulous role model, his mother is courageous, determined and loyal, she is absolutely someone you would want by your side in an emergency. You can definitely feel the influence of Gerry Anderson as there is a hint of ‘Thunderbirds' in Gemini Force, however this is a refreshingly modern twist on the story of a rescue organisation. You need all of your creative wits about you to imagine the essential and fantastical machinery and transportation at the teams disposal. Ben Carrington, the new kid on the adventure block isn't perfect, he makes mistakes and a few rash decisions along the way but he's immensely likeable and a great addition to the fascinating crew of Gemini Force, this feels like the perfect introduction to an exciting new series. ~ Liz Robinson
April 2012 Book of the Month. Half Mexican, Manchester United fan and self-confessed geek, M G Harris is the author of the fabulous Mayan phrophecy influenced, futuristic series, The Joshua Files – perfect for action-hero fan 9+ year olds. This is the 5th and final book in the series and is packed full of gripping, daring teen adventure in dark pyramids and alien tunnels. If you haven’t discovered these pacy adventures yet, now’s the perfect time particularly as the end of the Mayan calendar draws near on 21st December 2012 in fact! Will the world end then? Find out in this the final instalment of this nailbiting adventure. Check out all the Joshua Files titles. Click here to visit the Joshua Files website, which includes Josh's blog, competitions and how to receive Joshua Files updates by SMS. You can also visit the official M.G. Harris fansite - click here.
Shortlisted for the Independent Booksellers Book Award 2011 A headlong new title in this best-selling series, Joshua narrates a new adventure with his trademark sharpness and familiar cool. Joshua is in danger as soon as he begins the quest to find out why his father has gone missing after a plane crash in Mexico. Soon Joshua finds himself caught up in a terrifying world of the Mayan past where nothing is quite what it seems to be. How will Joshua get back to the present day and will everything seem the same afterwards? A page turning adventure with a great character at its heart. Lovereading4kids comment: Explosive and compelling - the fourth part of the best-selling JOSHUA FILES series. Gripping, fast-paced and exciting, this is sure to get the adrenalin pumping round the readers' body. One boy, one deadly prophecy and one heart-stopping adventure and unless Josh can handle it an electromagnetic pulse witll blast through the atmosphere on 22nd December and the world will end. This series just gets better and better and as with the previous three titles in the series, the first edition of each comes in a brilliant PVC cover - this one is blue and it's impossible to miss if you buy it in your local bookshop. Alternatively just get it here!
Thrilling adventure as an ancient civilization is awakened by one boy. Desperate to find out what has happened to his dad after he goes missing, Josh gets caught up in a race to find the legendary lost book of the ancient Mayas. Can he do it? And will he survive? The second Joshua Files adventure is Ice Shock and the third, Zero Moment.
So often one is drawn in by gimmics on a book or in a book, but not this time. Ignoring the seriously cool and clever fluorescent die-cut flexible slipcase, the publisher Scholastic and the author M G Harris have delivered not just once with the first Joshua Files: Invisible City in 2008 but now in 2009 an even more accomplished rollercoaster of a ride in Ice Shock. Continuing where Invisible City left off, Josh Garcia remains steadfastly determined to uncover the truth behind his father's death in the jungles of Mexico. Like the thrillers featuring Alex Rider or indeed those featuring Jason Bourne, Ice Shock is full of incredible plot twists and turns, well drawn and utterly believable characters but unlike the aforementioned characters Josh doesn't rely in any way on hi-tech gadgetry. His coolness under extreme fire - both physical and emotional is so much more heart-pumping than anything else. No wonder Harris' Invisible City was the no. 1 debut of 2008. It wouldn't surprise us at Lovereading4kids if his second novel becomes one of the top titles of the year. Try it for yourself and see what you think.
Explosive and compelling, this is the third part of the bestselling Joshua Files sequence in which an ancient prophecy is predicting the end of the world in 2012. Don’t feel it’s essential to read the first two titles to enjoy this 3rd heart-stopping adventure, as the author cleverly interweaves the story to date at the beginning of this one. That said, the first two are so good, you will miss some of the detail. In Zero Moment, Josh is convinced he’s discovered the key to time travel but dare he use it to save his father? When his great friend Ixchel is kidnapped by the very people intent on the world’s destruction, he must take things into his own hands to save both Ixchel and the world. To read the titles in order start with Invisible City then Ice Shock and finally Zero Moment.
Thrilling adventure as an ancient civilization is awakened by one boy. Desperate to find out what has happened to his dad after he goes missing, Josh gets caught up in a race to find the legendary lost book of the ancient Mayans. Can he do it? And will he survive? To read the titles in order start with Invisible City then Ice Shock and finally Zero Moment.
Continuing where Invisible City left off, Josh Garcia remains steadfastly determined to uncover the truth behind his father's death in the jungles of Mexico. Like the thrillers featuring Alex Rider or indeed those featuring Jason Bourne, Ice Shock is full of incredible plot twists and turns, well drawn and utterly believable characters but unlike the aforementioned characters Josh doesn't rely in any way on hi-tech gadgetry. His coolness under extreme fire - both physical and emotional is so much more heart-pumping than anything else. Try it for yourself and see what you think. To read the titles in order start with Invisible City then Ice Shock and finally Zero Moment.
Ben Carrington is a member of an elite, top-secret rescue organisation - Gemini Force. When he finds himself and his friends in danger, Ben must compete with hostile ice and storms to pull off their most gruelling mission yet. Impossible rescues. Maximum risk. This is Gemini Force 1. An action-packed new installment, perfect for fans of Charlie Higson, Anthony Horowitz and Robert Muchamore.
Ben Carrington's dream has become a reality: he's finally a member of Gemini Force. But, still suffering from the deaths of his parents, it's a bitter-sweet triumph. When news reaches GF1 of a gang of illegal 'ghost' miners trapped after a South African mining disaster, Ben is glad to spring into action with the team. But it soon emerges that the company, Auron, doesn't want its miners found. Ben must work out who to trust if he's to ensure that Gemini Force pulls off its most difficult mission yet . . . Impossible rescues. Maximum risk. This is Gemini Force 1.
Will the world end in 2012? Find out in the final instalment of this nail-biting adventure. Something is very wrong with the 2012 Plan. Is it really on course to save the planet from the gigantic Electro-Magnetic Pulse that's due to shatter civilisation at the end of the year? Josh decides to risk his own life on a daring mission - a leap forward in time to discover the truth about 2012. He's jumped ahead far enough to glimpse a post-apocalyptic world in collapse. And to realise - it could be his destiny to stay.
Josh and Ixchel have travelled back in time, but it might not be so easy to get home again. They've landed in the Mayan era, when the prophecy about the world ending in 2012 was first foretold. And they cannot believe who they have found there. Clearly Josh isn't the only person to have cracked the secret of time travel. But a bigger surprise awaits the pair when they return to the 21st century. Nothing is quite as they remember it - and it's up to them to work out why.
Josh thinks he has discovered the key to time travel. Should he use it to go back in time and save his father? Ixchel knows what he intends to do. Should she stop him? Before they can decide, Ixchel is kidnapped by the people who want to see an ancient prophecy predicting the end of the world in 2012 come true. It's up to Josh to save Ixchel and possibly save the world. Time is running out in the exhilarating third part of the best-selling Joshua Files.
Josh is back home, trying to resume his normal life and make sense of his Mayan adventures. But soon it becomes clear that being back in Oxford doesn't mean Josh can escape his destiny. He's even more certain now that his father's death was no accident - and he's starting to wonder if he can really trust his closest allies. But when he finds out a shocking secret, that's when the real adventure begins...
When his archaeologist father goes missing after an air crash in Mexico, UFO-obsessed Josh suspects alien abduction. But after he discovers his dad was murdered, Josh is caught up in a race to find the legendary Ix Codex - a lost book of the ancient Maya containing a prophecy about the end of the world...
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