A Stranger to Earth

Ted Hopkins was abducted by a Vargan scientific expedition when he was just six years old. Now twenty-six, he’s been returned to Earth when his alien hosts realized that his social and emotional development was stunted by isolation from others of his own kind. Ted has the urges and instincts of a grown man, but his ability to cope with everyday human society is seriously underdeveloped. He finds himself attracted to Mandy Irwin, the first woman he encounters, and believes he has fallen in love with her. But without warning, he is captured by government agents. He wakes up in an internment camp where other former abductees are kept in resort-like luxury, an environment intended to discourage escape. Luxury camp or no, Ted’s urge to reunite with Mandy drives him to become involved in a large and seemingly well-organized attempt to escape. But the plan goes horribly wrong. 57,800 words; some mild violence and sex (PG13)