The Peco Incident (26 page)

He spun around and continued along the corridor with a new spring in his step. If he hadn’t had the plaster on, I’m sure he would have been running. Once again, Nicholas Clarke was on a mission.

I smiled to myself, thinking that maybe he hadn’t changed so much after all. And that’s when I realized that, in many ways, I hoped he never did.

Des Hunt specializes in action-packed adventures set in the natural landscapes of New Zealand. This is his tenth novel, three of which have been finalists in the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards. Des lives on the Coromandel Peninsula.

HarperCollins
Publishers

First published in 2011
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollins
Publishers
(New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1, Auckland

Copyright © Des Hunt 2011

Des Hunt asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

HarperCollins
Publishers

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National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:

Hunt, Des, 1941-

The Peco incident / Des Hunt

ISBN 978-1-8695-0896-8 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7304-9496-6 (epub)

1. Birds—New Zealand—Juvenile fiction. [1. Birds—New Zealand—Fiction. 2. Bioterrorism—Fiction. 3. Environmental protection—Fiction. 4. Otago Peninsula (N.Z.)—Fiction.] I. Title.

NZ823.3—dc 22

Cover design by Christa Moffitt, Christabella Designs