August 2012 Debut of the Month.

This wonderful, simple, charming book is impossible to categorise and, we think, impossible not to absolutely love. Albert the platypus escapes from Adelaide Zoo in search of a place where humans never venture and animals still rule. Described as True Grit meets Watership Down please do read the Opening Extract.

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Synopsis

This is a story of the Australian Outback, a duck-billed platypus on a quest, and what it means to be a hero. Albert is a duck-billed platypus, who has escaped from a zoo in Adelaide to look for somewhere that may, or may not, exist: Old Australia, a place where humans never venture, and animals still rule. Albert knows it's somewhere in the middle of the Outback - not the ideal habitat for a water-loving animal - but now he's lost and close to death. He's saved, though, by Jack, a pyromaniac, sardine-loving wombat, who promptly gets him into even worse trouble taking him to a marsupial-only bar run by a kangaroo called O'Hanlin, getting him drunk and then burning the bar down. And this is just the beginning of Albert's adventure...A glorious romp of a novel, Albert of Adelaide is a story of friendship, loyalty and heroism. And marsupials. Pacy and poignant, it's completely original - a book for people (and animals) of all ages.

About the Author

Howard Anderson has lived a varied life: he flew with a helicopter battalion in Vietnam, worked on fishing boats in Alaska, in the steel mills of Pittsburgh, as a truck driver in Houston, and a scriptwriter in Hollywood. After earning a law degree, he became legal counsel for the New Mexico Organized Crime Commission He is currently a district attorney in New Mexico, where he defends Mexican nationals charged with crimes north of the border. Albert of Adelaide is his first novel. He has never lived in Australia. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation