Countdown to Action (Thunderbirds) [Perfect Paperback]

Joan Marie Verba (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2008

After his wife dies in a tragic accident, astronaut Jeff Tracy is left with five young sons to raise. But he turns his grief into a dream: to create an organization which will rescue people that no one else can reach. He builds a business which creates the new technology that the organization will require and earns the billions he needs to finance it. At last, he is ready to put it all together. He enlists the services of a genius to design aircraft and supporting machinery far beyond the standards of his time. Together, they find a Pacific island to use as the base for their operations. Jeff asks his five sons, now grown, to give up promising careers to build the base, operate the machines, and serve in his organization. But he finds that in order to make his dream a reality, it will require sacrifice, courage, and determination...far beyond what he, or his sons, ever expected. Can they make International Rescue a reality, and what will it take to make the fantastic Thunderbird machines go?

Editorial Reviews

Review

Countdown to Action is a recipient of the prestigious Mom's Choice Award. The Mom's Choice Awards honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of the Mom's Choice Awards. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award. --Mom's Choice; Thunderbirds has been my inspiration since childhood. This has been an enjoyable read and reliving of the characters and their history. I look forward to new adventures ahead as should fans old and new, too. --David Tremont, Model maker, Weta Workshop. Verba has created a humane and human background for these characters, with foibles and weaknesses believably overcome, which makes their forming a brave, self-sacrificing force all the more credit-worthy. FAB! --Monica Ferris, author of Crewel World and other Needlecraft Mysteries

Thunderbirds has been my inspiration since childhood. This has been an enjoyable read and reliving of the characters and their history. I look forward to new adventures ahead as should fans old and new, too. --David Tremont, Model maker, Weta Workshop

Countdown to Action is a recipient of the prestigious Mom's Choice Award. The Mom's Choice Awards honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of the Mom's Choice Awards. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award. --Mom's Choice Awards

About the Author

Joan Marie Verba earned a bachelor of physics degree from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology and attended the graduate school of astronomy at Indiana University, where she was an associate instructor of astronomy for one year. Her first career was as a computer programmer. After being laid off twice from computer programming jobs, she retrained as an editor. An experienced writer, she is the author of the book Voyager: Exploring the Outer Planets (Lerner Books, 1991), as well as the author of numerous short stories and articles. She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Society of Children s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: FTL Publications (June 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965357570
• ISBN-13: 978-0965357579
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,680,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joan Marie Verba earned a bachelor of physics degree from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology and attended the graduate school of astronomy at Indiana University, where she was an associate instructor of astronomy for one year. Her first career, as a computer programmer, lasted ten years. After being laid off twice from computer programming jobs, she retrained as an editor. An experienced writer, she is the author of the novels Action Alert! and Countdown to Action! (FTL Publications, 2008) and the nonfiction books Boldly Writing (FTL Publications, 1996), and Voyager: Exploring the Outer Planets (Lerner Books, 1991), as well as numerous short stories and articles. She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read For Parents and Kids Alike, July 20, 2010

By 

J. Renaud (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Countdown to Action (Thunderbirds) (Perfect Paperback)

Put down the game controllers and shut off the television, Countdown to Action is going to deliver the fun! This book is a must read for parents and kids alike. Joan brings the action in a family friendly way that I know you are going to enjoy.

Taken from the original Thunderbirds series made popular by the 1960's television series by the same name, Countdown to Action is the first in a fun and exciting action series about the Tracy family and their organization, International Rescue.

After his wife dies in a tragic accident, astronaut Jeff Tracy turns his grief into a dream: to create an organization which will rescue people that no one else can reach. With his five sons at his side, they set out to overcome all of the obstacles in their way and try to make the dream a reality to help those in need.

This is a wonderful action story with jets, race cars, rockets, speed boats and more... It is sure to keep even your pickiest young reader entertained. But do not mistake this for just another kids book, Countdown to Action is loaded with valuable life lessons that should be shared with the entire family. From overcoming the loss of a loved one, to learning about teamwork and working together as a family, this book delivers and needs to be shared.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book For All Ages, March 18, 2011

By 

Sharon Dunn (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Countdown to Action (Thunderbirds) (Perfect Paperback)

I remember watching a few episodes of the old TV show when I was young, and was reintroduced to the Thunderbirds with the 2004 movie. I came across these books when looking for more information on the Tracy Family. This book is a fantastic read and gives a wonderful story for the background of Jeff and Lucy, their five sons and the founding of International Rescue. It is a fast read, but very enjoyable and I plan to reread it again. I highly recommend this book even if you've never heard of the Thunderbirds for the family interaction and the exciting action throughout the book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Return of a Childhood Favorite, December 19, 2010

By 

A. KAPLAN "Penelopecat" (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Countdown to Action (Thunderbirds) (Perfect Paperback)

** spoiler alert ** Based on the classic children's adventure show (starring marionettes), this novel tells the backstory behind International Rescue and their Thunderbirds ships. We discover what motivated former astronaut Jeff Tracy and his sons to create private, secret organization dedicated to rescuing people from disasters around the planet. We also learn how they meet supporting characters Kyrano, Tin-Tin, Lady Penelope and Parker. Finally, we also see how the ships and their secret base were constructed, and uncover the motivation behind recurring villain The Hood.

This books is very much a prequel, setting up the stuff fans will have already seen on the show. As a result, some elements (particularly the Hood) get set up but never quite pay off. Also, while we see the setup and get some pretty detailed descriptions of the Thunderbirds vehicles and their functions, as well as Tracy Island, we don't really see them in action that much. So it's a pretty atypical Thunderbirds story, and may appeal more to longtime fans than folks unfamiliar with the series. Having said that, I can't imagine too many people buying/reading this book who aren't already Thunderbirds fans, so that's probably not a big issue.

The author, Joan Marie Verba, is clearly one of those fans. The writing is occasionally clunky, and her detailed descriptions of the design and functions of the Thunderbirds and all the gadgets on Tracy Island certainly don't help to speed the pace. However, as the title says, this is merely the countdown to action, and it's fine that it's a slow, deliberate build-up to everything that comes next.

If I have one major criticism, it's that the characters aren't particularly fleshed out. However, I even have mixed feeling about that, since a novel based on a TV show should be true to that show. Is it a problem if the characters come across as stiff and wooden in the book, when that's what they literally were on the show? I guess the one change I would wish for is some more depth to patriarch Jeff Tracy. While we see his sons go through some trials and tests of faith, it would have been nice to have seen him go through the same sort of thing.

Having said that, when she's trying, Ms Verba really was able to evoke real emotion. Lucy Tracy's death scene actually brought tears to my eyes. Between stuff like that, and her fantastic evocation of the images of the TV series, I felt that she really wrote a successful Thunderbirds novel. I eagerly look forward to reading the next book, to see how she handles a more traditional Thunderbirds story, now that the groundwork has been laid.