Books with author Tom Baker

In his first-ever Doctor Who novel, Tom Baker's incredible imagination is given free rein. A story so epic it was originally intended for the big screen, Scratchman is a gripping, white-knuckle thriller almost forty years in the making. The Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane Smith arrive at a remote Scottish island, when their holiday is cut short by the appearance of strange creatures - hideous scarecrows, who are preying on the local population. The islanders are living in fear, and the Doctor vows to save them all. But it doesn't go to plan - the time travellers have fallen into a trap, and Scratchman is coming for them. With the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, the Doctor must battle an ancient force from another dimension, one who claims to be the Devil. Scratchman wants to know what the Doctor is most afraid of. And the Doctor's worst nightmares are coming out to play...

Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor Who on British television, brings all his talent as a raconteur to this autobiography, which was first published in 1997 and ranges from his childhood, through his 7 years as Doctor Who to the engraving of his gravestone! Born in 1934, Baker grew up in an Irish Catholic neighbourhood in wartime Liverpool. His stories about his large family, his difficulties at school, his love of collecting war salvage, and his fascination with the church are entertaining, hilarious and poignant in equal measure. Baker had an unusual teenage, entering a silent French religious order aged just 16, and for 5 years attempted to live up to the ideals of poverty, chastity and obedience. Eventually realising the religious life was not for him, Baker went straight from the monastery into National Service. As he adjusted from monastic silence to the rumbustious world of the army and the Royal Army Medical Corps, he baffled and amused officers and fellow soldiers alike by his wit and individuality, leading to many comic situations, described by Baker with great gusto. While taking part in amateur dramatics in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Baker’s acting talent emerged, so after demob, he applied to Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance where he met Laurie Taylor whose friendship and collaboration eventually led to Baker being noticed by the National Theatre. After years of joblessness or small parts in repertory theatres around Britain, Baker was in a revue with Laurie Taylor at the York Festival in 1968 when a National Theatre talent scout spotted him. Baker describes stimulating years working with Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Anthony Hopkins and Derek Jacobi amongst many others at the National Theatre. Baker’s first major film role was as Rasputin in 'Nicholas and Alexandra' which made him think he was on the way to Hollywood stardom, only to find himself broke and jobless again in London afterwards. He was actually working on a building site when Bill Slater, Head of Series and Serials at the BBC, proposed him as the new Doctor Who to take over from Jon Pertwee. Baker shares the exhilaration of his regeneration from hod carrier to Time Lord, from out-of-work actor to one hugely in demand. Then followed 7 years of fun and challenges working on the popular, long-running television series, which brought Baker international recognition and popularity. Baker describes the end of his seven-year stint as Doctor Who when he returned to the stage in plays such as 'Hedda Gabler', 'Educating Rita' and 'She Stoops to Conquer'. Baker's autobiography closes with his move to a converted school house in Kent in 1986 where he mowed the lawns of the graveyard next door and one day decided to buy a gravestone and have his name and birthday engraved on it: an example of Baker’s anarchic humour, which throughout the book hovers cleverly between thoughtful reality and comedy of the absurd.

My heart is pounding. I’m running as fast as I can. I can see it clearly up ahead. I’m almost upon it when he stops suddenly and turns. I jolt to a halt and bump up against him. He grasps my hand. I follow his gaze. She’s there. Her laughter sends shivers through my body. I squeeze his hand. She knows me. Somehow, I know her too. How do I know her? I feel even more unsettled than before, if that seems possible. I was racing for my life, and now? My mind races through my options…Katie Edwards’ life is upended when she is forced to move from her Manhattan home to a tiny town in South Carolina with a grandmother she has never met. Angry at her mother for the move, Katie’s first day at her new high school takes a turn for the worse when she meets Bennett Meyer - practically the most annoying boy in her year. She does what she can to avoid him and push him away, but when he lies to the police to protect her, she begins to soften. As they slowly develop a relationship, strange things begin to happen. Katie hears voices calling to her, people from the past reappear, and secrets swirl around her threatening danger. Will Katie uncover the truth in time, or is she too distracted by love?

Do you know what an "urban legend" is? They are those stories that make the rounds at high school hangouts and college dorms, camping trips and late night sleepovers, offices and water coolers as frightening tales too good to be true, and too scary to be fiction. These stories include the short and shivery legend, "The Vanishing Hitchhiker;" the macabre comedy, "The Hook;" and the scream-till-you-drop terror tale, "Bloody Mary." Experience the horror of lurking killers, lonely ghosts, and attacks from insects that seem to come from the pit of some forgotten nightmare. And who knows? It all might be true!

In the battle over the Holiday, between Christians and secularists, Author Tommy Baker has created a unique concept that keeps Christ and Santa Claus in Christmas. Your child will delight in the beautiful illustrations while learning about the birth of our Savior through a young Prince Nicholas and his journey in search of the Christ Child. Discover how Nicholas sees the star of Bethlehem and hears the angels announcement of the birth of Jesus, sending the young prince on an amazing journey to find Him and wander into the land of elves to become the jolly old elf we all know and love. Start your children on a life long relationship with our Lord and Savior by reading this magical book. "Santa Claus The Fourth Wise Man"Keeping Christ and Santa in Christmas.

Santa Claus: The Fourth Wise Man While Christians bemoan the secularization of Christmas and secularists protest the absence of Christ in the glorification of Santa, author Tommy Baker poses a novel concept: “Why can't the two philosophies coexist?” In Santa Claus: The Fourth Wise Man, Baker uses the legend of the jolly, old elf as a portal through which to introduce children to Jesus. Children will delight in tales of Santa's toy factory, his magical travels and his journey into the land of the elves in search of the Christ child. Santa Claus: The Fourth Wise Man brings children into a unique and amazing relationship with the Lord and Savior by keeping Christ – and Santa – in Christmas.