The Fourth
Tom Swift Series
1991 - 1993
by Victor Appleton

Ultra Thrillers

Publisher: Archway division of Simon & Schuster.
Produced By: Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc., who gave "Special Thanks" to the following:
Bill McCay (1-2); Steven Grant (3); F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre (4); James D. MacDonald & Debra Doyle (5-6)
Cover Art: Carla Sormanti (1-7); Romas Kukalis (8-11); Michael Herring (12-13)
Format: Paperback, no internal illustrations.
The first nine volumes in this series had yellow page edging.
No hardcover editions were published although library hardcover rebindings may exist.

~ The Books ~
"For Sale" books are from Amazon.com or their Marketplace Sellers.
Click on any cover to enlarge it.

Tom Swift IV The Black Dragon Cover Art Tom Swift IV The Negative Zone Cover Art Tom Swift IV Cyborg Kickboxer Cover Art

01: The Black Dragon - 1991 - For Sale

He's daring, he's resourceful, he's cool under fire. He's Tom Swift, the brilliant young inventor racing toward the cutting edge of high-tech adventure. But Tom's latest toy--a high-flying, gravity-defying, superconductive skyboard--has fallen into the wrong hands. It has landed in the lair of the Black Dragon.

The Dragon, also known as Xavier Mace, is an elusive evil genius who means to turn Tom's toy into a weapon of world conquest! Swift will have to summon all his skill and cunning to thwart the madman. But the Black Dragon has devised a seemingly impenetrable defense system: he appears only as a laser-zapping hologram!
 
02: The Negative Zone - 1991 - For Sale

Young inventor Tom Swift is determined to recreate in miniature one of the most powerful forces in nature: a black hole. But Tom loses control of the experiment. He's sucked through the hole into a parallel universe, exchanging places with his perfect double--a criminal mastermind targeted for revenge by a powerful government agent.

On the lam from the law, Tom must find a way back home. Otherwise he'll remain a hunted man for the rest of his life. And his own world will fall prey to his alter ego--a twisted genius at the helm of Swift Enterprises, steering a course toward unlimited wealth, unlimited power, and unlimited evil!
 
03: Cyborg Kickboxer - 1991 - For Sale

Tom Swift's latest invention may revolutionize sports technology. His ingenious computer-controlled exoskeleton pumps and primes every muscle to the max. And now it has transformed Tom's friend Rick Cantwell into a contender for the kickboxing championship of the world!

But with the thrill of power comes a jolt of terror. For while the energy disks harden the muscles, they also warp the mind--with dangerous results. When an unscrupulous kickboxer threatens to exploit the device, Tom's only chance to stop him is to don the high-risk, high-tech armor himself!

Tom Swift IV The DNA Disaster Cover Art Tom Swift IV Monster Machine Cover Art Tom Swift IV Aquatech Warriors Cover Art

04: The DNA Disaster - 1991 - For Sale

Tom Swift's latest invention has set off an evolution revolution in reverse. His microradiation DNA scanner, destabilized by a black hole created in an earlier experiment, has created a biological time warp. Now the scanner's beam of alien energy threatens to put the entire world into prehistoric peril.

A house cat is transformed into a ferocious saber-toothed tiger...a mynah bird becomes a carnivorous flying reptile...and Tom's friend Rick devolves into a rampaging ape-man. Tom must find a way to defuse the DNA time bomb before a savage new Stone Age explodes into being!
 
05: Monster Machine - 1991 - For Sale

The TANC--a Transformable Ambulatory Nuclear-powered Craft--is an all-terrain vehicle, supersonic jet, and state-of-the-art spacecraft rolled into one. And for Tom Swift, TANC also makes a mean monster truck. But before he can drive it into the mud pits, he's drawn into a snake pit of high-tech intrigue.

An international arms dealer who wants to turn TANC into a weapon of mass destruction kidnaps Tom to a remote South American hideaway. The only way Tom can stop the plan is to fly the monster machine untested--dodging an arsenal of artillery, missiles, and jet fighters!
 
06: Aquatech Warriors - 1991 - For Sale

Tom and his pals are in the north Atlantic, soaking up the sun and testing his ultra high-tech diving gear, including a powerful underwater laser beam and minisub. But the ocean abyss is a strange and sinister place, and Tom is working in dangerous waters--smack in the middle of the infamous Bermuda Triangle!

After several cargo ships vanish without a trace, Tom spots what appears to be an enormous sea monster flanked by a troop of armed underwater commandos. The discovery leads him to a confrontation with a ruthless nemesis from his past--a criminal genius who has hatched an explosive scheme to spread terror from beneath the sea!

Tom Swift IV Moon Stalker Cover Art Tom Swift IV The Microbots Cover Art Tom Swift IV Fire Biker Cover Art

07: Moon Stalker - 1992 - For Sale

Tom Swift has developed an ultrapowerful telescopic device that promises to yield dramatic new insight into the deepest mysteries of the universe. But his first discovery is no more than two hundred miles up, and it's a shocker. A tiny cube of polished granite is orbiting the earth, and on its side Tom spots a message--in a language no one has encountered before!

Tom's infrared photo of the object convinces a friend at NASA to use an all-new Swift-enhanced space shuttle to retrieve the mystery stone, but the flight ultimately leads to the surface of the moon. A force of unknown origin, controlled by a hidden intelligence, has lured the mission into an odyssey of danger!
 
08: The Microbots - 1992 - For Sale

Tom Swift has developed a powerful new kind of nanotechnology--incredible shrinking robots reduced to the size of a pinpoint with his revolutionary molecular compressor. But the tiniest miscalculation can have gigantic consequences, as Tom soon finds out for himself. One moment he's running an experiment--and the next he's running for his life!

Zapped by the molecular beam, Tom and his friends are thrust into a miniature but deadly world. A squadron of bees and an army of ants look to make short work--and fast food--out of the bite-size band. But their most dangerous enemy of all is the ticking clock. The condition may soon become irreversible, and time, like everything else, is shrinking fast!
 
09: Fire Biker - 1992 - For Sale

Wheels of fire are spinning out of control, and Tom and his sister, Sandra, are feeling the heat. He's developed a jet-powered cycle...she's designed a near-perfect flame-reflective suit, which renders it's wearer invisible...and now both inventions have fallen into the wrong hands!

Some calling himself Captain Invisible has stolen the devices in order to mete out vigilante justice in the streets. But he is unaware of their side effects--and of

Tom Swift IV Mind Games Cover Art Tom Swift IV Mutant Beach Cover Art Tom Swift IV Death Quake Cover Art

10: Mind Games - 1992 - For Sale

Tom is putting the finishing touches on an astounding new device--a Total Reality Generator. A powerful computer interfaces with the human mind, electronically recreating the most dangerous true-to-life scenarios. But an untested program has been inserted into the system, and it's about to propel Tom into an uncharted fantasy world from which he may never return!

The program is based on Galaxy Masters, a role-playing game this is wildly popular at Tom's school. But as the images and icons touch his nerves and surge into his mind, the game turn frighteningly authentic. Suddenly he is drawn into battle with the most powerfully sinister forces of the imagination--locked in a life-and-death struggle with the master of evil, Dedstorm.
 
11: Mutant Beach - 1992 - For Sale

Something fishy is going on down at Laguna Pequeña beach. The ocean has turned into an aquatic nightmare. A grotesque giant squid, a hideous herring with razor-sharp teeth, and a gruesome fifty-foot shark have laid siege to the shore--and many lay the blame on Tom Swift's latest oceanic research!

Tom is using growth hormones to create huge fish, hoping to help feed starving people around the world. Convinced that his experiment is safe, he believes that the true source of the beasts from the deep lies elsewhere. Tom also suspects that a deranged scientist is about to take one more horrifying step: the genetic alterations of human beings!
 
12: Death Quake - 1993 - For Sale

Tom's work on a psychotronic translator, which deciphers brain waves and reads minds, has been interrupted by a small earthquake. But the minor tremor may have major consequences: a terrorist group using stolen nuclear material has vowed to turn the epicenter of the next--and much more massive--quake into ground zero!

Determined to prevent the doomsday quake, Tom undertakes a daring journey toward the center of the earth. But deep beneath the surface, he makes a startling discovery. He must make contact with an unknown intelligence by using the psychotronic translator. And failure could mean catastrophe--as all of southern California teeters on the edge of the abyss!

Tom Swift IV Quantum Force Cover Art Tom Swift IV Stamp From Sierra Leone

13: Quantum Force - 1993 - For Sale

Tom has just completed a supersecret project in the Swift laboratories: the creation of a powerful force field capable of protecting all types of vehicles, both on the earth and in space. Now he's taken the device one step further. He has adapted it for personal use into an invisible shield that can deflect almost any attack--from bullets to electric bolts to laser beams.

But there's one power to which even the force field is vulnerable: the cunning of an evil genius seeking the perfect cover for his global crime schemes. He has seized the prototype, and Tom knows he must find a way to penetrate and destroy his own shield before the villain begins mass production...and mass destruction!

Hardy Boys
and
Tom Swift
Ultra Thriller
Series
Tom Swift joined with the Hardy Boys for 2 books in this short-lived series by Franklin W. Dixon.
Publisher: Archway division of Simon & Schuster.
Produced By: Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc.
Cover Art: Romas Kukalis (1); Michael Herring (2)
Format: Paperback, no internal illustrations.
The first book has a medium blue spine & back and yellow page tops
The second has a very dark blue (almost black) spine & back and plain page tops.
No hardcover editions were published although library hardcover rebindings may exist.
Although credited to Franklin W. Dixon, the series is more closely related to the Tom Swift IV series.

Tom Swift - Hardy Boys Ultra Thriller Time Bomb Cover Art Tom Swift - Hardy Boys Ultra Thriller The Alien Factor Cover Art

1: Time Bomb - August 1992 - For Sale

A dream that has long fired the human imagination has become a reality: time travel. But as Tom Swift and the Hardy boys are about to discover, the dream can become a nightmare in the blink of an eye. An attack force of techno-thugs, under the command of the evil genius the Black Dragon, have seized control of a top-secret time-warp trigger.

Frank and Joe and Tom leap into battle--shock troops in a war that stretches across the aeons to the edge of time. But whether chasing asteroids or dodging dinosaurs, they haven't a moment to lose. They must stop the Dragon before he carries out his final threat: turning the time machine into the ultimate doomsday device!
 
2: The Alien Factor - June 1993 - For Sale

Tom Swift has caught a falling star-- a visitor from outer space who is as beautiful as she is strange. But his secret encounter has set off alarms at the highest levels of government. A top-secret intelligence agency believes he's involved in an espionage and smuggling ring. To check Tom out, the Network sends two of it's top operatives: Frank and Joe Hardy.

But when the alien is kidnapped by a sinister industrialist, Frank and Joe and Tom realize they have to work together. They're dealing with a conspiracy that stretches from the farthest reaches of space into the deepest recesses of their own government. The fate of the country and the planet could rest on uncovering the shocking truth about the girl from another world!