title: Stars in the Desert: A Novel
author: Crying Wind
description: Crying Wind has written bestselling books such as CRYING WIND and MY SEARCHING HEART. She is the author of five books but this is her first romance novel published by Indian Life Books. A freelance author of short stories and an accomplished painter, Crying Wind is a mother and grandmother and makes her home in the greater Seattle area.
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  _For my niece, Shannon,  
  With a great deal of love,  
  And so the kids at school will finally believe  
  you…_  
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  THE THING  
    
  Copyright © 1982 by Universal Pictures, Inc.  
  All rights reserved.  
    
   _A Bantam Spectra Book  
  First Printing February 1982  
  Second Printing July 1982_  
    
  ISBN 0-553-20477-7
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  ![RRT_release](../Images/RRT_release.png)  
  [**RetroReadingTime.com**](http://retroreadingtime.com)
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![TheThing_cover2](../Images/TheThing_cover2.png)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  
    
  ![TheThing_title](../Images/TheThing_title.png)  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  ### A Novel By  
   **Alan Dean Foster**  
    
  Based on the Screenplay by  
   **Bill Lancaster**  
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  ![BantamBooks_logo](../Images/BantamBooks_logo.png)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  # CHAPTER 1
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  The worst desert on Earth never gets hot. It boasts no towering sand dunes
  like the Sahara, no miles and miles of barren gravel as does the Gobi. The
  winds that torment this empty l