"What a privilege it will be to host Matthew Reilly at our library," said Margie Kirkness, Greater Taree City Council's senior leader cultural services.

"When our community outreach team received confirmation from Matthew's publicist that he'd chosen to visit Taree, we could not contain our excitement."

Matthew's books appeal to a wide audience and his writing style makes reading accessible and entertaining for many people.

"His books are regularly on loan or reserved and we have many excited people who cannot wait to meet Matthew in their home town," Margie said.

Matthew Reilly is the author of 12 novels including Ice Station, Temple, Contest, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hover Car Racer, Hell Island, Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones, The Five Greatest Warriors, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves and The Tournament.

He has sold about five million books worldwide, including three million in Australia and his books have been published in more than 20 languages.

Manning Valley Books will be selling Matthew's books at the event and people can have their books signed.

Bookings are essential and space is limited. Cost is $15 per person and includes refreshments. Contact library.events@ gtcc.nsw.gov.au or phone 6592 5290 to book.

Matthew was not a big fan of reading as a child and states that it wasn't until after reading To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies in Year 10 that he realised reading could transport you to another world.

Once he figured this out, he went out and found all the action novels he could. Matthew soon began writing his own stories and began working on his first novel, Contest, at age 19 while studying law at university.

In 1996, following rejections from all the major publishers, he printed 1000 copies of Contest which he sold into bookshops throughout Sydney.

Matthew knew that publishers frequented bookshops and this would be the best place to get noticed. Sure enough, in 1997 Matthew's book was picked up by Pan Macmillan Australia and he was signed for a two-book deal.

Matthew continues to achieve great things including his novel Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves taking out the best selling fiction release for 2011 while The Tournament (2013), Seven Ancient Wonders (2005) and The Five Greatest Warriors (2009) were all the best-selling Australian fiction titles of their year of release.

Manning Valley Books will be selling Matthew's books at the event and people can have their books signed.

Bookings are essential for Matthew Reilly's visit to Taree Library on Thursday, May 29 from 6pm, and space is limited.

Cost is $15 per person and includes refreshments.

Please contact library.events@gtcc.nsw.gov.au or phone 6592 5290 to book.