The Apollo Murders

Starred review from October 1, 2021

DEBUT Five years after the accident that cost him an eye, career pilot and astronaut hopeful Kaz Zemeckis is no longer cleared for flight missions and his dreams of orbit are cancelled. Kaz continues his work from the ground, adding experience in the intelligence field. It is 1973 and the United States continues the space race against the rest of the world--Apollo 18 is months away from a launch to the moon. Soon the scientific mission is upended by intelligence about Soviet activity on the moon and a secret Soviet space espionage station. Apollo 18's astronauts now have a secret agenda: find the Soviet space station and document and sabotage what they can. Kaz is called in to assist the mission from the ground, but when one of the astronauts dies in a training incident, he realizes the spies aren't only in outer space. VERDICT Hadfield draws on his expertise as an astronaut to add authenticity and realism to his debut thriller. Fans of Clive Cussler and Andy Weir will enjoy this genre-bender combining military fiction, the detective novel, and techno-thriller.--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

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September 1, 2021
A vast Cold War space thriller from astronaut Hadfield. Incorporating real-life characters and events, spanning decades and distances both terrestrial and translunar, this NASA-heavy thriller has everything, including perhaps a bit too many meticulously reported technical procedures. The story opens with not one but two aircraft episodes--a bird strike wrecks an F-4 Phantom and a Cessna 170B is taken out for a rhapsodic spin--then follows the developing career of Kaz Zemeckis, who, until the bird strike cost him an eye, had been a military astronaut with good prospects of going to the moon. Repurposed as a crew liaison for NASA, Zemeckis is involved in both the training for and the mission of Apollo 18. Hadfield's use of real people brings historical authenticity to the novel, and there are many tidbits of NASA lore that only an insider could provide, but the devotion to technical facts has some drawbacks. There are more moving parts to this novel than there are in a Saturn V, and Hadfield is careful to give each part a complete description: provenance, purpose, design, and in-use characteristics are all faithfully recorded. This makes the first part of the novel so technically focused that it seems the action will never get off the launchpad, though doubtless there are readers who will revel in these details. In the event, Apollo 18 is a complex mission. Initially charged with collecting geological samples and sabotaging the new Russian moon rover, the three astronauts are then told to sabotage the Russians' new spy satellite, which is thought to be unmanned but is not. The crisis created by this bungled attempt at space vandalism establishes the main narrative thread, with Zemeckis back at Mission Control in Houston struggling to keep the mission going. There is a murder and other deaths as well as injuries, vomiting, and space brawls, all reported in close detail. Though the climax is somewhat over-the-top, the basic bones of a good thriller are here even if the beginning is a slow burn. Space nerds will geek out, and everyone else eventually gets a pretty good ride.

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September 1, 2021
Real-life astronaut Hadfield's first novel is surprisingly ambitious. We might have expected him to draw on his expertise to tell a story involving astronauts and space travel, but to set the story during the Cold War (1973, to be precise)? Interesting. To use Apollo 18, one of several canceled NASA missions to the moon, as its backdrop? Intriguing. To incorporate real people (flight director Gene Kranz, CIA director James Schlesinger) into the story? Clever. To incorporate a murder mystery and a race between nations to find a rare treasure on the moon? Gutsy. Rich in the kind of scientific and technical details that made Andy Weir's The Martian (2014) and Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora (2015) such treats, the book also features very well drawn characters, natural-sounding dialogue, and a story that leads the reader to expect a spectacular conclusion (and delivers it). Perfect for fans of sf/mystery combos.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 9, 2021
Bestseller Hadfield (An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth) makes his fiction debut with a spectacular alternate history thriller. In 1973, the Apollo 18 moon mission, which was canceled in real-life, becomes a military reconnaissance operation aimed at gaining intel about a new Soviet space station, Almaz. Because Almaz, in effect “a huge, manned camera,” threatens U.S. national security, the Apollo 18 team is charged with trying to sabotage the station, but one Apollo astronaut’s death in a plane crash puts that goal at risk. The tragedy triggers an investigation into its cause and whether the astronaut’s aircraft was deliberately tampered with. Houston flight controller Kaz Zemeckis works desperately to keep things on track, unaware that someone involved on the American end is a Russian mole. Hadfield keeps readers in suspense about the identity of the Soviet agent and how the cold war confrontation in space will play out. His mastery of the details enables him to generate high levels of tension from just a description of a welding error, which cascades into something significant. This is an intelligent and surprising nail-biter that Tom Clancy fans will relish. Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Associates.