Non-science nerds are going to complain about the info-dumps, whereas I was thinking, “tell me more about the combustion process”. His zero-gravity version of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' has received more than 50 million views, and his TED talk on fear over 10 million.

Het Witte Huis en het Kremlin kunnen alleen maar toekijken hoe hun astronauten op het maanoppervlak met elkaar in botsing komen, ver buiten het bereik van de wet of van de mogelijkheid tot redding. The writing is filled with an overload of scientific detail and technical descriptions that will appeal more to the space enthusiast than to the casual reader of thrillers. Have you ever read a book where it feels like the author thinks they may only get one and only chance, so they throw absolutely everything they have at the one book?The Apollo Murders takes place in an alternate history version of 1973, in which the US is preparing to launch Apollo 18 (in reality, Apollo 17 was the last one).

But the real and genuine joy of The Apollo Murders is the insight Hadfield gives into life as an astronaut, the moments as launch approaches: “Still three miles away, yet clearly visible high above the flood plain, the Saturn V rocket was like some ancient Egyptian monument to the gods… gleaming white in the morning sunshine. King uses the phrase keeping it on the down-low in a way that suggests he probably doesn’t understand how this phrase is currently used—and has been used for quite a while. What I will question is the basic premise and way this book is structured just from a thriller standpoint. A shining gem in this story is how Hadfield portrays operations in a way so as to place the reader in the thick of the action. Yet the most compelling aspect is Hadfield’s claim that much of the story has actually happened, leaving the reader to wonder what is really going on behind the public glamour of space exploration.

From combat while orbiting earth to lives lost, Apollo 18 is a mission that is left in every character’s memory forever. The Apollo Murders is his first venture into fiction and it is set around the launch and flight of Apollo 18 in 1973, in reality cancelled by President Nixon, but here setting out for the moon, by way of a Russian space station that the Americans believe is conducting military espionage. Holding their collective breaths, Washington and Moscow await news, putting aside their differences for a moment, but refusing to melt the chill in the air! Astronaut Chris Hadfield is known for his bestselling nonfiction as well as his time as commander of the International Space Station.

All the while, focus within the White House and Kremlin is up into the stars, as both impatiently await news to share. The plot hangs together well, although why does Kaz not know the moon is tidally locked to the Earth? Kaz notices small oddities during the Apollo 18 mission, but nothing immediately rings alarm bells in his mind. Chris Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can. The NSS Vision is “People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.This blend of plausible history reflects our greatest fears in the Cold War and places them in the great expanse of outer space. It was full of conveniences, constant head-hopping, useless characters, annoying stereotypes, unnecessary detail, inconsistent pacing, bizarre character motivations, bland dialogue, too many subplots, no character development, and boring prose. 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. Narrated by Hadfield himself in a very welcoming and approachable manner, it was thoroughly insightful and had more life lessons that I found relevant compared to a lot of self-help books out there. That evening gave us readers an incredible insight and understanding of the spatial Cold War era at the time.