The Apollo Murders

Chris Hadfield

Oct 2021 · The Apollo Murders Series Book 1 · Random House Canada

About this ebook

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

The #1 bestselling Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is back with an exceptional Cold War thriller from the dark heart of the Space Race.

“An exciting journey to an alternate past” Andy Weir, author of The Martian

“Nail-biting” James Cameron, writer and director of Avatar and Titanic

“Not to be missed” Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day of the Jackal

“Explosive” Gregg Hurwitz, author of Orphan X

“Exciting, authentic” Linwood Barclay, author of Find You First

1973. A final, top-secret mission to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny module, a quarter of a million miles from home. A quarter of a million miles from help.

As Russian and American crews sprint for a secret bounty hidden away on the lunar surface, old rivalries blossom and the political stakes are stretched to breaking point back on Earth. Houston flight controller Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis must do all he can to keep the NASA crew together, while staying one step ahead of his Soviet rivals. But not everyone on board Apollo 18 is quite who they appear to be.

Full of the fascinating technical detail that fans of The Martian loved, and reminiscent of the thrilling claustrophobia, twists and tension of The Hunt for Red October, The Apollo Murders puts you right there in the moment. Experience 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 told by a former Commander of the International Space Station who has done all of those things in real life.

Strap in and count down for the ride of a lifetime.

Ratings and reviews

Somehow it all makes sense, without any major plot holes, even with such a complex setup. Kudos to our Canadian astronaut!

A good plot with plenty of tension. The only drawback (from my point of view) was that the extensive technical descriptions of how things worked (Saturn rocket, controls in the capsule and LEM) distracted from the plot.

Quite a lot of fun. Some parts of it don't make sense, though. I wish there had been a stronger central thread.

About the author

CHRIS HADFIELD is one of the most seasoned and accomplished astronauts in the world. He was the top test pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy, and a Cold War fighter pilot intercepting armed Soviet bombers in Canadian airspace. A veteran of three spaceflights, he crewed the US Space Shuttle twice, piloted the Russian Soyuz, helped build space station Mir, conducted two space walks, and served as Commander of the International Space Station. He was also NASA’s Director of Operations in Russia. Chris is the co-creator and host of the BBC series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?, and helped create and host, along with actor Will Smith, the National Geographic series One Strange Rock. Hadfield's zero-gravity video version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity"—the first music video recorded in space—has been watched nearly 50 million times, and his TED Talk on fear has been viewed over 10 million times. He advises SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and other space companies, chairs the board of the Open Lunar Foundation, leads the CDL-Space international tech incubator, and teaches a MasterClass on space exploration. His books, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here and The Darkest Dark, have been bestsellers all around the world, topping the charts for months in his Canadian homeland.