Chris Hadfield, the former Canadian astronaut, is the latest to venture from fact to fiction. The author of the well-received An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth about his life and the lessons learned from his spaceflight career, he’s now written what would best be described as a historical spaceflight thriller in The Apollo Murders. Kaz is suspicious that one of the astronauts is not what he pretends to be. Surrounding him in Mission Control are many real characters whose names I recognized from the past. Also, at the White House are actual historical people, all seamlessly blended into the story. At the end of the book, I was surprised that most of the characters, except for the fictional Kaz, were real people, and the Russian spy satellite and their moon rover were actually in place at the time. Is it 1-star bad? Probably not. There were a few sections that were quite fun if taken in isolation. A couple of plot points were also interesting, like what the Russians found on the moon and the constant one-upmanship between the 2 nations. Other than that, though, it was an unfocused mess. Set during the Cold War, a space race still on, politics and intrigue sit at the heart of this story, a compelling and twisty mystery which has a brilliantly effective prose and excellent historical context.

The Apollo Murders has a little something for everyone. A daring spaceflight, political intrigue, a spy thriller, and a good ol’ fashioned whodunnit all rolled into one exciting story! This may be Chris Hadfield’s first foray into fiction, but I certainly hope it isn’t his last. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Hadfield uses his space experience to good purpose in this thriller, a superb blend of fact and fiction set in the midst of the Cold War. Chris Hadfield is a Canadian former military test pilot and astronaut with a string of accomplishments in space, including being a mission specialist, operating the first Canadian robotic arm, doing spacewalks, flying on a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, visiting the Russian space station MIR, and commanding the International Space Station. Hadfield even made a video of himself singing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” on the International Space Station (available on YouTube).

During rehearsals for the Apollo 18 mission there's a deadly incident that results in a change in the crew, and the subsequent investigation - while the astronauts are in space - leads to suspicion of murder. After Apollo 18 launches into orbit, three astronauts receive word of their extra mission and are tasked with trying to neutralise Soviet spy power. It will be a delicate mission and no one is entirely sure how easy it will be to get the needed answers. Still, it is a must to protect America and every astronaut knows the importance of their patriotic duty.

Clearly, Hadfield has extensive knowledge of equipment and operations employed during the Apollo era, which he employs to give absolute credibility to the story and make the reader feel all is actually true. As a tale about space adventure, this is a story beyond compare—for both the truth and the fiction. Yep, say no more! Just dangle Apollo anything in front of me and I'm instantly hooked. You guys know I'm a total space buff, so there's no way I can pass up this book. In fact, when I first heard about it, I almost fell out of my chair in excitement. So I got my bonbons ready and prepared to dig into what was sure to be a riveting ride.