Disclosure time.
I didn’t really know anything about Mr. Hadfield, nor had I read any of his books, before picking up “The Apollo Murders”. But I’d read a fulsome review of the book, and decided to “discover” a new author (though it seems that I’m the last person on planet earth (pun fully intended) to discover this amazingly accomplished man.)
Because, dear reader, Mr. Hadfield is an astronaut himself and a former commander of the International Space Station.
In the early pages of the book, however, there were a few moments when I wondered if I’d bitten off more than I could chew. Sentences like this one below fill me with dread, basically because I have no idea what it all means:
“Big twin turbo-supercharged Allison V-12s, cranking out 1,6000 horsepower, turning in opposite directions to minimise torque.”
But I decided not to get put off by the clever “tech” stuff, and was rewarded by an exciting adventure of a totally new genre for me – a thriller that takes place in space.
Only an astronaut like Mr. Hadfield could write this kind of book, with amazing insider knowledge about the life and emotions and stresses and yes – the huge risks – of being in space. There is much beauty in space but also so much mundane – the unappetising food, not to mention the toilet arrangements, which one hopes have improved over the decades – this story is set in the early 1970s, by the way.
I enjoyed the Cold War side of the story, and the extra tension that brings to the space race.
Thoroughly enjoyable and there were some truly nail-biting moments.
A gripping, intriguing book with unexpected plot twists right until the final pages.
If you want to explore this genre further try Iain M Banks’ “Culture” series. The universe(s) he creates take a bit of getting used to but the stories and characterisation are stunning,
I love his Scottish novels too, which are totally different.