Freefall

Icefire #2

by Judith; Reeves-Stevens Garfield Reeves-Stevens

The year is 2008The next race to the Moon has begunNot to make new discoveriesBut to bury old secretsTHE PLACE The International Space Station. Docked to it, the Space Shuttle Constitution. Crewed by ten astronauts trained to recover the $100-million cargo aboard the first privately launched lunar sample-return mission.THE EVENT Sabotage. The containers from the Moon hold more than rocks and moondust, and there are those who are willing to kill to keep that knowledge from the world.So begins the riveting new novel by acclaimed writing team Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens — a relentless tale of high-tech conspiracy and suspense that reaches back to the darkest secrets of the space race of the 1960s, and ahead to the startling new technologies that will drive us to the Moon in the next decade.Freefall marks the long-awaited return of the heroes of Icefire — the Reeves-Stevens novel Stephen King hailed "The best suspense novel of its kind since The Hunt for Red October."Now U.S. Navy Captain Mitch Webber, outspoken oceanographer Cory Rey, and Air Force Major Wilhemina Bailey of the United States Space Command are reunited in an even more harrowing adventure that pits them against the ruthless inheritors of a staggering conspiracy that could change history.From the covert infiltration of China's most secure aerospace facility and the stirring heroism of astronauts and cosmonauts confronting disaster in space, to sudden violence on ordinary suburban streets and the startling revelation of America's most secret space program, Freefall is a nonstop explosive read that in trueReeves-Stevens fashion makes readers wonder where truth ends and fiction begins.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Military Fiction, Science Fiction

Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[David Hibberd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years after saving the world from the Icefire tsunami, Mitch Webber and Cory Rey find themselves working together again. Cory is on the International Space Station to retrieve lunar samples for her employer. There are powers that don't want those samples returned and an act of sabotage results in the destruction of a space shuttle and damage to the ISS. Only Rey and a Russian cosmonaut live to return to Earth.
Mitch is enticed to work for the U.S. Space Force, a clandestine branch of the Air Force. They are working to destroy evidence on the moon of a Russian manned landing around the same time as the Apollo 11 landing, possibly before Apollo 11 landed.
Add to the mix a Chinese effort to launch a manned lunar landing from a covert space station and the history of the race for the moon could be dramatically altered.
Mitch not only flies in space but even makes it to the moon.
This is a great novel and well worth reading.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, albeit somewhat odd sequel of a book! The first entry was a wild homage to the disaster films, similar to Roland Emmerich. After that novel’s conclusion, there didn’t seem much room for a sequel, but I was surprised that Reeves-Stevens’ pulled it off!


I enjoyed my time reading this one, but was frustrated with the split of our two protagonists, because it doesn’t seem consistent with how we previously left them. Also, the novel is somewhat misleading in my opinion, as you’re lead to believe more action/events will take place near or on the moon. Instead the novel spends a considerable amount of time with the initial ISS disaster, leaving much of the lunar climax towards the end, with not nearly as many pages dedicated towards it.

The overall result is a fun, if somewhat oddly paced novel that is a perfectly enjoyable read!

[Faris Kassis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this when I was a teenager and loved it! It was very thought provoking for me at the time, and I've always remembered it.

[Jennie Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first book, Icefire. So I was very excited to learn that there would be a sequel. I found myself sadly disappointed with this book, however. It barely kept my interest, which is saying something because I'm an avid reader and will read almost anything if I'm bored enough. Perhaps I just looked forward to it too much. Either way, is was a let down.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good conspiracy theory story about the Air Force secretly getting part of NASA's funding to start a U.S. Space Force, with a love story on the side.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Book Sci-fi Secret Moon base conspiracy.

[Frank Dupree]

Gripping! Couldn't put it down.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely improbable from a historical standpoint. Categorically ludicrous scientifically. But a heckuva fun read nonetheless.