Spoils of the Moon

by Mark Shearman

Forty-seven of the two hundred and fifty Apollo 13 lunar rocks have been recovered.
This is the story of the first lunar rocks to go missing, causing a mother to lose a husband in a war he shouldn’t have been in, a son disenfranchised from his country, and a father racked with guilt from a disobeyed order.
Greg and Jordi are brothers that bond on a harrowing, yet liberating journey, after discovering their world is a lie. They are driven to find the truth over two continents, unearth their real family history, and the theft of some lunar rocks, but is their journey a search for the truth or the whereabouts of the spoils of the moon.

Genres: Fiction

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 25, 2015

About the author

I have a broad sense of humour and an open mind gained from diverse work and people experience. Before I was a steeplejack in Nottingham, a farm owner in France, Berlin house builder, and a project manager in London. I was a ten-pound-pom in Australia. A year in Tenerife directed me to the Costa Blanca where I lived and worked as a journalist, illustrator and book cover designer. I now live back in Nottingham and work as a Journalist whilst I finish my MA in writing. I have completed five novels, one none-fiction and four short stories.


Journalist. Artist, writer. Voracious reader. Tea drinker, dog owner. Chief-cook and dish washer loader. Jocose, English Ex-pat in Spain. Beach freak. Science fiction fan. Habitual doubler of entendres. Caricature and Cartoonist junkie. Part-time philanthropist. Music nut. Movie addict. Occasional faux finisher. Renaissance man. Opinionated. Wordy. Modest...

Reviews

[Catherine Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful I'm still thinking about the characters

Well-written in straightforward prose, the book focuses on Jordi and Greg, two Londoners who embark on a journey to find the truth about their past, unearthing information that suggests their absent father was part of a gang in the early seventies who stole some moon rocks from South Australia museum and also they may have family living in the outback who could fill in the blanks.


On the journey they are tracked down and captured by an American who has a personal connection to the stolen moon rocks and is also looking for their whereabouts. The journey delves into the complicated relationship that is causing much friction between Jordi and Greg and eventually acts as therapy as they had issues with their recently deceased mother. The road trip starts in Vietnam and then the outback fraught with obstacles and funny situations and some crazy off-the-wall characters.

This heartfelt story is full of hope that even after decades of secrets, and dysfunction, estranged families can come together and work through their problems. There are so many things to like about this book. The characters come to life and tell a poignant story in a humorous, but not overly sentimental way. Great dialogue drives much of the storytelling and the story moves at a fast pace. Five stars for this engaging tale

[Kylie Di Mauro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confusing

I found this a really confusing read. I could tell it was going somewhere and that all the characters would eventually come together but was confused on the way. It got more and more predictable and unbelievable with everyone “coincidentally” ending up together from all around the world. I definitely don’t recommend this book.

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found this in the list Microhistory: Social Histories of Just One Thing

It does not belong there because it is a novel.

There are no Apollo 13 lunar rocks because Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon. There's a movie about it.

[April Chischilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

This book revolves around moon rocks and a journey of two brothers. The author really develops the characters and keeps the reader on their toes! Highly recommended!

[Linda C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not get where the 5 star reviews are coming from. The plot was interesting if the millions of grammatical and spelling errors can be deciphered. A section on a chef, spelled chief; were for where; multiple combined sentences with no punctuation that took close reading to determine the meaning; wrong names used in the middle of a paragraph about one person. It felt like someone talked into a dictaphone and used spell checker, then never went back and read it for proofing before putting it up. Sloppy.

[Bernie Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back later