2026 APR: The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield > Likes and Comments

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield (2021)
Pages: 480 | Rated: 3.92 | Ratings: 20k


Why? A space thriller by an actual astronaut. Feels fitting with the Artemis mission looking to circle the moon for the first time in a hot minute. Man hasn’t set foot on the moon since 1972. That’s 54 years for those keeping score at home. A hot minute. It’s a serious endeavor.

Publisher’s Summary
An exceptional debut thriller and “exciting journey” into the dark heart of the Cold War and the space race from New York Times bestselling author and astronaut Chris Hadfield (Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary).

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

NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras "Kaz" Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop it.

But even as Kaz races to keep the NASA crew one step ahead of their Russian rivals, a deadly accident reveals that not everyone involved is quite who they were thought to be. With political stakes stretched to the breaking point, the White House and the Kremlin can only watch as their astronauts collide on the lunar surface, far beyond the reach of law or rescue.

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 is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Chris Hadfield captures 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 only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can.

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

Started it

Sounds intriguing. I won't get on it for a couple of weeks though.

I've got the book. Starting soon.

April is the launch window for the Artemis II. The SLS is a beast. I want to be well into this book and up to date on NASA space stuff from the last mission for a potentially better appreciation for this mission. They announced today plans to build a lunar habitat on the South Pole of the moon.

At last! When can I move!

Did you see that launch?!

I saw a video of the launch taken from a passing airliner--so cool! The acceleration is insane.

I just ordered a copy. I will make a start in a few days. Artemis 2 is bright spot in a darkening world. I look at the NASA tracker every now and again to cheer myself up!

Arrived today, let’s see how far I get before I slip
Into the arms of Morpheus this evening. I’m pretty tired so anything beyond 15 mins will be a positive opening.

I'm only maybe 50 pages in. There is a lot of plot and character set-up going on. I guess only writers with established credentials can get away with that. It will take me a while I think to get through it.
How is everyone else going with it?

The book has been a little slow for me so far.

Here's a Saturn V rocket from the Apollo mission era taking off. I just saw this in January in Huntsville, AL. That thing is 360 feet tall. Only 36 states even have a building that tall. Then, in February, I saw another Saturn V on its side at the Kennedy Space Center in FL. Got to see the SLS on the launch pad there.

Fifteen to twenty tonnes a second (yep you read that right) is the fuel burn rate for a Saturn 5 stage 1. I have been obsessed with energy burn rates of late. A mid range jet engine in cruise mode - about 1 litre a second per engine and 3 to 4 l/s at take off. A D10 bulldozer - about a litre a minute in high range mode.

The pumps they use to push that volume of fuel into the ignition chambers of Sat 5 or Raptor engines are CRAZY. Basically jet engine type mechanics but instead of air, cryo fuel is being pushed out at unfathomable rates. The slightest imperfection in the components and they tear themselves apart instantly.

As for this book, I feel like I'm burning a fair bit of fuel and have not 'cleared the tower' yet. I'm not finding it as engaging as Ubik. The raw oddness of Ubik kept me going. I will keep on though.

OK, so a murder happened. I evidently fell asleep and missed that part. Now they are launching rockets.

Oh boy. I’m still struggling as well, still not cleared the tower and now in danger of a failure to launch / hit the abort button. It must surely get engaging at some point, there are a lot of accolades and good reviews associated with it - maybe I’m the problem! I’m going away for a few days so perhaps I will make a dent in it then.

I’m glad someone is still in the struggle with me. What is interesting is that the events that happen in the story … they should be interesting … but just aren’t. There is action and technical stuff. And yet I am just not engaged. I’m wondering how with that story … that content … it can still fail to intrigue.

Man, … I just keep falling asleep during this thing, right in the middle of the action. Weird.

I have finally made a dent in this one!

I should be finished in the next couple of days. I appreciate the tech realism he brings to space launches and orbital practicalities - as well as eyebrow raising details on the biological realities of space travel - from 'space condoms' for urine management to the grim reality of having to keep working while throwing up inside your own pressure suit... the 'Right Stuff' indeed. I'm deleting space travel off my bucket list, let me put it that way.

Anyone else left on this one except myself and Steve? There was about 150 pages + of set up on this novel to get through, very easy to drop out of it. The opening dramatic scene where he loses an eye was hardly enough plot, excitement, or character momentum to carry you through the next 150 pages to when things get going again.

I will hold off final opinion until I have finished the whole thing.

I’m still chipping away. Just past halfway. Seems a bit more interesting just now. Just a bit.

I’ve finished it. I won’t go into detail until you have too. Mixed feelings though. A bit of googling revealed the original draft was about 65,000 words longer. Even after a hefty cull it’s still pretty meaty by modern standards at 135,000 words. I reckon they did not cut enough. There was still a lot of explaining the colour of the cup and how the coffee tasted in there.
A great bedtime read for insomnia in large chunks, but not the whole story.

Okay, I had a totally different experience. I started listening late due to my workload right now. In comparison to Ubik, this was a faster more interesting read. I loved the tech and the details.

Clearly, no one but a real astronaut could give such an account. The sickness thing was bad. Simon's post made me laugh out loud about taking space travel off his bucket list.

I know the murders started late, but the foreshadowing for the action created a thrilling build in the tension. I knew I had to read more of his books. My tbr list is certainly heavier.

Overall. Super exciting and an awesome read.

Just goes to show! I really liked it in parts for similar reasons, but found a lot of it surprisingly grinding. In theory this one should have ticked all my boxes - but somehow didn’t. Maybe it works a lot better in audio! Or maybe my expectations were set too high so it was set up to disappoint. It gets about a 3.5 stars for me - not bad by any means, but not enough for me to read his other books either. I’m glad you enjoyed it and my visceral struggles with it too! Space travel - yuk! No thanks. I throw up if I close my eyes in a car for more than about 5 seconds, and at least I can open the door in a car.

Far out!