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kelly_e's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Title: The Apollo Murders
Author: Chris Hadfield
Series: Apollo Murders #1
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: October 21, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Realistic • Cinematic • Entertaining
📖 S Y N O P S I S
1973: a final, top-secret mission to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny module, a quarter of a million miles from home. A quarter of a million miles from help.
As Russian and American crews sprint for a secret bounty hidden away on the lunar surface, old rivalries blossom and the political stakes are stretched to breaking point back on Earth. Houston flight controller Kazimieras ‘Kaz’ Zemeckis must do all he can to keep the NASA crew together, while staying one step ahead of his Soviet rivals. But not everyone on board Apollo 18 is quite who they appear to be.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I'd previously enjoyed Chris Hadfield's non-fiction account, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, so when I needed a book to fulfil the prompt 'takes place in space', The Apollo Murders seemed like the prefect place to land. Who better to write a space-centric thriller than a real astronaut, right?
I'll start out by saying, Hadfield delivers an incredibly creative, entertaining, and well-written space adventure. Using his lived experience as an astronaut, there is no one better qualified to write such a story. Yet, it's quite possible he is over qualified. The pacing is on the slower side, and at times, the technical detail overwhelmed the plot. Often reading more like non fiction, I found myself getting distracted wanting to know which aspects were real and which weren't. This reality often lead to my focus drifting off and I struggled to grasp all of the technological jargon. It could have easily been pared down, with more of a focus on the thrill and less on the historical accuracy and technological details of flying.
One thing I really did appreciate, was getting a first hand account of the loneliness of space. Given the author's history, it's easy to believe this as the lived experience of those travelling into the ether. It's something I have never really thought about and I imagine has a great psychological impact on space travelers.
Overall, The Apollo Murders was an interesting and entertaining account. I enjoyed the meat of the story, yet it could have easily been significantly shorter and been just as enjoyable. It's possible it would have landed differently if I had picked it up at a more suitable point in time. I think it likely a case of it just not being what my mood was craving. I will likely continue with book two at some point, but there's no urgency.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• space exploration
• history of space travel
⚠️ CW: violence, gun violence, murder, death, death of parent, medical trauma, blood, injury/injury detail, vomit, misogyny, sexism, gaslighting, racism, confinement, cursing, war, suicide, excrement
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Until you have suffered much in your heart, you cannot learn humility."
Author: Chris Hadfield
Series: Apollo Murders #1
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: October 21, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Realistic • Cinematic • Entertaining
📖 S Y N O P S I S
1973: a final, top-secret mission to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny module, a quarter of a million miles from home. A quarter of a million miles from help.
As Russian and American crews sprint for a secret bounty hidden away on the lunar surface, old rivalries blossom and the political stakes are stretched to breaking point back on Earth. Houston flight controller Kazimieras ‘Kaz’ Zemeckis must do all he can to keep the NASA crew together, while staying one step ahead of his Soviet rivals. But not everyone on board Apollo 18 is quite who they appear to be.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I'd previously enjoyed Chris Hadfield's non-fiction account, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, so when I needed a book to fulfil the prompt 'takes place in space', The Apollo Murders seemed like the prefect place to land. Who better to write a space-centric thriller than a real astronaut, right?
I'll start out by saying, Hadfield delivers an incredibly creative, entertaining, and well-written space adventure. Using his lived experience as an astronaut, there is no one better qualified to write such a story. Yet, it's quite possible he is over qualified. The pacing is on the slower side, and at times, the technical detail overwhelmed the plot. Often reading more like non fiction, I found myself getting distracted wanting to know which aspects were real and which weren't. This reality often lead to my focus drifting off and I struggled to grasp all of the technological jargon. It could have easily been pared down, with more of a focus on the thrill and less on the historical accuracy and technological details of flying.
One thing I really did appreciate, was getting a first hand account of the loneliness of space. Given the author's history, it's easy to believe this as the lived experience of those travelling into the ether. It's something I have never really thought about and I imagine has a great psychological impact on space travelers.
Overall, The Apollo Murders was an interesting and entertaining account. I enjoyed the meat of the story, yet it could have easily been significantly shorter and been just as enjoyable. It's possible it would have landed differently if I had picked it up at a more suitable point in time. I think it likely a case of it just not being what my mood was craving. I will likely continue with book two at some point, but there's no urgency.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• space exploration
• history of space travel
⚠️ CW: violence, gun violence, murder, death, death of parent, medical trauma, blood, injury/injury detail, vomit, misogyny, sexism, gaslighting, racism, confinement, cursing, war, suicide, excrement
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Until you have suffered much in your heart, you cannot learn humility."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Sexism, War, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Cursing, Suicide, and Excrement
katattack345's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I thought the book was pretty good. My one complaint was the amount of technical jargon. There was so much of unnecessary explanations of the technical workings of things that when they were necessary I was already just glossing over the text. It made the first part of the book a little difficult to read and difficult to want to continue. But once those paragraphs dropped, I couldn’t put it down.
I give it up to Chris Hadfield for writing the villain the way he did. It was very refreshing. Very well done
I give it up to Chris Hadfield for writing the villain the way he did. It was very refreshing. Very well done
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Blood and War
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Death of parent and War
sohma4uesugi's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was a lot of fun and written very much like an Andy Weir book, though not quite on that level. I wanted more closure from the ending but I really enjoyed it just the same. The start was a little bit hard to follow with so many different view points, but it evened out before too long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: War
jen_again's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Death, War, Vomit, Sexism, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Death of parent and Excrement
mnbesser522's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Excrement, and Suicide attempt
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