The Apollo Murders

Way too much jargon and 33% and still not to the main point of the book. 

A more than honest page-turner, Chris Hadfield can certainly communicate and write compellingly. Being quite a fan of the Apollo era and project, I was rather curious to read this book written by a former astronaut, and in this sense it did not disappoint!

The plot is interesting and the twists well weaved in. I had a bit more difficulty in getting to care for the main character, except in the prologue - perhaps the fact that a lot of the action happened in a separate setting, and that he did not seem to have a major function until the end, did not help. Let's say I do not feel compelled to read another Kaz book.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to read a story set in that era without the usual manicheism. It's not a simple "us vs. them" trope. And the space travel parts have a particular sense of realism about them, being written from an author who experienced some of those sensations as an astronaut himself.

All in all, a good book! I do not know yet if I would reread it again, though.

This felt like a mix of fiction and non-fiction given the amount of technical information Chris Hadfield puts into it. The first quarter you could argue that it felt more like a history lesson than a novel but soon after that all that world building really paid off and the thriller element came to the fore. From that point on I loved the plot and characters and never felt you knew how it was going to go or who the good/bad guys were. Highly recommend it for any alternate history fans out there.

Having started the kindle book and struggling to find momentum, I discovered that the narration of the audio book was by Ray Porter. At which point I started the audio book and really enjoyed it.

I know a little apollo history and therefore caught some of the names of real people/things, but as much as more prior knowledge would probably be more enjoyable, it is by know means required to enjoy the story.

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield and read by Ray Porter is a really great Cold War thriller. A true SCIENCE fiction novel, Hadfield brings his real-life astronaut expertise to the book to tell a fascinating story on Earth and in space. The book tells the story of an Apollo 18 mission to the moon, and has lots of twists and complications along the way that kept me on the edge of my seat. I also started this book before Russia invaded Ukraine, and it was kind of surreal to listen to a Cold War story right as Russia and Ukraine become prominent in the news. I found the plot and world extremely compelling, although the character development did seem a bit uneven at times. Despite some elements not seeming as fleshed out as others, I still really enjoyed this book. Porter was excellent as always.

Well written, lots of 60s/70s Cold War intrigue and space race science, but just not that thrilling for a thriller. There was no clear hero, no one to root for, at times I wasn't even sure whether I was supposed to be on the side of the Russians or not. There was no detective work, no revelations by any of the characters really had any bearing on any other part of the plot, since one set of protagonists were on Earth and the others on the Moon. Meh

I listened to an excellent performance of this on audio book. The story, while fictional, contains so many actual figures and events, that it is better described as “alternative history.” I particularly appreciated how the author concluded the novel with a detailed analysis of who/what in the story was factual and what was fictional.??

This was a really exciting Cold War alt-history thriller set at the end of the Apollo era. Hadfield has a fairly unique perspective on the details of being in space, which adds a nice degree of reality to those parts of the story. Beyond that, he knows how to spin a good yarn and keeps the story moving at a fast pace.

The space stuff was cool, but the things you are asked to believe are just too unbelievable

 For a first outing, this isn't so bad. If you're into the absolute fine details of flight, space flight, space agencies and 70s cold war political strategy, you'll enjoy it. The page-turning element you want from a thriller is there. The characterisation and POV is wobbly, however, and could throw you from the story easily.

It feels like a paint-by-numbers, in which all the elements and plot beats a book needs are there, but in an unrefined way. Hadfield could definitely make a great thriller writer with more practice at smoothing the edges, and I would read the next one.