Audiobook Review: The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

Author: Chris Hadfield
Edition: ALC
Publisher: Hachette Audio (November 29, 2022)
Genre: Adult, Science Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

My review of The Apollo Murders

The Apollo Murders is a gripping historical sci-fi thriller with twists and technical details only someone who’s actually been to space could write.

I received a free digital ALC from Hachette Audio in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

A Plot-Driven Hard Sci-Fi Extravaganza

As I suspected from a historical sci-fi thriller pitched for fans of The Martian, The Apollo Murders is very plot-driven. It’s fast-paced toward the end but took me a while to get into because it takes a hot second for the pieces to come together. This is definitely the kind of book you’ll need to give the first 100 pages or so to get going!

Overall Chris Hadfield absolutely knows what he’s doing, I was pleasantly surprised by the sense of rhythm in his prose that works really well to balance the amount of cold technical details the story requires. Speaking of which, if there was ever a person qualified to write a space thriller, it’s Chris Hadfield. His technical knowledge and ability to detail the actual ins and outs of a space mission are sure to get you hooked on this book!

By nature of this being essentially an alternate history story, there’s a lot of historical politics going on that I personally struggled a little with, purely because I am not well-versed in US cold war history and historical fiction is outside my usual reading comfort zone. But as someone with less reading experience in that genre, I still think Chris Hadfield utilized the historical setting incredibly well. There’s an author’s note at the end that details some of the real events and historical figures that the book takes inspiration from, it’s a little tidbit that I found really enjoyable!

Biggest Strength and Biggest Weakness

The very technical hard sci-fi aspect of The Apollo Murders is both its biggest strength and its biggest weakness, in my opinion. At times the book gets bogged down by the technical jargon and minute details that overshadow any character arcs and more emotional experiences.

Unfortunately, I also didn’t love the way the book ended. The ending felt rushed and some of the events almost felt like a cop-out of having to actually explain the consequences of the events of the story. It left me with quite a few open questions and felt really unsatisfying!

Characters and a Question of Agency

Ultimately, The Apollo Murders is just very much a plot-driven book and that shows when it comes to the characters. To me, most of the characters felt just complex enough for me to be able to have some emotional investment but others felt a little flat.

I think this comes down to reading preference, I enjoy having strong characters even in very plot-heavy books but if you’re primarily interested in this book for the hard sci-fi aspects, this probably won’t bother you as much!

Ultimately, I think the book could’ve benefitted from either stronger characters overall or fewer characters. Because we follow so many different people, I found myself caring less and less about Kaz even though he is introduced as the main character who anchors the reader in the narrative. I would have liked for Kaz to have more depth and a stronger sense of agency and personal stakes in the events happening in space. Kaz felt like he was just a character to facilitate an introduction into the world and take care of some logistics, rather than an agent in the plot himself.

An Excellent Audiobook Performance

I chose to listen to the audiobook version of this story and it was a perfect choice.

Ray Porter is fantastic, one of the reasons I like listening to sci-fi stories on audio is that it makes the sciency bits and keeping track of characters much easier for me. Porter effortlessly provided a whole range of performances that allowed me to grasp each character’s personality and motivation much easier than if I had just read the book. Considering how many characters there are in this book and my previous critique about them feeling a little flat, this is an advantage!

Had I not listened to this on audio, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much. The audiobook narration really made for an immersive experience that keeps the tension high and the stakes ever-present. If you’re on the fence about what format to read this book in, I highly recommend you give the audiobook a shot!

Overall…

…The Apollo Murders was an engaging sci-fi thriller that didn’t quite hit the mark for me but still made for a very fun reading experience. I look forward to whatever Chris Hadfield writes next!

This book is for you if…

…you like hard sci-fi stories like The Martian but are also into historical fiction and espionage stories
…you are looking for a sci-fi thriller that’ll keep you gripped until the very end

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