The Defector

August 28, 2023
Real-life figures collide with fictional espionage in former astronaut Hadfield’s gripping sequel to 2020’s The Apollo Murders. In the fall of 1973, U.S. Navy commander Kazimieras “Kaz” Zemeckis is on a beach in Israel when he spots an unusual contrail in the sky. He calls his boss, Gen. Sam Phillips, to report the sighting, and Phillips discovers that Soviet Air Force pilot Alexander Vasilyevich Abramovich has landed his MiG 25 Foxbat—the world’s newest, most dangerous aircraft—in Israel and announced his wishes to defect to the U.S. With Israel on the brink of the Yom Kippur War, Prime Minister Golda Meir offers to trade Abramovich and his ultra-valuable plane to the U.S. in exchange for arms and other supplies. There’s just one question: is the defection real, or is Abramovich a double agent? Kaz proves resolute and resourceful as he ferrets out an answer, and Hadfield keeps the suspense steady before delivering a knockout air battle that brings everything to a white-knuckle close. Kaz’s adventures continue to electrify. Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Assoc.

September 1, 2023
In this earthbound sequel to The Apollo Murders (2021), which involved an early 1970s moon flight, NASA flight controller Kaz Zemeckis becomes drawn into a complex and potentially deadly Cold War drama in 1973. The Russians have a new fighter jet, the MiG-25, also known as the Foxbat, and the Americans want to get their hands on one. When a Russian pilot appears to want to defect, crashing his Foxbat in Israel, the Russians and Americans square off. Kaz is charged with accompanying the defector to the United States, navigating his way through this political maze. Before Hadfield was an astronaut, he was a test pilot, and this novel draws heavily on his experiences. The characters are based on real people, and the technology is historically accurate. Hadfield's writing is superb. He is a gifted storyteller, able to take his real-world experiences and turn them into a gripping and intensely realistic fictional story. Fans of The Apollo Murders will seek out this one, but because it works as a stand-alone, newcomers will also thoroughly enjoy it.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2023
In 1973, a Soviet test pilot defects to the United States, bringing the super-advanced MiG-25 Foxbat with him--along with deeply mysterious intentions. While vacationing in Israel, Kazimieras Zemeckis, a onetime U.S. Navy test pilot and current NASA official, is shocked to witness what appears to be an Israeli plane shooting down the MiG. The intelligence-gathering Soviet plane is known to fly at such great heights and with such speed that getting close enough to threaten it isn't thought possible. Though reported dead, the Soviet pilot, known as Grief, has actually landed the plane and immediately asks to defect. After alerting U.S. officials about what he'd seen, Kaz winds up accompanying Grief to the Air Force's highly classified Area 51 testing and training site in Nevada, where the Soviet is debriefed as technicians take apart and study the MiG. Grief, with whom Kaz bonds as a fellow flyer, is eager to learn about the new American F-15 fighter, among other things. Hadfield, in a sequel to The Apollo Murders (2021), spends a lot of time with hardware, flight technology, nuclear rocket engines, and such, showing off his own experience as a top astronaut and test pilot. There are tense meetings in Moscow and Israel, a sizable dose of back history and a meeting of astronauts and cosmonauts in preparation for Apollo-Soyuz, the first crewed international space mission. Lots of interesting stuff, but the climactic showdown in the air between good guy and bad guy is rushed. And though the Yom Kippur War assumes great importance early in the novel with Golda Meir's appearance, it's quickly forgotten as soon as she's off the page. Still, there's much to enjoy for fans of the series. A well-rearched but ultimately flat thriller.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.