The Defector cover art

The Defector

Apollo Murders, Book 2

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The Defector

By: Chris Hadfield
Narrated by: Ray Porter
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About this listen

From the author of the international bestselling thriller The Apollo Murders: a supersonic hunt for a shadowy Soviet defector known only as 'Grief'.

Israel, late 1973. As the Yom Kippur War flares into life, a state-of-the-art Soviet MIG fighter is racing at breakneck speed over the arid scrublands below...and promptly disappears.

It soon becomes clear to Israeli intelligence that the pilot is a defector, desperate to come over to the US side. Houston Flight Controller and former test pilot Kaz Zemeckis is charged with bringing the pilot and his plane to the highly secret Area 51, in the Nevada desert. But every defection carries with it a risk. It soon becomes clear that 'Grief' has the technical ability, and now the opportunity, to gain access to the treasures of the Nevada Test Range - either a prototype stealth fighter or the NERVA nuclear rocket engine. Or both.

For Chris Hadfield's second heart-stopping thriller, we move from Space to another rich and exciting part of Chris's professional CV: his time as the top test pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy, and as a Cold War pilot intercepting armed Soviet bombers in North American airspace. Just as Gregg Hurwitz called The Apollo Murders 'an explosive thriller by a writer who has actually been to space and back', here we have a matchless thriller and the nerve-shredding rush of aerial combat, as told by one of the world's top fighter pilots.

©2023 Chris Hadfield (P)2023 Hachette Audio
Action & Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Science Fiction Space Exploration Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military Air Force Exciting Heartfelt Middle East US Air Force Military Aviation War Soviet Union Interstellar Mystery
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An entertaining listen but not quite as good as his debut novel, "The Apollo Murders".
I suspect that this story will be continued in a third book because this one left too many loose ends untied.
well worth it for Hadfield's inside technical knowledge of NASA and defence systems but just lacking a little in terms of the plot line.
A big plus is the superb narration.

Good but not great

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I really enjoyed how you heard all the hints come through the reading but you only put it together close to the end. Very cool storytelling

Great storytelling

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Liked the story and enjoyed listening to the performance. I did not expect the ending based on the way the book started so it kept me interested.

Great story and well performed

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I can’t wait to hear the next story!
It was supremely realistic and when it’s coming from a fighter pilot and astronaut you know you’re getting The Right Stuff

Hadfield writes a great thriller with interesting characters you do get attached to

Incredible!!!

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I saw the author on channel 10’s The Project, a great interview which introduced me to his books. Book 1 was really fantastic! I thoroughly recommend it. In this book, I really loved the plot twists, the only issue I had was that nothing happened with the Grief/Svetlana storyline, absolutely nothing, maybe it was written in as a red herring, I dunno. Anyway, this book was a great sequel to book 1. Ray Porter as always, is a wonderful narrator. I’m now really looking forward to the next book in this series.

Such a fantastically tricky book

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great second novel from the commander, can't want for more. slight blend with the first novel. fun technical details, excellent speculative fiction.

wonderful follow up

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Really liked the blending of historic facts into the book.
Technical details were interesting and did not overwhelm the great story line.
Could listen to the narrators voice for hours :)

Interesting fast pace story

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Really liked this book. Great story and detail. Well worth the listen. Ray Porter is a great narrator too! Hope there is a follow on to the story of Kaz!

GREAT LISTEN

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good technical details and an interesting premise for the book. Similar to early Tom Clancy books

Great Story

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a really enjoyable follow up with the same main character Kas. Alot of excitement, great characters and a well paced yarn. excellent narrator Ray Porter. can't wait for the next one!!

great story,, great narrator

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