Red Moon - A Novel [Paperback]

David S. Michaels (Author), Daniel Brenton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2007

July 13, 1969. Three days before Apollo 11 lifts off from Cape Canaveral, the Soviet Union launches Luna 15, a rocket carrying the lunar lander, Firebird. They later claim it was a failed robotic probe, concealing a final attempt at beating America in the moon race and sealing the fate of its lone occupant, Grigor Belinsky, a cosmonaut blackmailed into flying the one-way mission. July, 2019. A multinational mission lands on the moon's Sea of Crises. American astronaut Janet Luckman leads a team in search of the Mother Lode: lunar ice, laced with Helium-3-a desperately needed energy source. The future of humanity rides on Luckman's success. Luckman discovers the Firebird and recovers its flight log, but the body of its mystery cosmonaut (Belinsky) is missing. Facing a 51 hour deadline, the dangerous lunar environment and a traitorous crew member bent on murder, she struggles to find the Mother Lode and uncover Belinsky's fate. A firestorm erupts on Earth as both American and Russian authorities attempt to hide the truth about Firebird. As renowned scientist, Milo Jefferson, investigates the Firebird mystery in Moscow, he finds himself in a hall of mirrors created by the sinister genius leading Russia's new Tsarist government: Mikhail Rabikoff. Rabikoff knows that the revelation of Belinsky's fate could topple his regime and will risk the fate of humanity in his attempt to elude Jefferson's inquiries and destroy the truth.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

RED MOON is the result of my lifelong fascination with space travel, and the Soviet space program in particular. The notion of firing men into space crammed in low-tech contraptions like the cannonball-like Vostok has always struck me as appealingly Jules Vernian. When I was in high school in the 1970s, I even wrote to the Soviet Embassy for information. They responded with this big package of propaganda, which I'm sure landed me on an FBI list!

The germ of inspiration for RED MOON came from a short story called "Sea of Crises," written by my close friend, L. George Daniels, in 1973. The story remained stuck in the back of my mind until I attended a Sotheby's art exhibition in 1993 and wandered into the basement. I was stunned to find a bunch of Soviet space hardware being prepared for sale! I ran into a bald, thickset little man and asked him, "excuse me, sir, but is that REALLY Alexei Leonov's spare EVA suit?" And he said, "da-- I am Leonov." Leonov, in 1965, was the first man to walk in space.

Inspired, I contacted L. George Daniels and suggested we develop RED MOON as a screenplay. We wrote an outline that was a straightforward account of the Moon race from the Soviet perspective. I pitched it to my screen-writing teacher, Pam Wallace (co-authored "Witness"). She said, "why am I supposed to care about this?" I thought hard and came up with the 2019 story line involving a return to the Moon and a search for the Mother Lode, which we wrapped around the 1969 Soviet account. This was too "big" for a screenplay, so I started writing it as a novel in late '97, with contributions from Dan. My dream became reality in November 2000, when RED MOON was a "launch title" for the new FireWord Publishing house.

I think you'll enjoy RED MOON. It's a big, sprawling epic of mankind's onetime obsession with exploring space, an obsession we need to regain if our species is going to survive. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David S. Michaels is a journalist and historian who has written numerous articles on technology, space flight, and world history. A California native, he now resides in Lancaster, PA with his wife and three daughters. RED MOON, his first novel, is based on seven years’ research into the secret Soviet lunar program. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Breakneck Books (September 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979692946
• ISBN-13: 978-0979692949
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,239,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EASILY one of the best novels I have ever read..., March 7, 2001

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Red Moon (Paperback)

It was quite by accident that I came across 'Red Moon', but if this is what accidents are supposed to be like, I would like to experience MORE of them. David Michaels contacted me personally about his novel, and before long, I was cracking open a copy of 'Red Moon' anxious to see if it was indeed as good as all of the reviews here on amazon 'claimed' it was. To be honest, words escape me how to describe how truly magnificent this book really is. I know that David is shopping the book around to find just the right place to distribute it nationally, and to be honest, after having read this book, I would think any company with an ounce of brains would be literally fighting over the opportunity to release this incredibly compelling story.

Just 3 days before Apollo 11 launched, the Soviet Union also launched Luna 15, a so-called unmanned robotic ship that was to collect lunar soil samples and bring it back...in 'Red Moon' we are faced with the fictional account of a world class 'what if' question: What IF Luna 15 was actually a manned ship on a 1-way trip to the moon? Yes, NOT coming back. Grigor Belinsky is the man who is blackmailed into making this trip, and throughout this amazing story, you get to know Belinsky, you get to really appreciate what kind of person he is, and most importantly, this story gets you to thinking, 'Is this fiction, or did it REALLY happen?' I can't tell you how many times my mind ran across that question.

'Red Moon' gives you several points-of-view, taking you from the surface of the moon in 2019 and the discovery of Luna 15, to the incredibly shocking realization that it was a manned ship... to 1968 when the Space Race was not just for national pride, but personal and selfish advancement as well...you also get to go inside the Russia of the future and join the investigation into the failed Russian lunar program and find out whether or not this wreckage on the moon is real, or an elaborate fabrication by the Soviet era government to fool the world into believing they landed first... I simply CANNOT recommend this book highly enough. If you have EVER read any kind of alternate history novel, 'Red Moon' will totally RE-DEFINE how you look at them, and now sets the standard as to HOW they SHOULD be written.

My one and only yardstick for judging how good a novel is, well is simple: If it is the last thing on my mind when I go to bed and the first thing on my mind when I wake up...now THAT is a good book. I believe that 'Red Moon' will be on my mind for many months to come. I give this book the HIGHEST possible RECOMMENDATION of ANY book I have reviewed here on amazon and like I said, easily this is one of the best books I have ever read. Do yourself an immeasurable favor and BUY THIS BOOK. Hop aboard, and enjoy the ride. You will wish it would never end, and unfortunately, it ended all too soon. Kudos to David Michaels, you are a true and gifted storyteller.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Genuinely Satisfying Read, January 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Moon (Paperback)

Having been a space program buff since my childhood, I've been drawn by books like Martin Caidin's Marooned, Stephen Baxter's Voyage, and even political writer Allen Drury's The Throne of Saturn (that one dates me, I realize). Red Moon caught my attention while I was browsing Amazon, and after only a few pages I was pleased to see I had spent my money very, very well.

Simply, this is an amazing book. Unlike a lot of books that try to achieve a cinematic effect by cutting quickly between scenes and situations, Michaels' book, with its full chapters and fully realized sequences paints clear heartfelt scenes more effectively than most of today's films. His characters of astronaut Janet Luckman, planetary geologist Milo Jefferson, and central character, Cosmonaut Grigor Belinsky are living and breathing people with needs and flaws and conflicts. People I thought about long after I had finished Red Moon.

The premise is that a lunar mission set during the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing discovers the Soviet craft Luna 15, launched days before Apollo 11 but landing at nearly the same time, was not an unmanned probe, but in fact a last-ditch attempt to land a man on the Moon before the Americans. As an adolescent in 1969, I followed the flight of Apollo 11 completely entranced, and the looming presence of Luna 15 was felt deeply by me. I had wondered about the intentions of the mysterious craft, and it is fascinating to me to see this captured the imagination of this writer as well.

This is a huge book, not only in size, but scope, and Michaels pulls it off admirably, even more so considering this is his first novel. He takes us along three parallel storylines, two set in 2019 -- one on a lunar landing mission marking the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing, the second in the upper echelons of NASA -- and one set in the Soviet Union of 1968-69. The first Macguffin of the story, finding rare Helium 3 on the Moon, is the same as Homer Hickam's disappointing Back to the Moon, but is handled far more dramatically, and is in turn upstaged by the quest for finding the answer to the mystery surrounding Luna 15 and Grigor Belinsky, her pilot. Michaels skillfully plays the three storylines off of each other, teasing and rewarding us, involving us deeply into these people's lives. There are moments of great passion and feeling in this story, so much so it brought me to tears no less than three times.

I genuinely wished the book had been longer, and if there is a sequel I'll be the first to snatch it up. Red Moon is simply a wonderful read. I recommend it highly.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tour de force!, July 1, 2001

By 

Paul Levinson (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Moon (Paperback)

Part secret/alternate history, part near-future Lunar exploration, part political intrigue past and future, this superb novel had me riveted through its 617 pages. If you've ever wondered how the Soviets came to lose the Moon race in the 1960s, you'll find Red Moon compelling and irresistible. Scenes of launches scrubbed because of bad weather, of cosmonauts dying unknown, were heartbreaking -- Michaels shows these (possible) catastrophes as failures for all humanity, not just Communism. At the same time, he convincingly shows how Soviet paranoia shot itself in the foot and worse. Meanwhile, these and other threads in the novel are told and tied together via richly human stories. This is not just among the best first novels I've read in years; it's among the best novels, period. David Michaels' Red Moon is a masterpiece.