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"This is not just among the best first novels I've read in years; it's among the best novels, period... Red Moon is a masterpiece." SEE MORE
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.
"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."
-- Paul Levinson, Former President Science Fiction Writers of America and author of The Silk Code, winner of the Locus award for best SF novel of 1999.
"A Cracker! "Red Moon" is one of those books that you simply can't put down - and at over 600 pages it is a fair read. Seamlessly weaving fact and fiction, it is an enthralling case of what - literally - might have been."
--David Harland, author of The Apollo Expeditions and Jupiter Odyssey
"RED MOON is an exceptional novel of speculative fiction. The author has done a tremendous job in intertwining three related plots to generate an oeuvre of hefty proportions and considerable creativity. A gripping and passionate tale that is sure to please. Highly Recommended."
-- E. Alexander Gerster, for Singularity: An Online Review
"I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you have ever read any kind of alternate history novel, 'Red Moon' will totally redefine how you look at them, and now sets the standard as to how they should be written."
-- Jeff Edwards, KOOL radio (Twin Falls, Idaho) book reviewer
"The best space fiction novel in 40 years portrays the desperate last ditch attempt of a Chelomei-like Chief Designer to put a cosmonaut on the moon before the Americans. Outstanding!"
-- Mark Wade, Encyclopedia Astronautica, http://www.astronautix.com/