Back to the Moon - by Homer Hickam (Paperback)

About the Book

Now in paperback, from the bestselling author of "Rocket Boys, " is this "novel of high-spirited adventure" ("Library Journal") about a group of former NASA insiders who hijacks the space shuttle "Columbia" on its final flight in 2002. They want to return man to the Moon to save the world.

Book Synopsis

A renegade astronaut hijacks a shuttle and blasts off on a high-speed chase to the moon--"a great adventure yarn" (The Washington Post Book World) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rocket Boys

"[Full of] escalating tension, danger, and excitement."--The New York Times Book Review

The shuttle is hijacked. Now the countdown to adventure begins. . . .

Jack Medaris is a man haunted by his past and driven by a dream: He's risking everything to "borrow" the Columbia--and pilot it to the moon. He didn't plan on an unexpected passenger, beautiful celebrity daredevil and scientist Penny High Eagle. To Penny, this hijacking will test every bit of her mettle as an adventurer--and as a woman. To Jack, the mission is a personal quest--to return to the moon and bring back what America left behind, something so explosive it could change the future of the world.

Now, as the U.S. government scrambles to the chase, and as deadly forces are deployed from earth to stop them, a man and a woman find their fates inextricably entwined. And in the savage emptiness of deep space, their only hope is to join forces to reach the lunar surface.

Then comes the hard part. Getting home alive.

From the Back Cover

In his #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, October Sky, real-life NASA engineer Homer Hickam captured the excitement of America's first space ventures. Now, in this no-holds-barred joyride of a thriller, he straps us into the cockpit of the space shuttle Columbia as a renegade rocket man hijacks the shuttle -- and blasts off on a Mach-speed chase into space....

Jack Medaris is a man haunted by his past and driven by a dream: He's risking everything to "borrow" the Columbia -- and pilot it to the moon. He didn't plan on an unexpected passenger, beautiful celebrity daredevil and scientist Penny High Eagle. To Penny, this hijacking will test every bit of her mettle as an adventurer -- and as a woman. To Jack, the mission is a personal quest -- to return to the moon and bring back what America left behind, something so explosive, it could change the future of the world. Now, as the U.S. government scrambles to the chase, and as deadly forces are deployed from earth to stop them, a man and a woman find their fates inextricably entwined. And in the savage emptiness of deep space, their only hope is to join forces to reach the lunar surface. Then comes the hard part. Getting home alive.

Review Quotes

"Wonderful . . . the action is nonstop. . . . A great adventure yarn . . . Danger keeps zapping at you from all sides at top-gun speed."--The Washington Post Book World

"Escalating tension, danger, and excitement . . . [Hickam's] boyish, eager idealism is showing again in his first try at fiction, and it's charmingly contagious.... One of the strengths of this readable, diverting novel is that the reader isn't absolutely sure who's good and who's bad until very near the end. Hickam is also adept at false scares . . . and nifty plot twists."--The New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating plot . . . a fun, interesting page-turner."--SpaceViews News

"Hickam proves that the meteoric success of his last book, Rocket Boys, was no fluke. The sights and sounds of the coalfields are gone in Hickam's latest entry, but there is a compelling pathos in Moon similar to the boot-strap determination of Rocket Boys. Hickam spins a darn good yarn. . . . Back to the Moon has a wealth of history, lore, legacy and hope for the future that could only be written by a space agency insider . . . a classy tale of adventure and pathos."--Bluefield Daily Telegraph

"A cosmic romp . . . as Hickam's tale heats up, the rocket ride achieves high velocity."--Publishers Weekly

"[Hickam's] vast knowledge of the politics and hardware of spacefaring shines through, filling the reader with hope that marvelous things still await us."--Kirkus Reviews

"A cliffhanging yarn."--Booklist

"[A] novel of high-spirited adventure--of guys and gals in space--with a decidedly upbeat message. 'This rocket flies on dreams, ' says the hero. You better believe it!"--Library Journal

About the Author

Homer H. Hickam, Jr., was born and raised in Coalwood, West Virginia. The author of Torpedo Junction, a Military History Book of the Month Club selection, as well as numerous articles for such publications as Smithsonian Air and Space and American History Illustrated, he is a NASA payload training manager for the International Space Program and lives in Huntsville, Alabama.