Welcome, friend! Today I write with both exhilaration and sadness — finishing a series is always bittersweet, and this one in particular because from start to finish, I only spent about four months with Kaz and NASA. I first learned about The Apollo Murders back in June and knew the concluding book of the trilogy, Final Orbit, was releasing in October. Here I am now, all caught up. What an adventure it has been!
If you haven’t read the earlier books, you don’t have to. Each story can stand on its own, and this one is definitely the most explosive of the three.
Chris Hadfield | Goodreads | Apollo Murders #3
From the author of the international bestseller The Apollo Murders: an edge-of-the seat Cold War thriller, set against the backdrop of the real 1970s “Space race” between the US, USSR, and China . . .
1975. A new Apollo mission launches into orbit, on course to dock with a Russian Soyuz three NASA astronauts and three cosmonauts, joining to celebrate a new dawn of Soviet-American cooperation.
But a third power is rising, in the race to dominate Space. As NASA Flight Controller Kaz Zemeckis listens in from Earth, three of the six astronauts are killed in a depressurization accident. And from a remote location in east Asia, a capsule secretly launches with China’s very first astronaut aboard, purpose unknown . . .
Full of Cold War intrigue and real historical characters, Final Orbit accelerates to a thrilling conclusion – and brings to life the loneliness, majesty and pure rush of Space flight, with all of the hard-won experience of a writer who is himself one of the most decorated astronauts alive.
Final Orbit – Review
I am a huge fan of For All Mankind and wasn’t sure how much of it was fact or fiction. Many key events and characters in Final Orbit overlapped with the show and that could not be coincidence. Like Kaz, I don’t believe in coincidences. Thankfully, I also don’t work in intelligence and don’t want to worry about the repercussions.
For the first time in the series, there was no first hand insight into the Russian side of space operations, supporting that the Soviet-American cooperation was truly working out. Instead, with the Chinese implementing their own covert missions and espionage, it was good to keep the focus on NASA and the Chinese. I got to know the various policies around Chinese immigration into the USA which served an important foundation for unrest in the story. What I love most about Hadfield’s writing is how he balances intricate technical detail with the emotional reality of those living through it.
Final Orbit taught me so much about the political landscape of 1975 — especially China’s emerging space ambitions and America’s shifting leadership. I even met President Ford on the page and learned about his ascent after Nixon, along with a young George H. W. Bush serving as a liaison in China.
Growing up in India, American presidents were just names to me — notable, but distant. Chris Hadfield is a fantastic writer and just like the tense atmosphere he creates in times of space flight and air, recreating the Pentagon or the White House in times of emergency and national security that need swift action is very well written. I could not get enough of it.
Of all the stories in the trilogy, this one puts Kaz through the toughest challenges yet. Despite broken ribs, he shows up — driven by deep care for the crew aboard Apollo.
Speaking of, anytime in these books the Apollo mission has been thought of as easy, it has been quite challenging with loss of lives. Early in the book, right after Apollo and Soyuz ships dock and President Ford congratulates them, things go downhill very quickly. An attack on the president and problems with the Soyuz ship leave the crew halved and everyone, on the ground and in space, in shock. I don’t remember what chapter that was but I was binging the rest of the story.
The Chinese spacecraft being launched in secret added layers of tension, especially once it became clear what the Chinese were after. Their sabotage attempts, trying to offer up intelligence when they never have before, was out of character and for a reason. I really liked all the different aspects of the story and found it enjoyable. Those twists, combined with the global stakes, made this story impossible to pause.
The real-life Apollo-Soyuz handshake in space really happened, though Svetlana wasn’t part of it. I’ve met her across the previous two books, but here she truly shines — steady, smart, and grounded. Her command of English becomes a lifeline, and I shared Kaz’s disappointment at not getting to know her more personally.
Final Orbit took me to places and times in history I had never been to before. The space station setting reminded me of science fiction novels but every single person in the story is human and the story is well rooted in the 1970s so there is no chance of thinking there is technology to save them all. It’s pure perseverance, not shaking in the face of unthinkable challenges and working through problems, one at a time. I hadn’t read anything about fighter jet pilots before this series and I have a new respect for the military professions after taking a deep dive in their complicated world through this trilogy.
If The Apollo Murders was nail-biting and The Defector was tense, Final Orbit was — in one word — explosive. Listening to Ray Porter narrate it felt like being inside the control room itself, every word vibrating with urgency. This trilogy reminded me that the space race wasn’t just about technology — it was about endurance, trust, and the unbreakable will to explore. I might just find myself returning to this trilogy one day.
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