172 Hours on the Moon

Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back.

It's been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to moon base DARLAH 2 - a place that no one but top government officials even knew existed until now. The three winners, Antoine, Midori and Mia, come from all over the world.

But just before the scheduled launch, the teenagers each experience strange, inexplicable events. Little do they know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back there until now - a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun...

Long-listed for Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Award 2013

“To generate excitement and raise money for a new mission to the moon, NASA holds a worldwide lottery to choose three teenagers to accompany the seasoned astronauts. The winners each have ulterior motives: Mia, 16, wants to use the fame to help publicize her band; Antoine, 17, is fleeing a crushing relationship; and Midori, 15, sees this as her ticket out of Japan. After three months of training, they are launched and land on the moon, where things go hideously wrong - and fast - as a secret lunar base built in the 1970s begins to malfunction and strange figures are seen wandering outside without space suits. This irresistible premise is often intoxicating and occasionally downright terrifying, even if some aspects (their training, certain relationships) feel rushed or absent altogether. There are plot holes aplenty, but some of them manage to work in the book's favor, giving rise to alarming senses ofdisorientation and paranoia. Ultimately, this downbeat novel offers few answers, just the cold, unfathomable depths of space - and that alone is pretty darn effective.”

A chilling, shivers-down-the-spine thriller...a high-quality piece of meticulously researched and realistic sci-fi/horror. This near-future tale falls within the blurry walls of young adult fiction but there's nothing to deter older readers. There are no punches pulled when it comes to offing major characters all the way through, and the final twist is satisfyingly merciless. - Sun - John Wyatt

Gripping and suspenseful, 172 Hours will have readers constantly asking themselves how the characters can possibly survive.

Original, creepy, intense, and quite violent, 172 Hours is page-turning sci-fi that will stay with readers long after the shocking and heartbreaking conclusion. - School Library Journal

This irresistible premise is often intoxicating and occasionally downright terrifying... Ultimately, this downbeat novel offers few answers, just the cold, unfathomable depths of space - and that alone is pretty darn effective. - Booklist

Creepy and bleak, Harstad's story is both psychologically and atmospherically disturbing. - Publishers Weekly

A nifty surprise ending will get readers' attention. Interesting and original. - Kirkus

Johan Harstad is a Norwegian young adult author. He won the 2008 prestigious Brage prize in the children's literature category for 172 Hours on the Moon.

'Houston, this is Darlah 2. We have a problem' It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Mia, Andrei and Midori had different reasons to want to enter NASA's competition for a seat on the first shuttle to go back to the moon in over forty years. But while they all wanted to escape earth, they never realized there might not be a chance to come home. There was a reason we never went back to the moon.

Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back.It's been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to moon base DARLAH 2 - a place that no one but top government officials even knew existed until now. The three winners, Antoine, Midori and Mia, come from all over the world.But just before the scheduled launch, the teenagers each experience strange, inexplicable events. Little do they know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back there until now - a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun...

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