The Defector

'A full throttle, adrenaline-laced espionage page-turner . . . Get ready to blast off and enjoy the ride!'

Jack Carr, former Navy SEAL Sniper and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the James Reece Terminal List series

'Continuous action, Mach-speed mayhem, sharp intrigue, and well-rounded characters - what more could you want from a thriller?'

Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The 9th Man and the Cotton Malone series

Israel, late 1973. As the Yom Kippur War flares into life, a state-of-the-art Soviet MIG fighter is racing at breakneck speed over the arid scrublands below . . . and promptly disappears.

NASA Flight Controller and former US Navy test pilot Kaz Zemeckis watches the scene from the ground - and is quickly pulled into a dizzying, high-stakes game of spies, lies and a possible high-level defection that plays out across three continents.

The prize is beyond value: the secrets of the Soviets' mythical 'Foxbat' MiG-25, the fastest, highest-flying fighter plane in the world and the key to Cold War air supremacy. But every defection is double-edged with risk, and Kaz must tread a careful line between trust and suspicion. Ultimately, he must invite the fox into the henhouse - bringing the defector into the heart of the United States' most secret test site - and hope that, with skill and cunning, the game plays out his way.

For Chris Hadfield's second heart-stopping thriller, we move from Space to another rich and exciting part of Chris's CV: his time as a top test pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy, and as an RCAF fighter pilot intercepting armed Soviet bombers in North American airspace.

Full of insider detail, excitement and political intrigue drawn from real events, The Defector brings us the nerve-shredding rush of aerial combat, as told by one of the world's best fighter pilots.

Praise for The Apollo Murders

'A nail-biting Cold War thriller' James Cameron

'An exciting journey to an alternate past' Andy Weir

'Not to be missed' Frederick Forsyth

'Explosive' Gregg Hurwitz

'Exciting, authentic' Linwood Barclay

Tom Clancy-style fighter jets and a sprinkling of reality from Hadfield's time as a test pilot . . . It is a thriller in every sense New Scientist
He controls the story with a fighter pilot's verve and confidence, bringing real insider expertise to a fast-paced cold war tale Financial Times
As a writer, his strength is his ability to draw on his specialist knowledge to add verisimilitude . . . while his high-octane depiction of aerial dogfights stirs memories of Top Gun and Craig Thomas's Firefox. Afterburners on! The Times
Chris Hadfield uses his experiences to great effect in this thrilling story about a defecting Russian pilot . . . [The Defector] moves at great speed and contains mesmerising descriptions of flying under supreme pressure Literary Review
Nail-bitingly exciting . . . Hadfield is clearly destined to inherit the late Tom Clancy's mantle as master of the techno-thriller genre Irish Independent
Action-packed, cleverly plotted and rich with the kind of satisfyingly authentic detail and keen insights that only a writer with Hadfield's extraordinary resume can provide, The Defector delivers on every level. Wondering what to do until Top Gun 3 arrives? Don't worry, Chris Hadfield's got it covered Rowland White
Packed with the kind of insider knowledge you simply don't get in thrillers these days, The Defector is not just an intelligent book, it's an exciting book. Expertly paced with breathtaking set pieces, I raced through it in a couple of sittings. It reminded me of Frederick Forsyth in his pomp - highly recommended M.W. Craven, Sunday Times bestselling author of Dead Ground and The Botanist
An extraordinary novel, brimming with detail and realism and full of pulse-pounding action Mark Greaney, bestselling author of Burner, a Gray Man novel
Real-life figures collide with fictional espionage in former astronaut Hadfield's gripping sequel to The Apollo Murders . . . Hadfield keeps the suspense steady before delivering a knockout air battle that brings everything to a white-knuckle close. Kaz's adventures continue to electrify Publishers Weekly
Ideal exciting escapist reading Aerospace

Colonel Chris Hadfield is one of the most seasoned and accomplished astronauts in the world. A multiple New York Times bestselling author, his books An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here and The Darkest Dark have sold over a million copies worldwide.

He was the top test pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy, and a Cold War fighter pilot intercepting armed Soviet bombers in North American airspace. A veteran of three spaceflights, he crewed the US Space Shuttle twice, piloted the Russian Soyuz, helped build space station Mir, conducted two space walks, and served as Commander of the International Space Station. He was also NASA's Director of Operations in Russia.

Chris is the co-creator and host of the BBC series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? and helped create and host, along with actor Will Smith, the National Geographic series One Strange Rock. His zero-gravity version of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' has received more than 50 million views, and his TED talk on fear over 10 million.

He advises SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and other space companies, chairs the board of the Open Lunar Foundation, leads the CDL-Space international tech incubator, and teaches a MasterClass on space exploration.

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