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…Ages 12+.
Three teenagers join an expedition to the Moon in 2019 and find horror there. This imaginative Norwegian science-fiction novel places more emphasis on the fiction than on the science. America finally decides to return to the Moon, but to get publicity NASA holds a worldwide lottery for three teenagers to accompany the astronauts. Mia, a Norwegian punk rocker, Midori, a Japanese girl rebelling against her restrictive culture, and Antoine, a French boy devastated by a broken romance, win. The group intends to shelter for a week in a previously secret lab that NASA had established on the Moon in the 1970s. As soon as the group arrives, however, things start to go horribly wrong. Harstad keeps the focus mostly on Mia, seemingly the only participant strong enough to keep fighting against the evil forces they encounter on the Moon. Few of the astronauts cope well, with one even resorting to drugging herself to escape emotionally. The 'science' comes across with about as much plausibility as the premise of the teenagers joining the mission, but the fiction features some well-crafted suspense, and even a touch of romance. A nifty surprise ending will get readers' attention. Interesting and original. Kirkus 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. Booklist Harstad combines the perfectly paced creepiness of classic Twilight Zone episodes with Battlestar Galactica's chilling portrayal of the vast, unknowable emptiness of space. Sympathetic characters and multiple points of view keep readers engaged, but the absolute necessity of finding out what happens will keep you turning the pages late into the night. Romantic Times
Title: 172 Hours on the Moon
Subtitle:
Contributors:
By (author)
Johan Harstad
ISBN 13: 9781907411519
ISBN 10: 1907411518
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint: ATOM
Publication Date: 27/03/2012
Place of Publication:
London,
United Kingdom
Edition:
BIC Subjects:
Fiction
NBS Classification: Young Adult Fiction
Dewey Classification:
813.6
(DC23)
;
839.8238
(DC23)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Height: 197mm
Width: 127mm
Thickness: 23mm
Weight: 294g