This was a fun read, but by the time I reached the climactic chapter, I was wondering if it was meant to be a farce. And then I decided that whether or not the author meant it that way, it definitely became complete farce. I mean, really? Things went straight off the rails in a way that was ridiculous, but still lots of fun. Kind of like the movie Armageddon.
Thanks to Netgalley and Severn Press for letting me read this book.

3,5 Stars

It is a popular conspiracy theory: did the Americans fake the landing on the moon in 1969?

Mitch Silver takes this urban legend and turns it into book that I would recommend for anyone interested in space aviation and the Apollo program in particular. As a thriller it didn't work so much for me. The initial chase of Gary is soon over when he gets taken into the astronaut training. And then too many different parties enter the scene, and I had a hard time to understand everyones motives. The various flashbacks to the 1960s would have been more interesting if they didn't only involve politicans

But it was a nice and informative read nevertheless, and the last couple of pages were very exciting (although also quite unrealistic).

I'm glad I took a chance on this book. The premise is that the United States has to put together a Moon landing in short order when the Chinese announce that they are going to the Moon and will plant their flag next to ours. If you believe that the US Moon landing was a hoax, imagining how the powers that be react to the news makes for a very good read. Yes, there are a lot of characters and a couple of time periods but I didn't have any trouble keeping them straight. I usually don't like that format but this really flowed well. The writing style and the spy/thriller/romance story grabbed me and I enjoyed every minute of the ride.
My thanks to the publisher, Severn House for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I found the subject matter really interesting but the plot was hard to follow and there were a lot of characters to keep track of

The Apollo Deception is a fun, light, read. The plot can get a little over-complicated at times, but it doesn’t get in the way of the story, and there’s plenty of twists to keep it interesting. This book certainly puts a new spin on all the “fake moon landing” conspiracies, but it’s an enjoyable read, especially if you’re looking for something a little different.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a strong work from an experience author who gives us a large cast, a sometimes complicated plot, and good research, blended to make an entertaining and engaging novel. Recommended.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

The United States, according to the history books, successfully landed men on the moon in the 1960s. They left many items and successfully set up an American flag in the general area of their arrival. They than left and were retrieved in the capsule designed for the reentry in the midst of the ocean. Going on to the eternal glory attached to their mission the astronauts making the trip left future moon shots to others. And there of course, were other trips into space, including unmanned voyages around Mars, and others through our solar system and beyond.
For some reason not readily apparent a small group of people have always thought that the first Moon landing was staged, done for the publicity involved and perhaps to bring apparent obedience to the promise of J F Kennedy who resolved that the U.S. would land men on the moon before the end of the decade of the 1960s. Mitch Silver, in an afterward of the novel indicates that he is not one of the doubters involved with debunking the landing, but brings his readers a seat of the pants novel outlining the possible consequences of a faked trip.
Gary Stephens, a film maker, is the son of one man that worked on the Moon Landing team. His father is killed in a boating accident and Gary begins to go through his Dad's things. He discovers several tapes showing that the landing was staged. At the same time China announces that they are ready to launch an expedition to the moon and plan to land in the same area as the U.S. did and plant their flag with the American banner showing solidarity at least in the world of space travel.
Gary decides to take the tapes made by his father to the government and expose the farce. The novel does a very creditable job of describing the reactions of the U.S. to the news and their plans to launch another trip as quickly as possible to rectify the non existence of material where it should be.
Research is evident in Mr Silver's descriptions of the process and events and the creation of a definite all nighter for his readers.

I’m the first to review this book properly and I’m glad to have such good things to say about it. Of all the terrifically imaginative and highly entertaining conspiracy theories out there, the Moon Landing has always stood out not only as the most plausible, but also as the one that would be the easiest to carry out. Think about it…the nation vying for supremacy, locked in an intense Space Race with a major global power, the leader making promises to put the man on the Moon within a given deadline, an Apollo mission bound to do once and for all proclaim out success that tragically goes up in flames killing all aboard…and then suddenly just two some years later another Apollo mission that perfectly takes off and does exactly what it’s supposed to as verified by a fuzzy murky video. If that scenario isn’t ideal for a conspiracy theory, I don’t know what would be. So say someone did stage the entire thing and carried out an epic Apollo Deception. And got away with it too, for decades. And would continue getting away with it too, until China got the stage where they were able to realize their own space ambitions and decided to plant their flag right next to the US flag in the Sea of Tranquility. Only, of course, in this scenario, there’s no US flag in the Sea of Tranquility and to avoid a global embarrassment someone should really get there and plant it first, before the Chinese taikonauts arrive. Even if it’s a ragtag hastily put together team, someone really should. So that’s the premise of this wildly entertaining novel. The protagonist is a director of commercials and a son of the man who worked on the original moon landing video (in a studio, sponsored by Disney) who inadvertently stumbles into this cover up and ends up on a previously unimagined adventure of a lifetime. Along the way there’s tons of international intrigue and spies and global machinations. The book’s got a huge cast of characters and it’s quite literally all over the map. In fact, sometimes it gets too busy and too all over the place, but never so much as to distract you from the wildness of the main plot’s trajectory. I’m not really into spy fiction, so that aspect didn’t interest as much and the romance in the novel was way too rushed, albeit essential to the plot, but other than that this was pretty great. For anyone entertaining ideas of Moon hoaxing, it was just such a fun ride. Severn publishing can be uneven with their quality, but this is definitely one for the upper echelons of their catalog. Enjoyable fairly quick read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley