A cinematic scifi book with a female lead that isn't 700 pages? Yes please! I found Walli to be so compelling as she risked her life for the greater good, all while maintaining her charm and winning smile. At times it slowed down a bit, but it's difficult to have a plot that's always in crisis. I found the space elements and descriptions to be realistic, but I'm not an aerospace engineer.

But all things considered - do I want to go back to boring scifis with cis white men in the spotlight? I would prefer not.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

The Holdout is a high intensity, intriguing read. The book is told through two incredibly strong, tenacious women. Walli Beckwith a high-ranking naval commander, who is an astronaut on the International Space Station. The other her niece, Sonia, who is a no-nonsense doctor working deep in the Amazon Rainforest. She is seeing firsthand the horrors that are being put upon the indigenous peoples who live here. The absolute devastation brought on by the fires and the cruel displacement that is occurring. Being brought on when politics and money come to play. Even though the Holdout is a work of fiction, you can tell that countless hours were spent gathering and researching both the NASA and Russian space programs and what is currently happening within the majestic confines of the rainforest.

Jeffrey Kluger does a fantastic job bringing you into the everyday life of an astronaut living on the Space Station. The incredible bond they have and the relentless thirst for knowledge and the drive it took to get them here. When Walli goes rogue and politely declines a ride back to earth after an incident occurs. Damaging not only the Space Station but causing serious damage to one of the Russian astronauts. You know you are in for the ride of your life.

If you are fascinated by space travel, the inner workings of politics and how that has led to the destruction of the Amazon, and the playing out on the international stage. Accompanied by two determined, headstrong women who bring it upon themselves to bring these issues to light. I was intrigued and completely mesmerized by this book. The information that is contained within its covers is astounding. Keep in mind it is extremely information driven, which I love. Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton for allowing me to read this thought provoking, sit on the edge of your seat, page turner. This is one you will not want to miss.

Thank you Netgalley and Hannah Poole for the opportunity to preview HOLDOUT by Jeffrrey Kluger. This is a page turner and i finished it in one sitting.

Three astronauts on a space station are anxiously waiting for supplies and an accident happens that makes them abort their mission. One of them refuses to leave and the plot goes back and forth in space and earth. The reasons behind not wanting to return are personal and creates international and complex results.

This is a steady and thought provoking novel and the plot was current and jarring at times.

4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton and Author for the chance to read and review this extraordinary fiction read!
If I'm being honest space fiction really isn't my thing but once I seen space thriller I had to give it a shot!.

The story surrounding Holdout was so interesting and very intriguing to say the least.
I was immediately sucked into this one and the writing..... Holy Hell freaking phenomenal!
This was my first Jeffrey Kluger book and sure won't be my last! He has gained a new reader!
What I enjoyed most was the action, the action was non-stop and that is what kept me reading.
I wanted more and I didn't really want to stop reading it.
The characters were also well played they had me wanting more and wanting to know what the heck was going to happen next.
Overall this was a great, well written, awesome read that I enjoyed way too much!

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for the chance to read and review this amazing book!
I'll post to my Goodreads, Bookstagram and Facebook account closer to pub date!

This book has a unique mix of space, politics, and environmental issues. I went in expecting mostly a space centered story and found that to only be about a quarter of the content. Jumping back and forth through themes was a bit of a struggle and made the book feel clunky and scattered. I wanted to know what happened so it did at least catch my attention enough to see it though but I felt like I was slugging through most of it .

What I did enjoy was reading about one of the main characters in the Amazon and the important message of saving the environment. Although it didn’t work well for me, this is a well written book that I can see fans of a realistic sci-fi space-stories enjoying.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a riveting and exciting space thriller that I could not put down. I read it in a matter of hours. The pacing was some of the best I've seen for a space thriller. Kluger really knows how to keep the audience engaged without giving too much away and without being TOO quick. With HOLDOUT, Jeffrey Kluger has created a work that stands alongside Brent Weeks or Andy Weir. You must pick this up!

In this ambitious science fiction novel, the three astronauts on the ISS are expecting the arrival of a supply vehicle to equip them for their continuing long journey. Instead of decelerating on approach, the vehicle speeds up and crashes into the ISS, creating a dire emergency. The astronauts are ordered home, and the two Russians comply, leaving Walli on board alone, refusing to leave. It turns out that Walli's niece is serving as a doctor in the Amazon, where developers are setting huge fires to the jungle, killing thousands of indigenous people, so that there can be widespread and lucrative development. Walli has decided, therefore, to refuse to leave the ISS until a stop is put to the fires and murders in Brazil. The plot moves between space, mission control, and the Amazon, with the action heightening to the end. Undertaking to cover such complex issues as space travel, deforestation in the Amazon, long distance relationships, and international politics might seem to be too much to tackle, but Jeffrey Kluger is up for the task, and this book was thought-provoking, suspenseful, entertaining, and a most enjoyable page-turner.

Readers who enjoy stories such as The Martian or "Gravity" in which astronauts are fighting against the odds for survival will find a similar appeal in Holdout. When the ISS is damaged and the crew has to evacuate, Walli Beckwith chooses to remain on board to call attention to a problem back on Earth. Within the affected area in South America is Walli's niece Sonia, working with an international group of doctors. The story alternates between the scenes with Walli, those with Sonia, and the authorities on Earth who are trying to persuade/order/strong arm Walli into boarding the vessel to return to the planet.

Besides the wonderful technical details of how the ISS and ground control function, there are also plenty of scenes showing the politics of Washington, as well as the heartbreaking effects of deforestation and tribal displacement by unscrupulous governments. There is danger, intrigue, humor, political wheeling and dealing, a massive social media and protest campaign, and loads of affection between friends and family. For those who enjoy space based adventures, strong female protagonists, or stories with an environmental and social conscience, this is a great read.

This was a solid book. It wasn't quite what I was expecting in terms of comparison to The Martian but all the same an enjoyable read. Books with lots of space details are my catnip and this delivered those in spades. I did struggle a bit with the shift between perspectives of space and the Amazon and they were sometimes a little clunky. I related more to Walli than Sonia. Both characters lacked in the strong female leads department though, Sonia's dialogue was pretty dissonant for me. And as others have said Walli's reasoning for commandeering a space station seems a little too 'zealot-y' for career military. I would definitely recommend this book to patrons who love a good technical space caper with an added side of environmental drama and intrigue. Overall a good, mostly fun read.

Lost interest half-way though. The story didn't seem plausible and I didn't connect with the main characters.

How do you handle an astronaut that defies orders to evacuate the International Space Station and then holds it hostage until the ravaging of the Amazon forest by Brazil is stopped? Walli Beckwith
was an exemplary astronaut until she decides to create an international incident to correct what she feels will be the Earth's demise by throwing a Hail Mary pass. The author is able to show how Walli is a scientist first but is also moved to action because a family member is caught in the middle. She sees the extent of the damage from space and knows she has one chance to stop it. The science is made simple enough to not go over too many heads but the drama and life aboard the space station is interesting enough to satisfy those readers craving a solid space thriller. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

This was a fantastic and action-packed read. The author is a respected author and a writer for Time magazine. He most especially specializes in science coverage/space travel. With that said, you can be sure that this book was researched within an inch of its life...and it shows.

Unfortunately, with some of this book, I had to suspend disbelief in several parts. Some of the info dumps bogged me down a tad also. However, the rest of this novel was so fascinating that there was no way I could give this book less than the 4 stars I did give it. I powered through this book like a tornado.

We have it all, including:

Space accident
Rebellion against the US government.
Hijacking of the International Space Station
Crimes against humanity
Meningitis
Fires in Amazon Basin to get the tribes off of tribal lands
More space trouble with the Space Station...oh my!

What more could you ask for?

I'm not usually one for something so scientific, but this book had me reading and wishing I didn't have to sleep!

ARC supplied by the publisher, the author, and NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review!
This was hard to rate for me. I did like parts of it. It definitely passed the I Need To Finish It To Find Out What Happens test. I thought the main characters were well done and I loved the "peek" into space station routine and mission rules and how the crew interacts.
My problem was with the thinly veiled political references. I mean, I think I'd have enjoyed it more if the author had made up his own situations and people. I mean . . . a president of Brazil who hates native tribes and wants to burn down the Amazon, AND his name is Jair and starts with a B?? A foul-mouthed American president who is a businessman and stocked the Cabinet up with other businessmen who knew nothing about the actual work of their departments?? A "maverick" ex-military senior Senator from Arizona? It just didn't seem right or real to me, more like cheating.
Still, a fun read.

Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger was an exciting combination of climate fiction and adventure in space. I thought the political maneuvering felt of the moment, and it was exciting to see the power wielded by people around the world to make changes. It was good to see substantive issues in a propulsive thriller.

The book was okay. The prose was interesting but I disliked the time jump backwards as I felt the mystery wasn't properly explained, so I felt a disconnect with where the story wanted to go and where it was going. As such the book didnt' grab me beyond the first chapter and while i thought the prose was good it felt like it was a couple of different styles for the first chapter which also contributed to me not continuing with the book.

When I think of the International Space Station, I think of this serene, austere bastion of science and learning floating above the earth with astronauts who are tending to the science experiments that they have been tasked with and occasionally Skyping with schoolchildren.

Not so, in the Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger. After a catastrophic accident occurs when a supply ship is docking, the astronauts are ordered back to Earth. But Belka “Walli” Beckwith refuses to leave, famously saying that she would “prefer not to.” There’s a reason why that soon becomes clear. The Space Station can be other things besides a science lab. It is also able to report on the destruction that is happening in the Amazon rainforest as well as serve as a platform to influence national and world politics.

Which is exactly why Walli chooses to holdout from coming back to Earth as ordered by the flight directors in both Houston and Moscow. In an alternating chapter, we learn that Walli’s niece, who she loves like a daughter, is caught in the middle of a vast plot to remove the indigenous Amazonian tribes from their land in order for the authoritarian Brazillian dictator to be able to turn a profit from it In this book, they call this the “Consolidation.” Walli wants this to end and the only way that this can come about is through the intervention of the United States and other members of the Organization of American States.

She won’t be moved until then, even in spite of the catastrophic things that are bound to occur when you are the only person stuck on a damaged Space Station.

This is a really great political thriller and the fact that it is mainly set in space makes it all the more interesting. The sections of the story that are set in the burning Amazon rainforest are almost too grim to get a handle on and it is especially unsettling when you realize that it is very close to reality.

Jeffrey Kluger, a writer for “Time” magazine, who has covered the space beat for years now and has written other non-fiction books on space exploration has gotten all the details right. From launching and then landing a Soyuz capsule to the way that the command centers manage and monitor the space station back on Earth.

This book was a political, space thriller with environmental themes. Despite the heavy topics, it was an enjoyable read. The author is very well versed in soviet and NASA space details. Walli is a female astronaut that is aboard the ISS with 2 Russian cosmonauts. After an incident where one Russian in injured, they are forced to leave the space station and return to Earth. Only Walli refuses after seeing the destruction of the Amazon forests each time the space station passes that point over South America.
Walli's niece/daughter is a med student working in the forests of Brazil helping the indigenous population who are injured while being uprooted from their native homes in the forests. Walli essentially holds the ISS hostage while bringing awareness to the problem out to the public and hoping to gain American support in stopping the destruction.
This story got better as it went on. I definitely enjoyed it even though it wasn't a topic I would normally read. I received an ebook from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

I was personally underwhelmed by this story. I was hoping for more of an Andy Weir type of story but this was told from different perspectives and was really heavy on politics which I generally stay away from. It's an interesting story for those who enjoy more politics with their science fiction.

This is a well-written, completely unexpected yet plausible combination of science fiction, action/suspense, story of an environmental hero who forces the world to sit up and take notice of the degradation being visited upon the Amazon and its inhabitants and the folks trying to aid them, by taking a space station hostage. I did not see that coming! Additionally, the internet and social media collide with the powers that be to bring about a global save.

My one criticism of this book has to do with the epilogue. Much of the last chapter of the book felt unnecessary for me. The action was finished., and it seemed a natural place to end. Details in the epilogue man be great for some readers, but were anticlimactic to me.

What if you could save a small part of the world, just by your actions? Walli Beckwith makes a spur of the moment decision where she "preferred not to leave" the International Space Station after a resupply accident. With her decision starts a cascade of events that just might save thousands of lives, including her niece in Brazil. One seemingly small action can have overwhelming consequences and repercussions. This fast paced story will want you to keep going to see what happens.