The Defector by Chris Hadfield

A riveting Cold War thriller for fans ofTop GunandThe Hunt for Red October, written byNew York Timesbestselling author, astronaut, and former pilot Chris Hadfield.

Israel, October 1973. As the Yom Kippur War flares into life, a state-of-the-art Soviety MiG fighter is racing at breakneck speed over the arid scrublands below. . . and promptly disappears. NASA Flight Controller and former US 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.

ForNew York Timesbestselling author Chris Hadfield's second heart-stopping thriller, we move from space to another rich and exciting part of Chris's own history: 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 Defectorbrings us the nerve-shredding rush of aerial combat, as told by one of the world's best fighter pilots. (From Mulholland Books)

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Hadfield was a military pilot and astronaut for 35 years. He was the first Canadian to walk in space and served as commander of the International Space Station.

He received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2002 and became a member of the Order of Canada in 2014.

Hadfield is also the author of the memoir An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, the children's book The Darkest Dark, which was illustrated by the Fan Brothers, and the photo book You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes.