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Quercus snaps up astronaut and author Hadfield’s new thriller The Defector
Quercus has signed a new thriller from astronaut and author Chris Hadfield, “a supersonic hunt for a shadowy Soviet fighter pilot known only as ‘Grief’".
Quercus managing director Jon Butler acquired world rights in the book, which is the next in Hadfield’s Apollo Murders series, from Rick Broadhead at Rick Broadhead & Associates, with North American rights subsequently going to Anne Collins at Random House Canada and Helen O’Hare at Mulholland Books at Little, Brown US.
All English-language editions of The Defector will be published worldwide with a major marketing and publicity campaign on 10th October 2023.
Butler said: “I can’t top what Chris Hadfield’s Canadian editor Anne Collins wrote to me the other day: ‘It’s like ’Top Gun’... written by a truly top gun.’ That would be publishing hyperbole, except that before his time as an astronaut Chris really was the top test pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy, after serving as a Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot intercepting armed Soviet bombers in North American airspace.
“As we saw in his internationally bestselling non-fiction titles and The Apollo Murders [Quercus], Chris’ superpower (if being an astronaut and real-life Maverick isn’t enough for you) is putting the reader right there in the moment, at the heart of the action. He’s a natural thriller writer and his fans will love this book.”
Hadfield 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, as well as spending a stint as NASA’s director of operations in Russia. He said: “Just writing the aerial combat scenes of The Defector got my heart pounding. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it is like to fly high-performance fighters in combat, for the highest of global stakes, read The Defector.
“The early 1970s were such a similar time to now—geopolitical turmoil, armed conflict, Cold War tensions, social unrest... it makes the high-tension thrills of the book even more real. I can’t wait for everyone to read it!”
Hadfield, also a former Cold War pilot, 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 previous books include An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth (Macmillan), You Are Here (Macmillan) and The Apollo Murders (Quercus). 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 operations.
