Tuesday 12 January 2016

Book Review - 26 Miles to the Moon by Andrew Males

Amazon UK
Title: 26 Miles to the Moon
Author: Andrew Males
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Author supplied review copy
Publisher: Britain's Next Bestseller
Publication Date: 17th April 2015
Rating: 5 Stars


10 Hopefuls. 26 Miles. 1 Target: The Moon.

Jon Dunn is a nobody, going nowhere in life. But that all changes when he answers a random email that puts him on a journey that'll take him so far out of his comfort zone, he'll need a telescope just to look back at it.

Escaping from his increasingly demented boss is the easy bit. Running naked from the law at a top tourist attraction and surviving training from a sadistic instructor will be more difficult.

Billionaire Doug Peabody wants to send mankind's first rocket to the Moon in decades. He's even created a competition to win a seat on it... providing his ex-friend Dmitri doesn't sabotage his already-threadbare plans and beat him to it.

Can Jon stop the evil, win-at-all-costs Nicki?

And can he really trust Summer, the girl with the yo-yo halo?

From the London skyline to the punishing bridges of the New York City Marathon, Jon and nine other going-nowheres are branded like cattle and put through the challenge and pain of a competition for the most exciting prize the world has ever seen.

The Great Space Race is on!

My adrenalin is pumping, and I feel as though I have just raced in the New York City Marathon, and I feel that these are perfectly acceptable reactions to having just finished reading 26 Miles to the Moon. After all its a book that starts off with a bizarre set of consequences, and leads you on a hilarious, but awe-inspiring and life changing journey. 

If I was to take just one thing away from this book, it would be just never give up, don't allow yourself to get into a rut in life, and just take chances. Ok maybe that was more than one thing, but it really is impressive what can happen in life if you just take that first few steps outside of your comfort zone. 

At the point that I started 26 Miles to the Moon, I had just finished reading an incredibly emotional book, and all I was in the mood for was something light hearted, and funny, and after glancing through my kindle I figured this would counteract me completely. An I was so right, I was giggling away during the first half and then the story just over took me, and I became so engrossed in the lives of these people. 

For Doug Peabody had a dream, to send a rocket to the moon for the first time in years. And he wants to do it with a random ordinary person on board, to offer them a life changing and history making journey. 

Jon Dunn has a job as a software tester, and just happened to answer an email that had gone into spam, offering a life changing opportunity, without mentioning what it was. A series of fabulous events occur all over London, some of which if you had been witnessing first hand may have caused very painful but funny mental images, seared onto the brain for ever. 

From lots of responders there becomes the 10 regional winners, who become known as the moon runners. If they want to go into space, all they have to do is win a race amongst themselves at the New York Marathon, 3 months away...

Seeing just how competitive one or two of the runners becomes is scary, as they go all out to win, and I really do mean all out.  

This is a fast paced, easy and enjoyable book to read, which will have you laughing along with it, and will also sweep you up in the journey, and had me turning the pages incredibly fast as I lost myself in the story. 

For what is ultimately a bizarre, or series of bizarre ideas,  you have an completely believable book, that I feel could just be a hidden gem, in amongst the many millions of books out there. I sincerely hope that Andrew Males writes more books as I would love to see what else he can come up with. 

Thank you so much to Andrew Males for this review copy. This is my honest opinion. 

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