"We're on the moon Gary."
"I know," Lucas chuckled. "That's the problem."
"No, I mean, we're on the moon." Shepard looked up at him, his eyes wide and filled with wonder. "Think of it...just think of it."
"I'm trying not to, Charlie."
Lucas recalled all the events of the previous days, pausing to reflect upon all they had accomplished. So many had worked so hard for so long to make their mission, their landing, a reality. And after all of the training, all of the planning, all of the blood and sweat and tears of hundreds of thousands, here they were.
Marooned.

When they blasted off on the Apollo 19 mission, Commander Gary Lucas and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Shepard had high hopes of what they would find in the unexplored polar regions of the Moon. Their buckets full of rare samples, the men head back to their spacecraft content with their achievements but find that something is wrong with their engines. Despite many efforts the two men are trapped, consigned to a horrible death, the ultimate failure of their agency. A black mark on the Moon, which had brought so much glory to their country, a nightly reminder to anyone looking up into the sky. Shepard, a devout Christian, and Lucas, an unbeliever, both decide to go out for one more jaunt in the moondust before their remaining air expires. What they find this time changes everything. A crisis of belief. A miracle on the Moon.

I grew up on the Spacecoast of Florida and I've always had an abiding affection for the Apollo missions. The description for this book intrigued me. I never really know what to expect when I pick up a 'Christian Fiction' book. But astronauts have been known to mention their spirituality when they talk about being in orbit, out on EVA, etc, so I can see how faith would naturally come into such a situation. I give the book props for how detailed it was on the technical knowledge. Having read many astronaut biographies and books on the space agency, it read well. I was pleased to see the forward is by Charlie Duke, a moonwalker, who I met a few years ago when he gave a talk at our library. I'm sure Charlie enjoyed reading it. I also give kudos for the plot, the fiction part was highly original. There were times I was like 'where is this going?' but I like where it ended up. ( )