Michael Cassutt – författare

THEY WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO CLAIM IT AS THEIR OWNIn 2016 a pair of amateur astronomers spot an unidentified object – an object one hundred kilometres across and heading towards Earth. As it approaches, NASA and the Russian-Indian-Brazilian Coalition race to land vehicles on the unexplored surface. With power, money and politics behind each mission, both crews have orders to stop at nothing to get there first.Zack Stewart, NASA’s team leader, is determined to succeed. But as they’re about to land, violent explosions from the meteorite’s surface propel it directly into Earth’s orbit. Analysis shows the explosions were timed and deliberate – but by whom and why? As the world holds its breath, Zack makes a discovery that will change the course of humanity... forever.‘Recalls Arthur C. Clarke at his heights … Better still, there’s more to come!’ Gregory Benford‘Prepare to have your world rocked’ Robert J. Sawyer‘Plotted like an old-school SF story, it’s firmly in the modern cinematic trend in its writing style’ SFX‘One of the most entertaining novels I’ve read this year’ FantasyBookCritic blog

THEIR FIRST CHALLENGE IS TO SURVIVE...When an unidentified object is spotted hurtling towards Earth, two rival teams race to claim it. But the affectionately-named ‘Keanu’ conceals dangerous secrets. Instead of barren rock, astronauts discover a giant ship with an extra-terrestrial crew. A ship with a mission and a message: help us. A brave new frontier beckons, but it comes at a price.Without explanation, small groups of humans are transported from earth’s scientific communities to Keanu’s interior. Their first task is to stay alive. Their second, to explore their new home and locate their keepers. But above all, as the ship starts to break down around them, they must figure out why they were brought here and forge a path home.

THEIR GREATEST TEST MAY BE THEIR LASTHumanity is facing its greatest challenge. The alien Reivers have conquered our world, and their newly erected strongholds cast shadows across a subjugated land.Twenty years earlier, extraterrestrials first came to Earth. They abducted humans; stranding them on a spacecraft named Keanu. However, these entities came seeking our help -- against the Reivers who had overrun their home-world. But they brought the Reivers to us, carrying their contagion from the stars. Then when Keanu finally re-establishes contact with Earth, terror awaits.Reivers now control the planet and are preparing to destroy Keanu. And Rachel Stewart will leave the ship to lead Earth's last rebels in a bid for freedom; their goal being to infiltrate a Reiver fortress. But somehow Keanu holds the key to our salvation – and if it can’t be found, humanity will be finished. The galaxy will be next.

The science fiction epic of our time has arrived. Three years ago, an object one hundred miles across was spotted on a trajectory for Earth''s sun. Now, its journey is almost over. As it approaches, two competing manned vehicles race through almost half a million kilometers of space to reach it first. But when they both arrive on the entity, they learn that it has been sent toward Earth for a reason. An intelligent race is desperately attempting to communicate with our primitive species. And the message is: Help us.

The competing teams of astronauts sent to explore the asteroid Keanu discovered it was, in fact, a giant spacecraft with an alien crew carrying a plea for help. A brave new frontier beckons. But it will come at a price. Without warning, the aliens transport small groups of humans to the vast interior habitats of Keanu. Their first challenge is to survive. Their second: discover why The Architects—the unseen aliens controlling the asteroid—brought them there. The third: find a way to take control of Keanu. Because the ship is moving again.                 The Architects are going home...

Mankind’s first contact with extraterrestrial life led to an incredible revelation. Their last may lead them to extinction.Twenty years have passed since the mysterious Near-Earth Object nicknamed Keanu appeared in the night sky and transported humans from all over Earth into its interior. There they discovered that Keanu was a long-range spaceship—and they were not alone. They joined forces with the aliens called the Architects, who had come from a distant galaxy to seek help in fighting the vicious Reivers. And they defeated them.Or so they thought.For when Keanu reestablished contact with Earth, they learned that the Reivers have taken over the planet, placing most of the population under their dominion. But mankind’s last hope may yet be hidden inside the NEO. And if the men and women still in Keanu cannot find it, humanity will be finished. And the galaxy will be next.

An “agreeable debut novel” of a fragmented US and first alien contact from the Twilight Zone and Z Nation TV writer (Kirkus Reviews). In the near future, war has torn the United States apart. Small communities barely scrape by amidst climate change and economic collapse. Powerful nation-states struggle over whatever resources remain--technology in California, money in Chicago, oil in Texas. Some small hope has arrived in the form of the Hocq, a group of aliens on a mission to bring their advanced knowledge to Earth. But, as hostile governments across the globe vie for that knowledge, a Hocq named Harrek defects into outlaw territory. Diplomacy seems to have failed, and he can’t allow the wrong nation to gain such a huge advantage over the others. Now it’s up to Lisa Marquez, the human who helped Harrek escape, and Jeremy Clayton, a poor outland farmer, to keep the alien safe from the military and outlaws. The clock is counting down, and Harrek needs to get the Genesis File into the right hands before he gets found by the humans...or the other Hocq. In Michael Cassutt's first novel, the author takes standard SF story situations--post-holocaust tribal human struggles, first alien contact--blends them together and and brings his own uniquely original spin to a tried-and-true setting. 

THEIR FIRST CHALLENGE IS TO SURVIVE...When an unidentified object is spotted hurtling towards Earth, two rival teams race to claim it. But the affectionately-named ‘Keanu’ conceals dangerous secrets. Instead of barren rock, astronauts discover a giant ship with an extra-terrestrial crew. A ship with a mission and a message: help us. A brave new frontier beckons, but it comes at a price.Without explanation, small groups of humans are transported from earth’s scientific communities to Keanu’s interior. Their first task is to stay alive. Their second, to explore their new home and locate their keepers. But above all, as the ship starts to break down around them, they must figure out why they were brought here and forge a path home.

What an amazing career. Tom Stafford attained the highest speed ever reached by a test pilot (28,547 mph), carried a cosmonaut’s coffin with Soviet Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, led the team that designed the sequence of missions leading to the original lunar landing, and drafted the original specifications for the B-2 stealth bomber on a piece of hotel stationery. But his crowning achievement was surely his role as America’s unofficial space ambassador to the Soviet Union during the darkest days of the Cold War.In this lively memoir written with Michael Cassutt, Stafford begins by recounting his early successes as a test pilot, Gemini and Apollo astronaut, and USAF general. As President Nixon''s stand-in at the 1971 Soviet funeral for three cosmonauts, he opened the door to the possibility of cooperation in space between Russians and Americans. Stafford''s Apollo-Soyuz team was the first group of Americans to work at the cosmonaut training center, and also the first to visit Baikonur, the top-secret Soviet launch center, in 1974. His 17 July 1975 “handshake in space” with Soviet commander Alexei Leonov (who became a lifelong friend) proved to the world that the two opposing countries could indeed work successfully together. Stafford has continued in this leadership role right up to the present, participating in designing and evaluating the Space Shuttle, Mir, and the International Space Station. He is truly an American hero who personifies the broadest spirit of exploration and cooperation.

One of the most elusive and controversial figures in NASA's history, George W. S. Abbey was called "e;the Dark Lord,"e; "e;the Godfather,"e; and "e;UNO"e;-short for unidentified NASA official. He was said to be secretive, despotic, a Space Age Machiavelli. Yet Abbey had more influence on human spaceflight than almost anyone in history. His story has never been told-until now. The Astronaut Maker takes readers inside NASA to learn the real story of how Abbey rose to power, from young pilot and wannabe astronaut to engineer, bureaucrat, and finally director of the Johnson Space Center. During a thirty-seven-year career, mostly out of the spotlight, he oversaw the selection of every astronaut class from 1978 to 1987, deciding who got to fly and when. He was with the Apollo 1 astronauts the night before the fatal fire in January 1967. He was in mission control the night of the Apollo 13 accident and organized the recovery effort. Abbey also led NASA's recruitment of women and minorities as space shuttle astronauts and was responsible for hiring Sally Ride. Written by Michael Cassutt, the coauthor of the acclaimed astronaut memoirs DEKE! and We Have Capture, and informed by countless hours of interviews with Abbey and his family, friends, adversaries, and former colleagues, The Astronaut Maker is the ultimate insider's account of ambition and power politics at NASA.

One of the most elusive and controversial figures in NASA''s history, George W. S. Abbey was called "the Dark Lord," "the Godfather," and "UNO"—short for unidentified NASA official. He was said to be secretive, despotic, a Space Age Machiavelli. Yet Abbey had more influence on human spaceflight than almost anyone in history. His story has never been told—until now. The Astronaut Maker takes readers inside NASA to learn the real story of how Abbey rose to power, from young pilot and wannabe astronaut to engineer, bureaucrat, and finally director of the Johnson Space Center. During a thirty-seven-year career, mostly out of the spotlight, he oversaw the selection of every astronaut class from 1978 to 1987, deciding who got to fly and when. He was with the Apollo 1 astronauts the night before the fatal fire in January 1967. He was in mission control the night of the Apollo 13 accident and organized the recovery effort. Abbey also led NASA''s recruitment of women and minorities as space shuttle astronauts and was responsible for hiring Sally Ride. Written by Michael Cassutt, the coauthor of the acclaimed astronaut memoirs DEKE! and We Have Capture, and informed by countless hours of interviews with Abbey and his family, friends, adversaries, and former colleagues, The Astronaut Maker is the ultimate insider''s account of ambition and power politics at NASA.