Missing Man

Over the past couple of years I've been so tied up writing non-fiction books on spaceflight topics that I recently set aside any future projects and set about re-reading Michael Cassutt's three superb techno-thrillers while I re-charged my own writing batteries. "Missing Man" was the first of these three, and for the second time it had me engrossed all the way through. As someone who has enjoyed a deep and enduring fascination with human spaceflight for well over forty years, this to me was nothing less than a great read backgrounded by a very familiar subject. It is wonderfully well researched, has a well-constructed storyline, and it contains many little NASA insights to which Michael is obviously privvy. One of NASA's current astronauts is a friend, and he told me that he thoroughly enjoyed this book, as has been recommending it to his fellow astronauts. To some, the plot may seem quite implausible for such an elite organization as NASA, yet one only has to go back through recent headlines to find at least one headline-grabbing story that would have been ridiculed as the plot for a book involving astronauts. For me, Michael Cassutt has brought a wealth of experience, insight, research and a writer's instinct into the narrative of "Missing Man." I enjoyed it every bit as much on the second reading, and have no qualms at all in giving it a five-star ranking.

With MISSING MAN, author Michael Cassutt solidifies his credentials as a first rate storyteller. The plot unwinds with breakneck speed, it involves Mark Koskinen, an ASCAN (Astronaut Candidate) who is the only survivor of the crash of a NASA T-38 aircraft during a normal training mission.Nothing plays out the way one would think: The pilot of the T-38, Col. Joseph Buerhle, certified hero astronaut with four Space Shuttle missions to his credit, is cremated with no autopsy after his mortal remains are recovered. The board assigned to investigate the crash seems to be less than meets the eye. The paranoid could almost get the feeling that someone does not want the whole story to come out.When Koskinen's girlfriend dies under odd circumstances the stage is set for a ripping good mystery.Cassutt uses his experience in television writing to portray the characters as real, three dimensional characters, albeit characters who live in work in the rarified atmosphere of spaceflight. His protrayal of some of the politics, power games and behind the scenes manuevering that takes place at the Johnson Space Center are spot on target. The author of this review worked in the aerospace industry for years and this is the most accessable picture of the flavor and atmosphere of US manned spaceflight that is liable to come around for some time.Like Tom Clancy who pioneered the techno-thriller, Cassutt provides plenty of nuts and bolts to satisfy the gearheads, but unlike Clancy the technology does not over shadow the human story. In spite of the view we see on the all too brief TV coverage of Shuttle missions, spaceflight is not so much about the hardware as the people who build, use and fly it. Here Cassutt strikes a sharply focused balance. The hardware is there, but not at the expense of telling a ripping good story.Now, when does the movie start shooting? I will be in line for the first ticket. In the meantime if you have ever wondered what it is like to sit on top of six million pounds of high technology and high explosives, the closest you can get is MISSING MAN.Highly recommended!

Keith Cowing, Editor, NASA Watch: When I first saw the cover of this book and read "A stunning thriller of murder and betrayal at NASA", I thought, "yikes, not ANOTHER "NASA insider" mystery novel. Luckily, that thought passed rather swiftly. This book had something going for it right off the bat: its author, Michael Cassutt, is the coauthor of the best seller Deke!", the author of the authoritative "Who's Who in Space: The International Space Station", and a well-known television producer and writer ("Seven Days" and the eerily prescient "Max Headroom" among others). Cassutt has certainly been sufficiently exposed to NASA such that he had the opportunity to see how it did/didn't work. Given Cassutt's resume, I thought I'd give it a read. I am certainly glad I did. Having worked at NASA I usually cringe at the way writers try and put forth an aura of NASA authenticity and, in so doing, invariably get an acronym woefully wrong, portray spaceflight so as to be in violation of the laws of physics, or develop their characters along absurd caricatures. Cassutt walks into the story armed with a crisp plot, real characters, and solid technical background. I never flinched once as he laid his tale out before me. From a technical standpoint, the author clearly knows the systems, the hardware, the acronyms and how NASA's team actually uses them. He also portrays NASA internal and external politics dead on. While the prominent characters are all fictitious, you can clearly see personality traits and reactions to events exhibited by the folks who actually run JSC and the Astronaut Corps. Cassutt stages his story against a fictitious backdrop of the Shuttle-Mir program during 1998-1999. While the events differ from what is happening now, it is remarkably plausible. This is a book about human weaknesses and strengths, about loyalty to NASA and loyalty to the truth, and what happens when all of these things collide against a backdrop of the risky business of spaceflight and suspicious lethal accidents. Cassutt weaves these themes together deftly with an air of realism. Indeed, at one point, I caught myself thinking about the events I was reading from the perspective of how I'd handle this information if it came my way at NASA Watch. A knowledgeable writer is one thing, but a writer who can tell a story - convincingly and in an entertaining fashion - is quite another. Cassutt keeps you turning the pages right until the end. His screenplay expertise clearly shows. Plots twists keep you guessing nearly to the conclusion. Once many of the mysteries are resolved Cassutt takes the story to an end point which will ring true with many who work at NASA - or once did. This is not a novel designed to motivate someone to join the space program. Nor is it intended to be. Rather it is a somber tale which serves to portray the NASA world as it really is: an agency of motivated and highly talented people b

This is the best thriller about NASA I've ever read. You'll learn more about how astronauts think, work & feel than in a dozen documentaries.

Dont pick up this book if you have anything planned. I found myself ripping through this techno thriller, devouring each page as the story drew me in. Each main character is well fleshed out, and the pacing is perfect. Admittedly I found myself looking at this from a SF movie goers point of view, and this is destined to be an excellent romp on film. As in all good thriller/mysteries, there is enough (just barely) info about the story that the reader will make an effort to figure out the ending as it unfolds, but true to other great authors, Michael Cassutt knows how to twist the end around just enough to keep us reading and learning about the story as we go.