Sex on the Moon: A Book I Recommend

Before you think anything, it's not what you think. The book, Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich, is only 2% sex and 98% moon. But in our culture sex sells, and thus the title.

The book is the real-life narrative about Thad Roberts, the NASA intern who stole the moon. The story recounts Thad's life of overcoming familial and age-based obstacles to achieve his dream of working at NASA in hopes of being the first man to walk on Mars. Through reinventing his persona as as an audacious, reckless, and fearless co-op (NASA's name for the interns in their 3-year program), he impresses his peers by "breaking into" the space shuttle simulator and taking it for a spin. In the midst of getting high esteem from his professors, admiration and respect from his peers, and the silent treatment from his wife, who decided to stay behind in Utah, he was introduced to Dr. Everett Gibson and the Lunar Lab. After seeing some rock samples that were taken from the moon and the way Dr. Gibson talked about them as if they were trash, Thad began to fantasize what it might look like to "rescue them" and give the used lunar samples the respect and value they deserved. While mentally devising imaginary ways he could steal the samples, he involved Rebecca: his mistress and fellow co-op, Sandra: a flirty but platonic co-op, and Gordon: a guy he randomly met at the University of Utah, in his imaginary plan that quickly evolved into reality.

Meanwhile, Axel Emmerman, a Belgian rock collector, decides the email he got inquiring interest in buying Moon Rocks was not just a big joke, like the rest of his comrades in the small Belgian town of Antwerp. So, against the wishes of his wife, he got involved, contacted the FBI, and became his imagined super-hero, saving the world from a maniac criminal.

I really enjoyed this book. It has action, suspense, and I even learned a lot about science. It kept me captivated through every page as the story and history of Thad Roberts was built-up and as the heist took place. I won't spoil it for you, but instead, I encourage you to read the book about the "most audacious heist in history" for yourself. Plus the book is written by the same person who wrote The Accidental Billionaires which became the the Academy Award-Winning movie The Social Network. Based on his writing style and superior story-telling, this and the other works of Ben Mezrich's are now on my reading list.

I give Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History a 4.5 out of 5 stars. The missing half star is because the resolution, following the amazing and spell-binding climax (which is only the final 7% of the book according to my Kindle), is such an extreme fall from the heart-pounding previous pages. The book came to a full-circle ending, which I liked, but it was hard to keep my attention to get there. However, the remaining 93% of the book is well-worth it. The story is so well-written, detailed, and unlikely, that I had to remind myself it was true. And it seemed like I read half of the book within minutes, because the action flowed seamlessly, and my anticipation followed.

All in all, I highly recommend Sex on the Moon. And I'll let you figure out for yourself the clever way the aforementioned 2% fits into this true story.