“Gunpowder Moon” by David Pedreira – The First Lunar Murder

David Pedreira begins his foray into the realm of literature with great aspirations, unravelling the webs of treachery behind the first murder of a man in outer space in his first novel, Gunpowder Moon.

We are taken to visit a future where Earth's survival depends on lunar helium, one where the chief of U.S. mining operations finds himself racing against the clock when one of his workers is killed by a bomb. Whether on Earth or beyond the skies, the evil men do thrives onwards.

David Pedreira’s Conspiracy on the Moon

Once upon a time the moon seemed to hold countless mysteries and was the next big step for humanity to take in terms of exploration. The possibilities seemed limitless, and witnessing our cosmonauts traversing the void of space to land on a new rock successfully, albeit a satellite, was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

As our technology grew however, it seems our fascination with our sole natural satellite came to a bit of a standstill; it seemed in the end, it ultimately remains a dusty rock full of craters.

However, this doesn't stop it from tingling the imaginations of authors who still look to the stars with inspiration, and at times it gives very interesting results, such as David Pedreira's Gunpowder Moon.

As the story opens we are taken to the near future of 2072, when humanity's fusion reactors rely on lunar helium to maintain their power. Soon, we make the acquaintance of Caden Dechert, former U.S. Marine and current chief of United States mining operations on the moon.

Disaster suddenly strikes when one of his workers is found dead, seemingly killed by a bomb. While some are quick to label it an accident, Caden's instincts tell him otherwise, and thus he sets out on a dangerous course to drag the culprit into the light of justice.

In the process however, he inadvertently gets caught up in a war about to be waged by the Americans and the Chinese, one rife with conspiracies and with the potential to utterly wipe him and his entire team off the moon. The clock is ticking faster as the hour of truth approaches, and a murderer runs on the loose.

A Compelling Military Mystery

One of the problems I have with some science-fiction novels which gun for realism is the fact they seem to devolve into fantasy the closer one gets to the end of the story.

In other words, authors often undertake the endeavour of writing a technically-proficient story without fully realizing their ideas and doing the necessary research.

I was quite happy to see it wasn't the case with Gunpowder Moon, which in some respects reminded me of Andy Weir's The Martian, at least with the consistently technical and realistic approach to technology.

Pedreira never seems to run short on ideas as he constantly gives us compelling descriptions of a future devastated by an ecological disaster, ones which give us a profound and believable understanding of how this world functions.

Alongside these layers of exposition we have about the world is a rather complex story involving the military, political and economic interests of various countries in a sort of race against each other.

While I'm generally rather tentative when it comes to these sorts of political thrillers due to how unbelievable they tend to be, I was pleasantly surprised by the author's efforts and attention to detail.

The decisions made by the different countries and the whole evolution of their conflict always feels very natural and realistic; if this scenario were to occur in real life, I would have little trouble believing things could go down this way. As a result, we have a very real intrigue with palpable high stakes, which always adds to the excitement of virtually any novel.

The Premier Lunar Victim

While the world of tomorrow and political games are certainly huge parts of the novel, it all remains anchored around a murder mystery, one which I will admit takes you into a few unexpected places, as well as a few cliches.

If you're a veteran reader of these you may certainly be able to figure out what's going on before the end, but on the whole I'd say the author did a good job of nurturing the mystery.

The few twists here and there help keep you on your toes and you always have nagging doubts about who to trust, who is right, who is wrong, and perhaps if it was even a murder to begin with.

All in all it's a pretty enjoyable part of the book, though I wish the author would have dedicated more of his time to it rather than the other elements, for it never stops feeling like the driving core of the story.

The characters we are introduced to throughout the book are certainly enjoyable in their variety and differences, even if ultimately some of them felt superficial to the progress of the plot.

Caden makes for a nice protagonist, if a tiny bit grim at times; though his propensity to see the worst in situations is proven correct on many occasions, I wouldn't mind seeing his lighter side in a future novel perhaps.

The love and concern he has for his crew is admirable and in my mind remained his defining trait, a definite leftover from his days in the military.

Overall I would say he is a character I would like to see return one day as I feel there remains untapped potential with his development, which isn't too surprising considering most of the focus went into the various plots.

The Final Verdict

Though it may have a couple of flaws, Gunpowder Moon is an impressive debut for author David Pedreira. The hard science fiction is fascinating to read through, the political intrigue is believable and keeps you engaged, the murder mystery has some good twists even for veterans, and the characters are mostly all enjoyable in their own ways.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries and technical science-fiction stories.

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David Pedreira Personal site David Pedreira is a science-fiction author who was formerly a reporter (with a Master's Degree in Journalism) for various renowned publications, including the Tampa Tribune and The Capital. His writing for the Associated Press earned him a number of awards, including one from the Society of Professional Journalists. So far he has one published work as a novelist: Gunpowder Moon.