Cover-to-Cover Commuting: Sex on the Moon

As I said before, I'm on a bit of a true crime kick this summer.  Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich has a catchy title and quite the different premise from the usual murders that are found in the 364 Dewey section.

Unfortunately, as I was writing this review, I happened upon some information that made me feel duped.  While this is no Million Little Pieces, it is an embellished tale.  Entertaining, yes; entirely factual, no.  The author did not do his homework for this book, which seems mostly based on interviews with the criminal behind the caper.  It drops my rating.

(As Wikipedia puts it, "Testimony given [for a National Geographic show] is at odds with some of the key claims made in Ben Mezrich's account.)

Statistics
Checkouts: Information unavailable
Typical reader: True crime fans and those drawn by the title
Source: Checked out from my local library

Synopsis: Thad Roberts, a daredevil and an up-and-coming fellow in a prestigious NASA program, risks it all to perform a most audacious heist - stealing moon rocks gathered by the Apollo missions.

My Goodreads rating: 3 stars

Thad Roberts is an idiot of a genius.  After a rough and rocky start to adulthood, allegedly getting kicked out of the Latter-Day Saints' missionary training as well his family, and marrying young and penniless, he decided to be an astronaut and set about achieving that goal.  He managed to land an internship several years in a row at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.  It was there that he came up with a wild, extravagant heist to impress his girlfriend - the liberation of moon rocks from a secure safe in one of NASA's most secure buildings.  Then he went and promptly got caught in a sting operation by the FBI.

The book is exciting in parts, particularly the execution of the theft itself, and dry and dull in others.  It lacks the complete story; apparently Mr. Mezrich only interviewed Roberts and Axel Emmermann, the Belgian rock collector who contacted the FBI about someone trying to sell moon rocks.  From what I've read elsewhere, both men are portrayed as greater than they really were.  The characterizations of those involved are actually quite the caricatures.  If you go by this book, the other interns had dull lives before Roberts spiced things up with camping trips, skydiving, and such.  And all the female interns were blonde and buxom beauties.  (Speaking of the female interns, I don't know why his girlfriend and other accomplice's names were changed, considering they also were charged in the heist and their names are matters of public record.)

I did not particularly enjoy the audiobook's narration.  Casey Affleck has a rather gravelly voice.  His diction is clear, though, and he differentiates between speakers.  It did not deter me.

In spite of being embellished, this was still an interesting book to listen to.  As I previously stated, the execution of the heist was exciting.  Learning a bit about NASA, the Apollo missions, and the moon rocks was also interesting.  If you want to read or listen to this book, just take it with a grain of salt.

Fact-Finding Failure: Unraveling

Welcome to my new feature, Fact-Finding Failures!  This is not something I'm happy about, but I feel like it really needs to be done.  There are books out there that just should not have made it past an editor.  The problem goes beyond typos, grammatical errors, or making vampires sparkle.  Those are all crappy, sure, but two of the three can be overlooked in the grand scheme of things, and the third is an author's odd world-building.

What I'm looking at with Fact-Finding Failures is the utter contempt of reality some authors have, when trying to write something realistically.  If you're going to write contemporary fiction, check your facts.  Heck, that goes for historical fiction and even steampunk as well.  Dystopian, cyberpunk, science fiction and fantasy have a bit more wiggle-room, but a good story doesn't require a complete suspension of disbelief.

These are books that are not going to make it on to the school library's shelf, because there is no literary value.  I can't objectively suggest them to my students.

Today's Fact-Finding Failure is Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris.

Synopsis: Just before the start of her junior year of high school, Janelle Tenner is fatally hit by a speeding pickup truck.  She is apparently revived by a loner from her class, Ben Michaels, who she's never talked to before.  But how?  She also snoops through her high-in-the-FBI father's files, and uncovers a mystery that may be related.

My Goodreads rating: 1 star, added to "Didn't Finish" shelf after roughly 60 pages

If you look beyond the plot holes through which one could drive a semi truck, this might not be such a bad book.  I enjoyed Janelle's narrative voice.  It was fresh and realistic.

But this review is focusing on what went wrong.  And that is the whole deal with the FBI.  It's so phony, I had to put the book down.

Problem: Janelle's father is a high-ranked member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and has worked in the same office for her entire life.  He also discusses confidential information about open cases with his daughter.

Now, my knowledge of what's wrong with all of this is a bit from life experiences.  I used to play D&D (and other games) with an FBI agent.  He was only with the gaming group for a couple years, because he, like all FBI agents, moves around often.  It's a bit like the military in that regard, though he could turn down an assignment if he didn't want to move somewhere.

But anyone can find that out.  I fact-checked online, and found the same information at the FBI's career FAQ page.  To quote some relevant information from there, "All Special Agents are subject to transfer at any time to meet the organizational and program needs of the FBI. Special Agents accept the possibility of transfer as a condition of their employment."

In the case of Janelle's father, we're told early on in the story that he broke a high-profile, international case when he was a fairly new agent.  That he remained in the same office after that is a bit ridiculous, for both the reasons above, and because FBI agents, like other law enforcement officials, can burn out and likely don't stay in the same department of operations for their whole career.  Ignore what the crime shows on TV show you; most homicide detectives are only homicide detectives for a few years.  He's been the head of his unit in one city for nine years?  There should have been a transfer at some point.

As for sharing confidential information with his daughter ... ugh.  How about some common sense here?  It's improbable.  Not impossible, true.  Then-President Jimmy Carter's mention of how his daughter Amy thought the control of nuclear arms was an important election issue in 1980 comes to mind.  Both invoke a bit of a "face-palm" moment.  Perhaps what makes the sharing of information so bad in this book is that the father says that he can't discuss open cases - and then does so anyway.  I know that it's a young adult novel, and teens do tend to think their parents are idiots, but come on.


Tell me that this is in an alternate universe where nothing we know in our lives is true.  Then sure, there's no problem with the book.  Or prove me wrong.  I've cited sources, though; this probably isn't another case of "Why is a rhino charging through this zombie novel?"  (For the discussion of rhinoceroses and other animals in a zombie novel, please see my review and the ensuing comments regarding Dust & Decay.)  Discussions are always welcome.