Grady Hendrix

BadAsstronauts Grady Hendrix

From New York Times bestselling author of My Best Friend's Exorcism, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix takes a break from horror and goes all-in on sci-fi in this novella about backyard rocket jockeys trying to get into low earth orbit.

Melville, South Carolina was out of money, it was out of jobs, it was out of hope, and today it was out of astronauts. There were only two to begin with, and now one is stuck on the abandoned International Space Station after his mission went south. With NASAs budget cut to the bone, theres no one to bring him back home, so everyone is only too happy to ignore this embarrassing sign of American Failure and just let him die. But his cousin, Walter Reddie, isnt going to let that happen.

Tanked on vodka, living on a farm whose only crop is cars on cinderblocks, Walter's a wash-out from the Shuttle Program and hell be damned if hes going to let his cousin die in the sky like a dog. And so he begins to build a rocket. If America wont rescue its astronauts, hell do it himself.

Violating numerous laws, good taste, common sense, logic, and reason, Walter becomes a lightning rod for people who arent ready to give up. His farm is transformed into the promised land for misfits, drifters, rocket junkies, pyromaniacs, dreamers, science nerds, and astro-hippies who believe that space shouldnt just be for billionaires. But it wont be easy. Chances are good theyll blow themselves up, get arrested, or kill each other before they ever get into orbit.