essentialsaltes | Gunpowder Moon by David Pedreira

A murder on the moon, amid increasing tensions between the US and Chinese helium mining operations. Tempers escalate, and now [Trump's] Space Force is stationing soldiers at a mining base. How can our ex-soldier/facility manager keep his own crew safe and deescalate war on the moon? There are some good scenes and tension, but this does feel like a first novel (which it is). And occasionally it veers into militaria and you wonder, 'Is this one of those 'science fiction' books that is really thinly veiled jingoistic military fantasy?' It's actually not jingoistic, but there are just some jarring edges where a slight fascination with the military becomes weirdly obtrusive to the story. Also the general outline of the future world history is unrealistic, but fortunately largely off-stage. Slight thumbs down from me.