172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

172 Hours on the Moon (or DARLAH) follows the standard moon-themed horror story—there’s a reason humanity never returned to our closest spatial neighbor. It’s a good reason, too. However, in order to regain access to an old research base known as DARLAH 2, we must return. 
This is the premise that precedes humanities return to the moon in this space horror. Hidden powers in the United States government clamor for a means to return to the moon and reclaim the old research base and any mysteries it holds.  To accomplish this, however, they need to garner public appeal so as to avoid suspicion as well as raise the proper funding. In order to rekindle the world’s passion for space exploration, these powers begin a lottery to select three teenagers, age fourteen to eighteen, to send into space.  For a fulfilling life, for escaping failed love, for fame and fortune.  These are the reasons that Mia, Midori, and Antione have decided to venture into space, hoping that by doing so, they can use this as a means to accomplish their goals.  Although they aren’t traveling alone, accompanied by fully trained and accomplished astronauts, what they find up there may just be worse than any could have imagined.

First and foremost, I really, really wanted to like this book.  It has everything a good YA book needs: fleshed out characters from diverse backgrounds; an interesting setting; (relative to Earth) dreams, goals, and troubles that are relatable to its audience; and its adherence to the genre.  “Even though it’s just YA,” he says, irritated at all those who say YA should be ignored after you turn 18, the horror in this book was phenomenal.

Mia, from Norway, is a rebellious teen whose parents sign her up for the lottery against her wishes.  After thinking about the opportunity, she decides to turn this experience into a platform to launch her and her band’s music career.

Antoine wants to travel to the moon to get [I’m so, so sorry] some space after his girlfriend breaks up with him to be with someone else.  And of course, he’s French, because what other nationality could a character so perfectly heartbroken be.  He gives off a bit of a stalker-y vibe, but other than that he’s a nice kid…

Midori is a fashionista who hopes to leave the repressive culture in Japan, fearing the life that she knows she will inevitably fall into as a female.   She believes that New York is where she can live the life she’s always dreamed of, and by traveling to the moon by way of NASA’s training camp, she will take her first step out of Japan for good.

They’re solid characters and, though they may have some minor flaws as far as stereotypical qualities go, Mia, Antoine, and Midori all bring something different to the story.  Taken together, they’re a good crew to follow along on this adventure.

Last but not least, we have what I’d like to refer to as, the special character.  With only minor appearances in the book, though detached from the main story, we’re given a senile old man named Oleg Himmelfarb.  Old Himmelfarb used to be a janitor at the facility that was in charge of creating DARLAH 2.  Working there he learned something and, while he may not remember much of his past now, or even where he lives, he still knows enough to be terrified of humanity’s return to the moon.   Though not highly involved in the story, his involvement is useful in bring a sense of danger to the readers’ attention early on, before any truly frightening scenes begin.  I would have liked to have had a couple more chapters with him as the central character.  Aside from him simply being a fun character, even another short chapter could have gone a long way in building suspense.

When the teens are still on Earth, Mia, Midori, and Antoine come across messages, codes, and warnings, all with one common link.  Don’t go. 

Despite the story’s slow approach to the actual horror aspects, I greatly enjoyed the contrast between the comparatively lengthier portion that proceeded the horror and the actual horror portion itself.  While the beginning of the story was relatively normal, setting the tone of the story much more as that of a drama/science fiction novel than that of horror/science fiction, it provided excellent buildup and foreshadowing.  I should also point out that this is less a mix of horror and science fiction, and more a horror story with science fiction elements.  As soon as the frightening events started occurring—I’ll leave this vague since spoilers are even worse when horror is involved—I became incredibly panicked, worrying about what would happen to Mia, Midori, and Antione.  To call the ending eerie would be an understatement.

However, 172 runs into the problem of having a lot happening but lacking the space to fully address it all.  While the characters are all interesting, due to constraints of size, they aren’t explored as much as they should be to add to the world of the story.  The diluted plot did a lot to take away from the legitimately terrifying moments in the book.   Harstad also skips over a several month long period of time, which would have been a great place to see relationships form and characters develop.  Even if it was only mentioned shortly, who doesn’t love a good montage?

Then we come to the plot holes…this is awkward.  There are some plot holes centered on events that occur to and around the three teenagers, some with the whole reason for going, some that I can’t even vaguely touch on without spoiling one of the key horror elements of this piece.  It’s difficult to talk about these events without spoiling anything, but suffice to say there are a few, the cause of which seem to be of the standard variety:  they’re there because the story needed to happen.  The plot holes in question, while a bit distracting, don’t hurt the story much and I can’t imagine the story without theses points.  Sure they could have been avoided with some explanation later on, but they’re minor and simple enough to overlook.

This is by no means a short book (at roughly 370 pages), yet I found myself finishing it faster than other books its size due to the speed at which I was pulled through, grasping at pages as I raced to see what would happen next.  A must read for any horror buffs, but expect to be frightened of crowds for the foreseeable future.  And the person currently sitting to your left.

Rating 4/5