“I actually received a message from him on Twitter. […] I can't believe he wrote something this good his first time around.”
Kojima included The Apollo Murders in his dozen even though it is science fiction as well as a mystery; he had many SF works on the provisional list but kept this one as part of what he called Hideo's Mysteries. The author is astronaut Chris Hadfield, who sent Kojima a message on Twitter. Kojima said he could not believe a first novel was written so well, noted that the Apollo 18 material is not entirely invented—the mission existed and was stopped midway and Hadfield builds a what‑if around that—and said he wants it to sell well and to be read by science fiction fans; he also praised the cover of the Japanese edition.
“This one is a science fiction novel but also a mystery so I added it to the list. […] I actually received a message from him on Twitter. […] The stuff about Apollo 18 isn't entirely made up either. […] They stopped it midway. So Chris Hadfield wrote a what-if story about it. I definitely want everyone to read this.”