She was born to kill, born to die.

Crescent is a crowhopper-a genetically modified mercenary programmed for ruthless warfare. When she's taken prisoner by Crater Trueblood instead of being killed in battle, she thinks it's a disaster.

Crater is weary of war. He's a miner, not a soldier. He'd rather be mining Helium-3 than battling the infernal crowhoppers. But after he captures Crescent and brings her to Moontown, he's surprised how much he enjoys her company. When she's falsely accused of murder, he becomes an outlaw to help her escape.

The unlikely pair escapes into the "big suck" and wind up trekking with a caravan of mining pioneers toward a lunar ghost town called Endless Dust. To survive, they must do more than navigate the beautiful, desolate moonscape and battle a persistent band of crowhoppers sent to capture or kill them. They must decide what-and who-is truly worth fighting for.

"Expertly blending space opera and hard sci-fi, romance, and even mystery . . . this is fast-paced, packed with intriguing ideas . . ." -Peter Gutierrez, Booklist Review

"Classic Golden Age science fiction high-adventure. It brought back memories of reading Asimov . . . that same sense of wonder. I absolutely loved it." -Michael Scott, New York Times Best-selling Author, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series

This is volume 2 in Helium-3 Novels .

This book has been graded for interest at 13+ years.

There are 336 pages in this book. This book was published 2013 by Thomas Nelson Publishers .

Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr. ) is the bestselling and award-winning author of many books, including the #1 New York Times memoir Rocket Boys, which was adapted into the popular film October Sky. A writer since grade school, he is also a Vietnam veteran, a former coal miner, a scuba instructor, an avid amateur paleontologist, and a retired engineer. He lives in Alabama and the Virgin Islands.