NOW FREE: Strap yourself to your seat as this fourth edition story takes you on a rollicking ride to Mars and back. But be forewarned as Joksey, NASA’s backup, street-smarts astronaut, and his indigent pals, Gnidek and the Professor, speak to each other in gritty, earthy language that some may consider too colorful.
“NASA’s 1st MISSION TO MARS – FOR WHAT?!!!” won 1st PLACE IN READERS’ FAVORITE 2019 NATIONAL COMPETITION/tall tale category.
This is the ADULT fourth edition version. It contains some profane language and new, entertaining content. The twists and turns in the life of Joksey (Stanley Marczek) and his pals never ends. Penniless, flat broke, sleeping in a cardboard box in a tent city on the South Side of Chicago, this formerly undistinguished man, Stanley Marczek, becomes the first man to walk on Mars. How is it possible? Why would NASA select a civilian, non-career astronaut for the mission? Obviously, living in a confined space for nineteen months for the journey to Mars, is one consideration. Another, his screening test results prove to be exceptional, better than all other candidates. And this is a man of grit and incredible courage. He accepts NASA’s offer, seeing it as an opportunity to remake his life, earn a cool three million bucks, and return to Earth a hero. But the story isn’t just about Stanley Marczek, (aka Joksey), and the mission to Mars. It is also about his relationships with his loyal friends: Gnidek, a Viet Nam veteran, his dog Chichi, his girlfriend Hannah, and all his friends at tent city. His journey is clouded with almost insurmountable personal and technical challenges, and it is his friends who provide invaluable moral support; they are all in it together. But what is the catch? There has to be a catch. The catch is that Joksey is a man of strong will who freely expresses his mind. So when the mission is complete, and Stanley Marczek returns to Earth, he publicly questions the wisdom of all manned missions to Mars, to the embarrassment of NASA. And he does not mince words. He tells it like it is, straight out! This novel features realistic science-fiction. It makes a very poignant argument questioning manned missions to Mars.
