Dava Sobel
A terrifying, edifying read. . . . Readers . . . are first seduced into caring for the book’s doomed characters, then compelled to watch them carried into the jaws of a meteorological hell. Junger’s compassionate, intelligent voice instructs us effortlessly on the sea life of the sword-fisherman, the physics of a sinking steel ship, and the details of death by drowning.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Takes readers into the heart of the maelstrom and shows nature’s splendid and dangerous havoc at its utmost.
Kansas City Star
Harrowing, relentless . . . and thoroughly enjoyable.
Entertainment Weekly
Ferociously dramatic and vividly written.
Boating
The pages of this book crunch with salt.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
A fascinating book, not just about a storm, but about the hard-drinking, fatalistic lives of commercial fishermen and the families and friends they leave behind with each dangerous voyage.
Patrick O'Brian
One reads with the most intense concern, anxiety and concentration; and if one knows anything at all about the sea one feels the absolutely enormous strength of the hurricane winds and the incredibly towering mass of the hundred-foot waves.
Boston Globe
Riveting…The natural upheaval holds center stage and acts as a character, but the story converges upon human beings—in this case, the six-man crew of the doomed Gloucester swordfishing boat Andrea Gail.”
Seattle Times
Rich, compassionate characterization, as well as taut, suspenseful prose. A tale that doesn't skimp on facts, yet keeps you turning pages from beginning to end.
Los Angeles Times
There is nothing imaginary about Junger's book; it is all terrifyingly, awesomely real.
”
Library Journal
For readers desiring more depictions of powerful weather bringing down crews and for those who enjoy being immersed in a true adventure, check out Junger’s account of the 1991 storm that sunk the fishing boat the Andrea Gail, taking down its entire crew of six, and the rescue attempts by the Coast Guard and the Air National Guard to save others trapped in the same storm. Junger shares with Zuckoff a focus on the hour-by-hour nature of disasters, the same fine eye for telling detail and explanation, and the same respect for men who risk their lives to save others. This account of the fury of the sea and the human response to its terror is a gripping and grim one, richly textured by attention to the back stories of the characters—from members of fishing communities to rescue swimmers—and the worlds in which they operate.
(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
