A heart-stopping true-life tale of maritime disaster, survival, and daring rescue from a master storyteller
Seventy-foot waves batter a torn life raft 250 miles out to sea in one of the world's most dangerous places, the Gulf Stream. Hanging on to the raft are three men, a Canadian, a Brit, and their captain, Jean Pierre de Lutz, a dual citizen of America and France. Their capsized forty-seven-foot sailboat has filled with water and disappeared below the tempestuous sea. The giant waves repeatedly toss the men out of their tiny vessel, and JP, with nine broken ribs, is hypothermic and on the verge of death. The captain, however, is a remarkably tough character, having survived a brutal boyhood, and now he must rely on the same inner strength to outlast the storm.
Trying to reach these survivors before it's too late are four brave coast guardsmen battling hurricane-force winds in their Jayhawk helicopter. They know the waves will be extreme, but when they arrive they are astounded to find that the monstrous seas have waves reaching eighty feet. Lowering the wind-whipped helicopter to drop a rescue swimmer into such chaos will be extremely dangerous. The pilots wonder if they have a realistic chance of saving the sailors clinging to the broken life raft and if they will be able to even retrieve their own rescue swimmer from the towering seas. Once they commit to the rescue, they find themselves in almost as much trouble as the survivors, facing one life-and-death moment after the next.
Also caught in the storm are three other boats, each one in a Mayday situation. Of the ten people on these boats, only six will ever see land again.
Spellbinding, harrowing, and meticulously researched, A Storm Too Soon is a vivid account of the powerful collision between the forces of nature and the human will to survive. Author Michael J. Tougias, known for his fast-paced writing style and character-driven stories, tells this true saga in the present tense to give the reader a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat immediacy. A Storm Too Soon is Tougias at his masterful best and a heart-pounding narrative of survival, the power of the human spirit, and one of the most incredible rescues ever attempted.
"Tougias spins a marvelous and terrifying yarn…This is a
breathtaking book."
"This book captures the wit, grit, and sacrifice of Coasties
and their boats."
"A heart-pounding account."
"Michael Tougias has done it again, this time delivering an
edge-of-your-seat chronicle of what happens when a sailboat goes up against a
fierce storm in the heart of the Gulf Stream."
"[A] miraculous rescue story…Recreating this dangerous
mission, Tougias deftly switches from heart-pounding details of the rescue to the
personal stories of the boat's crew and those of the rescue team. The result is
a well-researched and suspenseful read; some knowledge of sailing is helpful,
but Tougias makes the material accessible for landlubbers."
"Readers of true-life adventures, especially those
involving disaster and rescue at sea, should find this one very much to
their liking."
"Gripping…By depicting the event from the perspective of
both the rescued and the rescuers and focusing only on key moments and details,
Tougias creates a suspenseful, tautly rendered story that leaves readers
breathless but well-satisfied. Heart-pounding action for the avid armchair
adventurer."
