Overview

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.

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9781482958621

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Reviews

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. -- Kirkus Reviews Readers of true-life adventures, especially those involving disaster and rescue at sea, should find this one very much to their liking. -- Booklist [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. -- Publishers Weekly 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. -- Providence Journal A heart-pounding account. -- Boston Globe This book captures the wit, grit, and sacrifice of Coasties and their boats. -- Minneapolis Star Tribune Tougias spins a marvelous and terrifying yarn...This is a breathtaking book. -- Los Angeles Times

Tougias spins a marvelous and terrifying yarn...This is a breathtaking book. -- Los Angeles Times This book captures the wit, grit, and sacrifice of Coasties and their boats. -- Minneapolis Star Tribune A heart-pounding account. -- Boston Globe 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. -- Providence Journal [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. -- Publishers Weekly Readers of true-life adventures, especially those involving disaster and rescue at sea, should find this one very much to their liking. -- Booklist 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. -- Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Michael J. Tougias is the author and coauthor of twenty-three books, including Rescue of the Bounty, A Storm too Soon, Fatal Forecast, and Ten Hours Until Dawn. Tougias has written for the New York Times and several other prestigious magazines and newspapers. He is a sought-after lecturer who gives more than seventy presentations each year. He lives in Massachusetts. Charlie Thurston is an actor and Earphones Award-winning narrator. He holds an MFA in acting from Brown University / Trinity Rep and has appeared on stages across the country with Trinity Repertory Company, Chautauqua Theater Company, Creede Rep, and at Riverside Theatre and Redmoon Theater, among others. His favorite roles include Edgar in The Completely Fictional-Utterly True-Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen in The Long Christmas Ride Home, Tuzenbach in The Three Sisters, and Tony in You Can't Take It with You.

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