Into the Storm

Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane, and an Epic Battle for Survival

By: Tristram Korten

Narrated by: Dan Woren

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

“An intense, immersive deep dive into a wild, dangerous, and unknown world, written with the pace and appeal of a great thriller. This is nonfiction at its very best.” (Lee Child, New York Times best-selling author of the Jack Reacher novels)

The true story of two doomed ships and a daring search-and-rescue operation that shines a light on the elite Coast Guard swimmers trained for the most dangerous ocean missions

In late September 2015, Hurricane Joaquin swept past the Bahamas and swallowed a pair of cargo vessels in its destructive path: El Faro, a 790-foot American behemoth with a crew of 33, and the Minouche, a 230-foot freighter with a dozen sailors aboard. From the parallel stories of these ships and their final journeys, Tristram Korten weaves a remarkable tale of two veteran sea captains from very different worlds, the harrowing ordeals of their desperate crews, and the Coast Guard’s extraordinary battle against a storm that defied prediction.

When the Coast Guard received word from Captain Renelo Gelera that the Minouche was taking on water on the night of October 1, the servicemen on duty helicoptered through Joaquin to the sinking ship. Rescue swimmer Ben Cournia dropped into the sea - in the middle of a raging tropical cyclone, in the dark - and churned through the monstrous swells, loading survivors into a rescue basket dangling from the helicopter as its pilot struggled against the tempest. With pulsating narrative skill in the tradition of Sebastian Junger and Jon Krakauer, Korten recounts the heroic efforts by Cournia and his fellow guardsmen to haul the Minouche's crew to safety.

Tragically, things would not go as well for Captain Michael Davidson and El Faro. Despite exhaustive searching by her would-be rescuers, the loss of the vessel became the largest US maritime disaster in decades. As Korten narrates the ships’ fates, with insights drawn from insider access to crew members, Coast Guard teams, and their families, he delivers a moving and propulsive story of men in peril, the international brotherhood of mariners, and the breathtaking power of nature.

“The story [Tristram] Korten tells is impressively multifaceted, exploring everything from timely issues such as climate change to timeless themes such as man’s struggle against the ocean’s fury.” (Miami New Times)

“Into the Storm is a triumph of reporting and you-are-there writing that becomes a deeper tale - with more implications about our own lives - with every chapter.” (Robert Kurson, New York Times best-selling author of Shadow Divers)

©2018 Tristram Korten (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A terrifying but also inspiring story of disaster and resilience on the high seas. This is as close as I ever need to get to being aboard a ship in a hurricane. Riveting stuff.” (Josh Dean, author of The Taking of K-129)

Enjoyable and Excting

If you like The Perfect Storm you’ll probably like this. Also a good lesson on leadership

shipping

very informative about storms, shipping . kept me wondering who would live. started out differently than I thought. I wanted to keep driving so I could here how it ended

A Little Dry

This is basically a comprehensive record of the incidents involving the two ships, those actions of those aboard, the actions of the Coast Gaurd to rescue them, and any other information directly with this incident. It's investigative information interspersed with comments from interviews; followed by the details of the aftermath, lawsuits, and regulatory changes. It's a great book for what it is, but don't expect the high excitement and adrenaline of novels like "The Perfect Storm" or podcasts such as Wondery's- ''Against The Odds'.
The narrator is articulate and perfunctory. He starts out a little dry and robotic, but eventually picks up the nuances of character changes and emotions. I would like to listen to another book narrated by him, to get a more rounded opinion. Not as likely to look for another book by this author though.

Great story brought down by extreme climate rant

This story about these two ships was fascinating and engaging in and of itself. The author seems to be unhappy with just telling a great story - the last 30 minutes of the listen consist of a hardcore, leftwing rant about how evil Republicans are destroying the environment. I'm not talking about a general message about climate change - which would be fine... I'm talking about a hardcore left-wing, condemn all Republicans (as if they are all the same) and Republicans only, and demonize the right, as almost the reason this hurricane happened and these people died. It immediately brought the book down from 4 stars to 2.5.

The narrator did a great job, and was fun to listen to. The story is not boring, and gives just enough back story to make the narrative interesting but not too much to where it gets bogged down.

The contrast between the two captain's actions was the best part for me. The skipper of the El Fero was extremely lazy if not borderline negligent. This was sad, given that his crew tried to tell him the grave mistake he was making, but he wouldn't listen. This didn't have to happen. Poor technology and complacency lead to this disaster. There is no reason, this day in age, with our technology, that a cargo ship (or any ship) should wind up in the eyewall of a Cat 4 hurricane. Wow. Those folks never had a chance in such a broken down, rusted out, old vessel. My heart goes out to the families of the victims.

My critique goes out to the author for getting WAY to political to conclude the book.

Accounting of a Nautical Disaster

This was an interesting account of one of the worst seafaring disasters in history. It recounts the rare hurricane Joaquin's unusual path that caused the destruction of two ships. One crew survived and one did not. Author Korten recounts the heroic Coast Guard rescue attempts for both and contrasts the different approaches to handling the emergency that the two ship captains took. The conditions of the vessels and various seafaring procedures that didn't fully protect the safety of the crew are also examined. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Narrator Dan Woren does an ok job with narration that is a bit rote. An interesting read.

Great account of maritime tragedy

As a US Navy/USCG retiree I found this account extremely well written and enlightening. At times I felt like I was there. And the avoidable loss of life was very emotional for me.

epic investigation

extraordinarily thorough and interesting. this tragedy at sea has perplexed and saddened me. i needed to know more.

Some interesting info

I love these deep dives into commerce or manufacturing, or production, nature, etc. making big things less opaque.

The minute by minute recounting is good, but not too much. I think he said over 90% of info is first hand sources.

Emotionally Gripping!

This story kept me on edge the whole time. I never wanted to stop listening. It’s very emotional, but very well written. The narrator, Dan Woren, did a fantastic job of drawing you into the story and keeping you interested.

A Great Accounting of a Tragedy

I enjoyed Into the Storm. It was a great accounting of a tragedy we all heard about but never got the conclusion as the media shifted its fickle eye away before any was drawn. It doesn’t have the intensity of A Perfect Storm, probably because Korten used less poetic justice than Junger and reported more closely to the facts and without injecting too much supposition. Nevertheless, his research was thorough and deep, and his writing doesn’t disappoint.