Synopses & Reviews
“A powerful and affecting story, beautifully handled by Slade, a journalist who clearly knows ships and the sea.” — Douglas Preston, New York Times Book Review
“A Perfect Storm for a new generation.”
— Ben Mezrich, bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle and swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in the worst American shipping disaster in thirty-five years. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, and cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanish — until now.
Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members and maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves — whose conversations were captured by the ship’s data recorder — journalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard, Slade vividly depicts the officers’ anguish and fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidson’s increasingly bizarre commands, which, they knew, would steer them straight into the eye of the storm. Taking a hard look at America's aging merchant marine fleet, Slade also reveals the truth about modern shipping — a cut-throat industry plagued by razor-thin profits and ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming.
A richly reported account of a singular tragedy, Into the Raging Sea takes us into the heart of an age-old American industry, casting new light on the hardworking men and women who paid the ultimate price in the name of profit.
Review
“Rachel Slade mashes up The Perfect Storm with a suspenseful, page-turning thriller, cutting through the corporate double-speak to shine a light on how it was that thirty-three men and women sailed into Hurricane Joaquin. Superbly written, this deserves a place on the bookshelf of modern maritime classics.” Robert Frump, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Until the Sea Shall Free Them: Life, Death, and Survival in the Merchant Marine
Review
“A Perfect Storm for a new generation, Into the Raging Sea is a masterful page-turning account of the El Faro’s sinking, one that leaves you profoundly moved by the crew’s dedication and grit, and infuriated at the disturbing conditions that led to this tragedy.” Ben Mezrich, bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
Review
“A pulse-pounding, Perfect Storm-style tale ... riveting ... a nerve-wracking, tension-filled narrative ... Slade re-creates the steady pile-up of mistakes that eventually caused El Faro to founder [in a] taut-chilling, and emotionally charged retelling of a ship’s final days.” Kirkus (Starred Review)
Review
“Harrowing, moving...a taut adventure tale...The depth of research and reporting, and Slade’s skill at pacing and selecting the telling details produce a richly detailed narrative, tense and sad and true.” Boston Globe
About the Author
Rachel Slade is a Boston-based journalist, writer, and editor. She was a staff writer at Boston magazine for ten years, and her writing earned her a City and Regional Magazine Award in civic journalism. She splits her time between Brookline, Massachusetts, and Rockport, Maine.