First published 2009
Bernie Webber stands on the Massachusetts shore as a brutal winter storm tears through New England in 1952. Seventy-foot waves and howling winds have split two oil tankers in half off Cape Cod. The Coast Guard assigns Webber and three young crewmen an almost impossible task: navigate their small lifeboat through the deadly storm to rescue the stranded sailors. The four men push into the tempest knowing they may never return. They lose their navigation equipment and drift blind through the darkness and massive swells. Against all odds, they find the broken SS Pendleton with more than thirty desperate men clinging to its rails. Now Webber faces an even greater challenge. His tiny boat was never designed to carry so many people through such violent seas. The crew must find a way to save every life while battling the storm that threatens to claim them all.
Genres: historical-fiction, military-fiction, adventure, thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: against-all-odds, found-family
Setting: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, New England
Period: 1952
236 pages · Kindle Edition · Scribner