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When John and Julie Schwartz fly from Seattle to Florida to buy a forty-foot sailboat, their lives are changed forever. The couple sets sail with their eleven-year-old daughter from Florida, headed for Hawaii, and eventually back to Seattle. But along the way, a series of mistakes and mechanical failures force them to abandon the vessel for a life raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with little hope for rescue and a typhoon headed right for them. In a race against time, luck and skill converge. A rescue mission is underway with the U.S. Navy taking full command and the president himself making difficult decisions in the face of a family's certain death.
In a dazzling sequence of events, the rescue mission is triggered by a random sighting from a plane of the distress signal from the boat and moves through an array of actions from an intriguing cast of characters. Estes introduces civilians caught up in the search, commanders with resources to spare, and a president facing the public's demands and hopes for a rescue, not a recovery. With propulsive plotting and a methodical breakdown of the search and rescue, the fate of the family adrift at sea is a focal point of both hope and dread. Estes builds tension as the father slips in and out of consciousness, the mother longs for a quick death, and the daughter sees pirates coming to the rescue. Meanwhile, the world watches and waits with a collectively held breath along with readers turning pages waiting to exhale with relief or gasp in shock.
The story feels like it could be ripped from the headlines as hopes are pinned on everyday heroes and high-tech resources to work a miracle and ignite belief in second chances. Estes' characters are pushed to the edge in a vast and unpredictable watery wilderness where death beckons. But sometimes, maybe death can be held at bay, outwitted and outmaneuvered by powerful satellites, coordinated efforts, and precise, decisive action by heroic people. Estes shines a light on the efforts and actions behind the scenes of a rescue mission, showcasing the resources, both human and technological, that show up in our worst-case scenarios. The riveting adventure in this story is no longer the family voyage at sea but rather the collaboration and communication of trained experts working together to stave off disaster. Estes seamlessly weaves together the threads of help coming from many different people and places drawn into the fate of John, Julie, and young Nadia. Some of that help comes from very unexpected places, creating a compelling twist that relies on the best intentions of politicians at the highest level.
Readers will find themselves not only rooting for the survival of one family but also for the rescuers and politicians who must make decisions with uncertain consequences for the future. Estes has crafted a gripping adventure story at sea that turns into a compelling search and rescue mission with one family at the center of it all, standing in for all our hopes to never give up in the face of extraordinary odds.