Books: "In Deep Water" By Michael J. Tougias

 

In Deep Water: A True Story of Sharks, Survival, and Courage

By Michael J. Tougias

St. Martin's Press; hardcover, 304 pages; $29.00

Michael J. Tougias is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of over thirty books for adults and middle readers. In Deep Water is his ninth book of survival and rescue at sea, and Academy Award-winning producer Lili Zanuck and Tougias are producing its screenplay. Other books by Tougias include Fatal Forecast, The Finest Hours (now a Disney movie), Overboard!, A Storm Too Soon, So Close to Home, The Waters Between Us, Extreme Survival, and Ten Hours Until Dawn. Tougias produces slide presentations for each of his books, and an inspiration program called "Survival Lessons: Decision Making Under Pressure."

In the riveting new adventure book In Deep Water, Tougias delivers an hour-by-hour account of what three men from Louisiana, who were fishing for red snapper on October 8, 2022, endured when their boat sank, as well as the Coast Guard's all-out effort to find them, despite their one-percent chance of being found.

The fishermen's boat was tied to an oil rig, and it began taking on water before it sank 12 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. Their vessel capitulated to the building seas so quickly that they were unable to send out a radio Mayday call, and their cell phones don't have reception. They only have time to don their life jackets and hold onto a cooler as they are brought further out to sea. 

There was a series of decisions that determined their fate, starting with the fact they vowed to stay together no matter what. They suffered from hypothermia and severe stings from giant jelly fish before the night closed in on them.

By this point, each man was lost in his own thoughts, of mistakes made that led to their predicament, thoughts of family, and those of what might lurk in the ocean beneath them. 

When dawn comes, one of the three men breaks their vow to remain together, leading to life or death consequences. The other two men endure something unusual and terrifying, as they were attacked by a 10-foot tiger shark.

This book is a thriller, to put it mildly, and it is meant to be read in anticipation of what comes next. In a way, it is a form of escapism, as you can lose yourself in the text, captured in the cinematic way it is written.

Tougias writes of what they faced in this excerpt: Even the most experienced boaters and sailors can become complacent and make an unforced error, or forget to pack that one piece of equipment that would get them out of a jam. The storm shutters are not on board the one time you need them, or the GPS craps out as you're racing ahead of a lightning storm to an unfamiliar port. Maybe the fuel runs out and the vessel is dead in the water as waves build.

Where the accident happens also determines survivability. Besides the obvious hazard of drowning, hypothermia is the next killer. The warmer the water the better, but with water sucking out your body heat twenty-five times faster than the same air temperatures, there are few places in the world where water-induced hypothermia won't eventually incapacitate you. What is in the ocean also plays a role. Go overboard in an area known for sharks and once or two may eventually find you.

So many factors are out of your control at sea. But should you find yourself adrift after the ocean has swallowed your vessel, there is one thing you can control: your reaction. How you respond to what is being thrown at you, particularly when you're frightened and exhausted, could mean the difference between life and death.

Paul, Sonny, and Lu, three men from Louisiana, will need just the right response to their boating disaster in order for any of them to make it out of the Gulf of Mexico/America alive. Will they work together, or will the increasing stress and differing opinions drive them to be at odds during the most desperate time of their lives? Will they fight to the bitter end, or resign themselves to their apparent fate and thus speed up their demise?

Whatever the reaction, the sea - and what lurks in it - conspires against the men from the moment their ordeal begins.