In Hazard

This is a 'ripping yarn' type of book that tells the story of the crew of the tanker ship 'Archimedes' and their struggle to save themselves and their ship in the midst of a freakish hurricane. The writing and storytelling are quite good and it's an easy, enjoyable read. However, I would strongly suggest that you avoid reading the introduction - at least until you've finished reading the book - as the person who wrote it decided to reveal one of the more significant plot twists. I've come across this sort of woeful inconsideration of the reader more than once in an introductin and I do not get it. So let the reader beware!

I really enjoy novels about the sea, so was happy to learn about this little known classic. In clean, straightforward prose Hemingway might have admired, readers are introduced to the Archimedes, a steam ship beginning a cruise from North America to China. Weather intervenes and the ship and its crew are caught up in a deadly storm that severely tests their hearts and their will for four days. Much of the novel is an excellent narration of ship and crew in dire circumstances, but as the novel progresses different storms are adumbrated: storms of historical circumstance, storms of memory and experience, that add psychological and political depth to the work. Readers who have enjoyed Melville and Conrad should find much to like here.

In what must be some of the most horrific accounts of strom conditions at sea, In Hazard blasts you in the face with vivid tales of monster waves, blistering winds and the freighter snared in their grasp. As the days of relentless horror pass on board the freighter, the author delves deep into the lives of the men trying to survive the hurricane. Unfortunately, he abandons his gripping description of the storm for a meandering inventory of the survivors' thoughts.

In Hazard is about the capacity of mankind to cope with overwhelming challenges and believe in its future against dreadful odds. It is a thrilling, sobering, and masterfully written book--but it is worth its price just for the account of the storm, whose winds will never quite die out in the mind of the reader.

This is a "cracking good" sea story about a ship caught up in a hurricane and unable to escape. These people are having a bad time! The writing transcends the subject matter. Read it if you can find it