Thrilling...even if you have never been to sea, Junger's account will put the frighteners on you. -- New York Times Book Review
Guaranteed to blow readers away...A+. -- Entertainment Weekly
A superb book. -- Washington Post
[A] white-knuckle chronicle...[A] true adventure story. -- Newsweek
Every boater is drawn to storm-at-sea stories, and this one beats them all. -- Philadelphia Inquirer
Rich, compassionate characterization, as well as taut, suspenseful prose. A tale that doesn't skimp on facts, yet keeps you turning pages from beginning to end. -- Seattle Times
Riveting...The natural upheaval holds center stage and acts as a character, but the story converges upon human beings-in this case, the six-man crew of the doomed Gloucester swordfishing boat Andrea Gail. -- Boston Globe
Harrowing, relentless...and thoroughly enjoyable. -- Kansas City Star
The pages of this book crunch with salt. -- Boating
A terrifying, edifying read...Readers...are first seduced into caring for the book's doomed characters, then compelled to watch them carried into the jaws of a meteorological hell. Junger's compassionate, intelligent voice instructs us effortlessly on the sea life of the sword-fisherman, the physics of a sinking steel ship, and the details of death by drowning. -- Dava Sobel
One reads with the most intense concern, anxiety and concentration; and if one knows anything at all about the sea one feels the absolutely enormous strength of the hurricane winds and the incredibly towering mass of the hundred-foot waves. -- Patrick O'Brian