Run the Storm

By: George Michelsen Foy

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

In the best-selling tradition of A Perfect Storm and The Finest Hours, a harrowing account of the incredible true story of the recent shocking disappearance of El Faro, a gigantic American cargo ship that sank suddenly in the Bermuda Triangle in 2015 - taking with it 33 lives.

On October 1, 2015, the SS El Faro, a cargo ship tall as a hundred-story building that made a regular run between Jacksonville, Florida, and Puerto Rico, delivering everything from razor blades to new Chevrolet cars, disappeared in Hurricane Joaquin, a category 4 storm. The ship, her hundreds of shipping containers, and her entire crew sank to the bottom of the ocean, three miles down. The sinking was the greatest seagoing US merchant marine shipping disaster since World War II and evoked the haunting resonances of Gordon Lightfoot’s famous song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.

The massive ship had a seasoned crew, state-of-the-art navigation equipment, advance warning of the storm, and knowledge of its supposed track. It seemed incomprehensible that such a ship could sink so suddenly, unable to send even a Mayday call before disappearing. How, in this day and age, could something like this happen?

The answer is that a ship as large as the El Faro doesn’t sink for just one reason; it sinks because many factors intersect - everything from hurricane-tracking algorithms to the decay of rubber gaskets on hatches to the arcane science of loading shipping containers to the complex relationship between a ship’s captain and his corporate overlords, who are anxious that cargo be delivered on time. All of these factors and more came into play in the sinking of the El Faro.

Relying on Coast Guard inquest hearings as well as numerous interviews, Foy has crafted a brilliant account that brings to life the last voyage of El Faro, from her loading to her shocking demise, a story lasting only a few days but that relentlessly becomes more suspenseful as the deep-rooted flaws leading to the ship’s sinking inexorably link together and worsen. As we anxiously watch the captain and his crew, the hurricane tightens like a noose around the ship, and we see, minute to minute, all that is happening - the dangerous tilting to the port side, the frantic calls to the engine room, the ship-to-shore cries, the loss of propulsion, the courage of the men and women as they fight for survival, and the berserk ocean’s savage consumption of the massive hull. And through it all, the pain and ultimate resilience of the families of El Faro’s crew...

Meticulous and absolutely thrilling, Run the Storm is a masterwork of stunning power.

©2018 George Michelsen Foy (P)2018 Simon & Schuster Audio

very exciting

This story is amazing, spell binding and full of drama! You wish the best for all aboard as they struggle to keep afloat. Wonderful!!!

must read

it was chilling to learn what these brave men and women went through in that storm. I know about some of the dangers that come with being a mariner but I had no idea how bad it could get. May they rest in peace for evermore, amen.

Great narrator

Sometimes bad reader ruins a good book but this guy does great. The author does a great job of bringing the events to life.

Excellent

Highly recommended! was not entirely happy with the reader though.A little over the top sometimes 😒

Narrator gold!

L.J. Gander knows this one out of the park! Unfortunate story told in a most engaging way!

Important case study of merchant marine disaster

Narration: clear. Voice shifts among different crew members helps to understand underlying attitudes and reasons for actions taken.

Story: truly tragic, avoidable loss.

A More Accurate Tale of the Sinking of the SS El Faro compared to ‘Into The Raging Sea’ by Slade

If you’re a sailor be it US Navy, Merchant Marine or even Blackbeard ‘Run The Storm’ by Foy was written for sailors and those that respect their craft.

‘Into the Raging Sea’ by Slade which certainly has it’s ups and could have been a truly great book but the author does what any Non-Fiction Author should ever do; Involve Politics. Not The Political Hierarchy at Tote but Politics post 2017 when President Trump was sworn in and apparently Rachel Slade Caught TDS. 2/3 of her book seems to trash a President and Conservatism in general. Odd especially when considering President Obama was ‘El Faro’ sank in 2015; A time when Trump Wasn’t even considered a candidate.

That and the supposed sexual harassment of Capt. Davidson toward Danielle Randolph. Which exists only in the mind of Slade. No proof, no nothing. Just further fodder to cast off on a Captain and his remaining family.

‘Run the Storm’ is a masterpiece.

‘The Raging Sea likely could have been if the author left her political feelings out of it.



R.I.P. SS EL FARO

very interesting but sad

well read and interesting enough but pretty heart wrenching towards the end I would recommend it

Fascinating

Two days after finishing it, I started to listen again. Wanting to know more and go even deeper. How could a modern, well equipped merchant ship vanish? How could this catastrophe have happened? All this small mistakes piling up.
Fascinating story, bringing the crew alive, well performed. I started to research this story on the internet, and may listen to and read this book again.

BEST ACCOUNT OF MODERN DAY SHIP DISASTER EVER READ

FLAWLESS IN EVERY REGARD.
FACTUALLY LADEN; AS SUSPENSEFUL AS A THRILLER.
MAJOR KUDOS TO THE AUTHOR AND ALL CONCERNED.