Into the Raging Sea

Journalist Rachel Slade reconstructs the loss of the container ship El Faro, which sank when Hurricane Joaquin struck the Bermuda Triangle on October 1, 2015, the worst American shipping disaster in 35 years. The ship had satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system and modern weather forecasting, which made its disappearance hard to explain. Slade follows the last twenty-four hours on board and the fear of officers carrying out Captain Michael Davidson's increasingly bizarre orders as the vessel headed into the storm. She also examines an aging American merchant fleet and an industry squeezed by thin profits and fiercer hurricanes linked to global warming. Her sources include hundreds of interviews and the crew's own words, preserved by the data recorder.

Ben Mezrich endorsed it as a Perfect Storm for a new generation, an account that leaves readers moved by the crew's grit and angry at the conditions behind the tragedy.