Sea Swept Stories

In this list, compiled by Reader Advisor Paul Mathews, you will find action-packed stories of murder and adventure on the high seas.

Five against the Sea: A True Story of Courage and Survival by Ron Arias.
On January 19, 1988, five fishermen set out in the Cairo III, a 29-foot craft, from a Costa Rican village. Six days later, after a particularly good catch, a sudden storm battered their small ship and drove them off course. This is the story of their fight to survive 142 days adrift, and their families' attempts to get the government to search for the ship. RC 32880.

Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat by Caroline Alexander.
The whimsical chronicle of Mrs. Chippy, a male cat that sailed with Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition to Antarctica. Recounts the perils of sailing on frozen seas, the ordeal of being stranded when the ship was crushed by ice, and the crew's miraculous escape and survival. RC 46193.
 
Night of Error by Desmond Bagley.                
A thriller about a geological treasure hunt in the South Seas. Mike, an English oceanographer, suspects that his brother, Mark, was murdered while prospecting in the South Pacific. From his brother's diary, Mike surmises that the motive may be the rich deposit of manganese nodules Mark found. With some tough pals and a wealthy mining investor, Mike sails off to find the thugs who killed his brother and to search for the treasure. Some strong language. RC 25686.

Our Man in Mongoa by Alex Alben.
A comic spy thriller. Walter Peabody, a prematurely bald Stanford graduate and CIA analyst, is assigned to the South Seas island kingdom of Mongoa to investigate a mysterious mining operation. Fortunately, Walter is a competent and enterprising agent, for the exotic island is alive with more than just lavalava dancers and man-eating sharks. While Mongoa's young monarch blissfully leafs through L.L. Bean catalogs, the world's superpowers and members of the royal family struggle and scheme. RC 27276.
 
Overboard by Hank Searls.
A suspenseful sea adventure of a yachtsman who searches for his wife on the high seas when she is swept overboard. Some strong language. RC 10804, BR 3507.

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea by Sebastian Junger.
Recounts the 1991 loss at sea of the New England fishing boat Andrea Gail in the "perfect storm" that resulted from the explosive convergence of several high energy weather fronts. Depicts a fisherman's harsh life and gives a likely account of the vessel's final hour before sinking. Vividly portrays failed rescue efforts and people drowning. RC 44751.

Raging Rivers by Taylor Brady.   
After murdering the town bully, Katherine Carlyle sets off to find her pioneering brother. The trip soon turns nightmarish when the flatboat is swamped by a storm, the men in  the party are killed by lightning, and the remaining women and children are hounded by both Shawnee and pirates. Strong-willed Katherine, with the assistance of mountain man Byrd Kincaid, is determined to save the group. Kincaids series, book 1. Strong language and violence. RC 36136.

With These Hands by Louis L’Amour.
Eleven action-filled stories set in such places as Hollywood, the South Seas, and Japan. The characters range from boxers, cowboys, and detectives to pilots and sea captains. In the title piece, the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Arctic wilderness of Alaska summons the will to stay alive. RC 55260.

Wyatt's Hurricane by Desmond Bagley.
In this suspense novel, a scientist is flown into the eye of a hurricane to make observations, but the naval base on a Caribbean island discounts his storm warnings, as does the island's dictator, who is more concerned with the threat of an uprising. RC 11142.