A Storm Too Soon

by Michael J. Tougias

Published 15 January 2013
FROM MASTERFUL STORYTELLER MICHAEL J. TOUGIAS COMES A NEW, HEART-STOPPING TRUE-LIFE TALE OF MARITIME DISASTER, SURVIVAL, AND DARING RESCUE, HIS MOST THRILLING AND AMAZING STORY YET.

Seventy-foot waves batter a torn life raft 250 miles out to sea in one of the world's most dangerous places, the Gulf Stream. Hanging on to the raft are three men, a Canadian, a Brit, and their captain, JP de Lutz, a dual citizen of America and France. Their capsized forty-seven-foot sailboat has filled with water and disappeared below the tempestuous sea. The giant waves repeatedly toss the men out of their tiny vessel, and JP, with nine broken ribs, is hypothermic and on the verge of death. The captain, however, is a remarkably tough character, having survived a brutal boyhood, and now he must rely on the same inner strength to outlast the storm.

Trying to reach these survivors before it's too late are four brave Coast Guardsmen battling hurricane- force winds in their Jayhawk helicopter. They know the waves will be extreme, but when they arrive they are astounded to find that the monstrous seas have waves reaching eighty feet. Lowering the wind-whipped helicopter to drop a rescue swimmer into such chaos will be extremely dangerous. The pilots wonder if they have a realistic chance of saving the sailors clinging to the broken life raft, and if they will be able to even retrieve their own rescue swimmer from the towering seas. Once they commit to the rescue, they find themselves in almost as much trouble as the survivors, facing one life-and-death moment after the next.

Also caught in the storm are three other boats, each one in a Mayday situation. Of the ten people on these boats, only six will ever see land again.

Spellbinding, harrowing, and meticulously researched, A Storm Too Soon is a vivid account about the powerful collision between the forces of nature and the human will to survive. Author Michael J. Tougias, known for his fast-paced writing style and character-driven stories, tells this true saga in the present tense to give the reader a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat immediacy. A Storm Too Soon is Tougias at his masterful best and a heart-pounding narrative of survival, the power of the human spirit, and one of the most incredible rescues ever attempted.

Into the Blizzard

by Michael J. Tougias

Published 10 December 2019

This illustrated chapter book adaptation tells the story of a harrowing Coast Guard rescue when four young men in a tiny life boat overcame insurmountable odds and saved more than thirty stranded sailors. It's a fast-paced, uplifting story that puts young readers in the middle of the action. A riveting survival story for fans of the bestselling I Survived chapter book series.

New England 1952. Far out to sea, in the teeth of a brutal Atlantic storm two oil tankers, not built to withstand such ferocious waters, broke in two. On board what remained of the ruined ships, the surviving crews were left at mercy of the ocean. The Finest Hours is the spellbinding true story of the bravest rescue in the Coast Guard's history. Faced with impossible conditions and overwhelming odds, lifeboatmen set out to try to bring the stricken sailors home. That anyone at all returned was little short of a miracle ...


When a forty-seven-foot sailboat disappears in the Gulf Stream in the throes of a calamitous storm, it leaves behind three weary passengers struggling to stay alive afloat a life raft in violent waves eighty feet tall.

This illustrated chapter book adaptation also tells the story of the four intrepid Coast Guardsmen who braved the savage storm in the hopes of saving the stranded sailors. It's another spellbinding tale of courage and survival from the author of the New York Times bestseller The Finest Hours. A fast-paced rescue story for fans of the bestselling I Survived chapter book series.

Christy Ottaviano Books

Attacked at Sea

by Michael J. Tougias and Alison O'Leary

Published 27 October 2020
On May 19, 1942, during WWII, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey fifty miles from New Orleans. The submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia. Most onboard were merchant seamen, but there were also civilians, including the Downs family: Ray and Ina and their two children. Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no idea that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, chaos ensued-and each family member had to find their own path to survival.

This inspiring historical narrative tells the story of the Downs family as they struggle against sharks, hypothermia, drowning, and dehydration in their effort to survive the aftermath of this deadly attack off the American coast. For fans of Refugee and Unbroken.

Christy Ottaviano Books