Customer Reviews

Nights of Ice: True Stories of Disaster and Survival on Alaska's High Seas

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having lived my entire life in and around Seattle, In March 2001, I ventured North to Alaska to visit my daughter and her family. While there I picked up "Nights of Ice".

Spike Walker's subject matter is, first of all, relevant to anyone who has lived near the sea. The Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, as one non-fisherman said, "I can't drink it all and I'm damned sure I can't swim that far."

Life at sea in a boat, rolling and plowing through the next wave, gets into some folks blood. I'm sure it's that way with fishermen and women but the money don't hurt either. In any case its a perilous life.

Nights of Ice takes us along for a ride with people, real people, who have experienced the worst the sea has to offer. Walker's intimate knowledge of workin' the boats has us searching for lights in a "can't see your hand in front of your face" stateroom, attempting, frantically, to pull on the survival suit. We are terrified of the boat goin' down with us still on board. We gasp for air and our heart seems to stop when we hit the 37 degree water. We, along with actual survivors, use every ounce of strength and resource our bodies are able to muster in order to survive.

Nights of Ice and its individual, sometimes heroic, stories are an adventure in itself.

Great book! Not quite up to the first book, "Working on the Edge", but great. The author spares the reader all the scientific, high-tech bs of the "Perfect Storm", and gets down and dirty.

I enjoyed this book alot. All the stories deal with survival at sea in the waters off Alaska. The stories are kind of repetitive but if you like the first one you'll like the rest. The thought of finding one's self in the frigid Alaskan waters will make you pull an extra blanket on while you read. My only real complaint is that I would have liked more details on the fishermen involved (background, etc) so it wouldn't just have been names floating out there in the ocean. Overall, highly recommended adventure reading.

As a huge fan of "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel I'm very interested in learning the true stories of these fishermen. Watching the show reminds me how easy my life is and kinda boring too! Spike Walker's "Nights of Ice" is a non-fiction compilation of stories about rescues of fishing ships in the waters around Alaska.

He does a good job painting a picture of the dangers involved for both the stranded fishermen as well as the rescue workers. Reading this book gave me a better insight into the world these men live in - and the daily dangers they face. It reads rather quickly - and is a very easy to read book.

My one complaint about "Nights of Ice" is that the author tends to lean toward melodrama when describing much of the action. It just seems exaggerated to slightly beyond belief. My other caution would be, the stories start to sound alike. Boat in trouble, men in trouble, rescue made.

I would have liked more of the day to day living experienced onboard, as well as the actual near-death (or in some cases death) faced by the fishermen.

Spike Walker has hit the nail on the head with his focus on the misery and pain of being a deckhand. Behind the glory of fast money and a romanticized way of life is the harsh reality of seasickness, sleep deprivation and cruel hazing by crewmates. As a former commercial fisherman I felt all of these feelings again when reading this book, but I could not put it down until it was finished. The danger is real and Spike does a masterful job of drawing the reader in. An authentic piece of work.

I have heard that King Crab fishing was dangerous. Spike Walker lets you know exactly what it is really like. I have a whole new respect for those who bring in our King Crab! This book brought many a tear.

The fifth story titled "Lost and Adrift" is about the fishing vessel "Cloverleaf." Myself being, a former Coast Guardsman, stationed at air station Kodiak was launched out on this particular rescue. The book mentions petty officer Brian Blue as the air crewman who spotted Rick Laws in the water from the C-130. There was no petty officer Brian Blue aboard the C-130 on this mission and to the best of my knowledge from researching, there has been no Coast Gurdsman named Brian Blue in Coast Guard aviation. I was the one at the scanners window of the C-130 and was the one who spotted Rick Laws in the water on the second day of the rescue mission. I remember it well and can remember at least 3 names of the 7 cremembers on board the C-130. While preparing to drop the MA-1 kit (liferafts and survival gear) to Rick Laws from the ramp of the C-130 I also noticed Wink Cissel floating in the water. In the beginning of the book acknowledgements are credited to! the non-existent Brian Blue. The cover calls it to be true stories of survival disasters in Alaska, meaning that all the people used in the book should be factual names. I am Bruce Erb, the "Brian Blue" in the book. The third fisherman, Kim, who did not make it, was a friend and former Coast Guardsman assigned to the air station Kodiak.

Having worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska myself, going from a green deckhand who didn't know what was dangerous to a highliner who could see things coming, I felt myself wanting to talk to the characters in the book - "No, don't do that!" In some cases, they made all the right decisions, and still lost, or through sheer divine providence, survived, against all odds. Well written, a straight take on what many times is an overly romantized profession.

I found Spike Walker's accounts of breath-taking rescues in the frigid coastal waters of Alaska to be easy and interesting reading. The heroic actions of coastguard aviators and fishermen to come to the aid of their tragedy-stricken fellows is compelling. I would recommend this book to all who enjoy adventure on the high seas.

I read this because my Sister-in-laws brother is in one of the stories. Truthfully, it made me never want to go out onto the open water again. The real life struggles and the human spirits will to live is the most amazing and touching I have ever read. Made me appreciate everything in my life more than ever.