Customer Reviews

No Ordinary Heroes: 8 Doctors, 30 Nurses, 7,000 Prisoners and a Category 5 Hurricane

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This is a first hand Katrina story that you didn't see on television or read about in National Geographic. The dedicated personnel of the parish prison hang together through the uncertainty of a dismal situation.

The classic struggles are here with good vs. evil and weak vs. strong. The medical staff continues to carry on with their work while cut off from the outside world. The outnumbered deputies refuse to give up as the days go on.

While this book should be required reading for law enforcement and disaster planning teams, it is very good reading for the mainstream public. This is action and suspense-for real!

This face-paced book was so engaging and interesting that I read it in one sitting - I honestly couldn't put it down. While it's impossible to truly imagine what it would have been like to be trapped in a jail with thousands of hungry, violent inmates, dealing without power, swimming through foul water to carry out duties that many workers abandoned, Inglese's dialogue and characters make you feel like you were there. Like Into Thin Air or The Perfect Storm, the book not only tells a gripping adventure story, but one that was even more engrossing and readable.


There are a lot of stories about prison life, from the perspective of inmate or guard, but the story of the people who are charged with caring for the people whom society would like to ignore is rarely told. This book tells the story of those people, the nurses and doctors who cared for the discarded in the face of one of the country's worst natural disasters. The resulting tale of heroism, comraderie, danger, and humanity makes for a great read.

Reading this first hand account of Katrina was like watching the movie Titanic... - you know the iceberg; you know the event ending - but what you get is the real story of what happened during those fateful days in the confines of an island within the sea of Kartina aftermath.

I found myself clenching my jaw as I turned the pages to see what happens next; wanting desperately to make sure the dedicated people in this heroic chronicle survived.

I found myself carried along with each of them as they took matters into their own hands and made life changing decisions at each turn. I kept flipping to the pictures of the people as I read - trying to imagine them in the scenarios described.

If a Category 5 hit Philadelphia, I would want this gang in my corner

Every page of this book is sheer exhilaration. Just when you think nothing else could possibly go wrong, things get unbelievably worse for Dr. Inglese and his staff. They are forced into dangerous situations most people only experience from the comfort of their seats in a movie theatre. This book tells the story of how savage and primitive things were after the storm when most every person in the city fought to stay alive. It is a story often overlooked as it deals with prisoners forgotten by society, but is a story that needs to be heard.

Not only did I experience the effects of Katrina by working tirelessly with my family to restore their homes and lives, but I had the privilege of meeting Dem while he was writing this novel. It's hard to believe while I was driving in and out of Slidell just days after the storm, Dem and others were still under rising waters only 20 miles away across a bridge we could not travel because of destruction. You read the story as if you were there observing the happenings as they unfolded and often you connect with the characters. For the reader that loves true adventure stories, this is definitely one to read. I was anxious to get my copy and couldn't stop reading it.

This book is so well written - I could not put it down! The bravery and dedication Dr. Inglese and all the other hard-working people showed in this nightmare - for five days! - is nothing short of awesome. Great job, doc!

This is a powerful book. I would suggest everyone in New Orleans and the surrounding areas read this book. These doctors, nurses, and deputies worked themselves silly. Theses people are one of a kind with hearts as hugh as the state of Louisiana. They thought of others before themselves. They are really what it takes to survive a hurricane or anyother disaster. They thought nothing of jumping into waters filled with sewage and snakes to try and help others. They put themselves in danger every time they tried to help a prisoner, but they did it without any thought for themselves. They were there to help others first and themselves last. Thank you! Thank you! For your heroic actions. When others left these people stayed. This is a book that needs to be read. It is great. I have told everyone about it. It gives you information as to how bad things really were after the storm and how great these people were. You can see images on the tv but this book gives you a feel like no other.

This well written book is a must read. As the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches and the nation remembers the tragedy caused by nature and our government, it is wonderful to read about the heroes that rose to help those in need. The book is a thrilling adventure filled with horror, fear, laughs, and raw emotions. You won't want to put this book down until you're done. I sure hope this story is made into a movie!

Many people will never truly know the horrors and fright endured by those who lived and survived Hurricane Katrina until reading this first-hand account. I could not put the book down and only hope I could be half as strong as those you will read about.

this book is fantastic it tells the true story of went went on in the jail.i know from pensoal experence my son was a deputy at the jail.he was their working and was told it could bring his family.without these unsung heroes of doctors,nuresand the deputies their would have been many more deaths at the jail.