rebelbelle13 's review for:

The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias

3.0

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Before reading this story with my son, I had never heard of this sea rescue before. I am overwhelmed at the courage and resilience these brave men showed in the face of such adversity; all in the name of saving 30 plus men from a broken tanker in the middle of a hurricane. The story itself was intriguing, but the authors found it necessary to punctuate the interesting action moments with backstory and exposition, which ground the story to a halt and made it difficult to follow. If the four men's history before the great rescue was so important, perhaps that information should have been placed in the beginning of the book, or at an extended appendix in the back. I did enjoy the pictures in the middle of the novel- it made it all that much more real to me, and I had faces to go with the names. I'm also glad that the authors took the time to talk about the afterward- how they lived their lives following the rescue, what happened to the boat, and what accolades they received. The story itself is important and absolutely needs to be told and not forgotten, but I just wish it was done so in a better, smoother manner.