After reading this book I was so shaken I felt like I’d just seen a horror movie. Kiley’s memoir of her terrifying ordeal after a shipwreck in the Atlantic isn’t overrun with gory details, although there are plenty. What’s so troubling is her masterful depiction of the psychological trauma people undergo when they’re lost at sea and are dying. A respected twenty-something sailor, Kiley signs on to crew the Trashman, a yacht headed to Florida—despite the worrisome evidence that the ship’s captain, John, is an unprepared drunk. John’s landlubber girlfriend, Meg, is along for the ride. In Baltimore, they pick up two more crewmembers: Kiley’s friend Brad, and a hard-drinking, misogynist Brit named Mark. When a huge gale overtakes the ship at sea, Kiley realizes that she and Brad are the only sailors on board who are sober and savvy enough to sail the thing. As the ship founders, Meg is injured and John issues a mayday to the Coast Guard. A few hours later, the ship sinks and the five bickering crew members are left clinging to an inflatable zodiac boat with no water, food, or supplies. For the next several days, with sharks patrolling the tiny vessel, Kiley struggles to maintain her sanity as the injured and starving crew descends into hell. In the end, only two of them survive. Kiley describes her ordeal in a talk for the Moth, which can be downloaded free from iTunes. Review by Kali.
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