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

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

Nights of Ice: True Stories of Disaster and Survival on Alaska's High Seas
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $4.89
You Save: $10.06 (67%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.40 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Spike Walker
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1999-02-15
ISBN: 0312199937
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Product features:

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

Book Review: Another great adventure book from Spike
Summary: 5 Stars

My husband read this book and could hardly put it down. We both became hooked on stories of adventures of fishing Alask's seas from watching Discoveries "Deadliest Catch." This book tells the incrediable stories of the men who do this for a living. It's great to live these stories through these books as it is something that us everyday people only think about doing. I plan on a cold winter night to cuddle up and read this also.

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

Spike Walker has spent more than a decade fishing in the subzero hell of Alaska's coastal waters. This collection--coming on the heels of his classic memoir Working on the Edge--is a testament to the courage of those who brave nature's wrath each fishing season, and to the uncontrolled power of nature herself.. The crewmen in Nights of Ice face a constant onslaught of roaring waves, stories-high swells, and life-stealing ice. Tested by the elements, these seamen battle for their vessels and their lives, on every page evincing a level of courage and a will to live seldom found elsewhere in modern society.
Frantic and entertaining in a guilty sort of way, Nights of Ice is like Endurance on steroids. The book presents eight true stories of disaster and survival involving commercial fisherman off the coast of Alaska (said to be one of America's most dangerous occupations). Included are tales of subzero temperatures, 100 mph winds, 60-foot-high waves, boats encased in ice and capsized, men trapped underwater, and other horrors. Author Spike Walker, who interviewed many of the survivors in compiling this book, is no stranger to such tales of the high seas; he worked as a commercial fisherman off the Alaska coast and wrote about it in Working on the Edge.

Nights of Ice begins promisingly enough but unfortunately gives way to a sensationalism that cheapens the whole affair: "At that moment, Bruce Hinman's past life flashed before his very eyes. Launched instantaneously through time, he watched the events of his life play out before him...they flashed and froze there in his consciousness, in a kind of nostalgic collage of all that had once mattered in his life." As a result, there are a lot of unintentionally funny moments. Despite its problems, though, Nights of Ice is fun to read, and lovers of true-adventure stories or those interested in the dangers of the Alaskan fishing industry should enjoy it. --Andy Boynton

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in The Greatest Sea Stories Ever Told
Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea ImageFatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea
by Michael J. Tougias
Scribner; Published: 2009-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops: $15.00
Seasoned by Salt: A Voyage in Search of the Caribbean ImageSeasoned by Salt: A Voyage in Search of the Caribbean
by Jerry L. Mashaw, Anne U. Macclintock
Sheridan House; Published: 2007-02-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.66
Price in other shops: $16.95
Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea ImageAdrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea
by Steven Callahan
Mariner Books; Published: 2002-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.69
Price in other shops: $14.95
Broken Seas: True Tales of Extraordinary Seafaring Adventures ImageBroken Seas: True Tales of Extraordinary Seafaring Adventures
by Marlin Bree
Marlor Press; Published: 2005-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.64
Price in other shops: $15.95
Left for Dead: The Untold Story of the Greatest Disaster in Modern Sailing History ImageLeft for Dead: The Untold Story of the Greatest Disaster in Modern Sailing History
by Nick Ward
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2007-08-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told: Twenty-Seven Unforgettable Stories ImageThe Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told: Twenty-Seven Unforgettable Stories
The Lyons Press; Published: 2004-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.36
Price in other shops: $14.95
Black Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them ImageBlack Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them
by John Silverwood, Jean Silverwood
Random House; Published: 2008-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $25.00
Before the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833 ImageBefore the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833
by Charles Tyng
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $19.00
Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race ImageFatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race
by Rob Mundle
International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; Published: 2007-04-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.89
Price in other shops: $14.95
Total Loss: A Collection of 45 First-Hand Accounts of Yacht Losses at Sea ImageTotal Loss: A Collection of 45 First-Hand Accounts of Yacht Losses at Sea
Sheridan House; Published: 2002-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.89
Price in other shops: $22.50
Similar Books and other products
The Last Run: A True Story of Rescue and Redemption on the Alaska Seas ImageThe Last Run: A True Story of Rescue and Redemption on the Alaska Seas
by Todd Lewan
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2005-06-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops: $13.99
Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea ImageFatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea
by Michael J. Tougias
Scribner; Published: 2009-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.66
Price in other shops: $15.00
Dutch Harbor Alaska CRAB Logo Men's tee Shirt in 12 colors Small thru 6XL ImageDutch Harbor Alaska CRAB Logo Men's tee Shirt in 12 colors Small thru 6XL
99 VOLTS; Apparel
Lost At Sea ImageLost At Sea
by Patrick Dillon
Touchstone; Published: 2000-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.85
Price in other shops: $14.95
Alaska: Tales of Adventure from the Last Frontier ImageAlaska: Tales of Adventure from the Last Frontier
by Spike (editor) Walker
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2002-02-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.86
Price in other shops: $15.95
Fishing Up North: Stories of Luck and Loss in Alaskan Waters ImageFishing Up North: Stories of Luck and Loss in Alaskan Waters
by Bradford Matsen
Alaska Northwest Books; Published: 1998-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.45
Price in other shops: $14.95
Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours ImageDeadliest Catch: Desperate Hours
Discovery Channel; Published: 2008-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops: $16.95
Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs ImageTime Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs
by Andy Hillstrand, Johnathan Hillstrand, Malcolm MacPherson
Ballantine Books; Published: 2009-03-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops: $15.00
Coming Back Alive: The True Story of the Most Harrowing Search and Rescue Mission Ever Attempted on Alaska's High Seas ImageComing Back Alive: The True Story of the Most Harrowing Search and Rescue Mission Ever Attempted on Alaska's High Seas
by Spike Walker
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2002-10-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.91
Price in other shops: $15.95
Working on the Edge: Surviving In the World's Most Dangerous Profession: King Crab Fishing on Alaska's HighSeas ImageWorking on the Edge: Surviving In the World's Most Dangerous Profession: King Crab Fishing on Alaska's HighSeas
by Spike Walker
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 1993-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops: $15.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories