Coming Back Alive: The True Story of the Most Harrowing Search and Rescue Mission Ever Attempted on Alaska's High Seas

by Spike Walker

Book Overview

When the fishing vessel La Conte sinks suddenly at night in one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds and record ninety-foot seas during a savage storm in January 1998, her five crewmen are left to drift without a life raft in the freezing Alaskan waters and survive as best they can. One hundred fifty miles away, in Sitka, Alaska, an H-60 Jayhawk helicopter lifts off from America's most remote Coast Guard base in the hopes of tracking down an anonymous Mayday signal. A fisherman's worst nightmare has become a Coast Guard crew's desperate mission. As the crew of the La Conte begin to die one by one, those sworn to watch over them risk everything to pull off the rescue of the century. Spike Walker's memoir of his years as a deckhand in Alaska, Working on the Edge , was hailed by James A. Michner as "masterful . . . will become the definitive account of this perilous trade, an addition to the literature of the sea." In Coming Back Alive , Walker has crafted his most devastating book to date. Meticulously researched through hundreds of hours of taped interviews with the survivors, this is the true account of the La Conte's final voyage and the relationship between Alaskan fishermen and the search and rescue crews who risk their lives to save them.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312269714
• ISBN13: 9780312269715
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Ken Boire author of Inherit the Tide

I was captured by the edge of the seat writing. I never questioned the events. For years I have been closely associated with commercial fishing in Alaska. At one time or another I have worked on every commercial harbor in the USA between Lost Angeles/Long Beach and Kotzebue. I am also a pilot and I grew up in Alaska. Spike Walker's descriptions are excellent. He did not need to fluff things to make the story work. From what some have said about the book I almost feel like one needs to have experienced the fury of the Bering Sea and Gulf to accept his account. I passed the book to a reader unfamiliar with Alaska, commercial fishing, and the maritime industry. He had a hard time accepting it. I was stunned that people were so out of touch. Then I reminded myself storms that happen every year in Alaska only come once in 20 - 100 years on the east coast of the USA. Spike Walker kept me involved. I might have been involved with a lesser writer but I kept thinking "Right on." I have seen the USCG show up when things looked grim. Spike's writing brought personal feelings back from 30 years ago. As a writer I found myself studying the style. Anybody can report a storm but Spike let me feel the wind cutting through my fireside recliner. This is a five star book. It is a five star subject but only a five star writer like Spike Walker could have turned out "Coming Back Alive." There is no overlapping of themes, events, or characters, between "Coming Back Alive" and "Inherit the Tide", but I wish I would have read Walker's book earlier. I got the sense his grip on the reader is developed by dragging them into the action. This same action-based relation with the reader is what makes his characters real. Being able to do that without overblown descriptions and accounts is a real talent. Nevertheless there is something to be said about the value of understated events that let the reader's imagination fill the gaps.

As real as is gets, without having been there yourself

After reading the reviews of this book, i came away with the feeling that most people loved this book. I did more than read it, I lived it. I was a crewman in the first CG helo that arrived on scene. unless you have lived through it, it's hard to imagine 90 foot waves. but its true. this book portrays the events of the night of jan. 30 1998 as real as you can possibly do without having actual video. On the other hand, i have to agree with one reviewer. what happened on that night was not heroic, we just did our jobs as we are trained, and i would do it again if asked. this is what makes the USCG the best air/sea rescue agency in the world.

Walker does it again!

Although his two previous works--Nights of Ice and Working on the Edge--are tough acts to follow, Walker rises to the occassion with Coming Back Alive. With his uncanny ability to immerse the reader into the situations in which his unfortunate subjects find themselves, Walker provides an incredible account of the ill-fated crew of the Salmon boat La Conte. Walker's vivid descriptions make you feel as if you were floating along side the La Conte crewmembers during the frigid January night or sitting on the flight deck of the H-60 helicopters that attempted to perform a rescue in the brutally hostile conditions.If you enjoyed works such as the Perfect Storm, The Ship and the Storm, etc, this is a must read. Once you finish the book, you'll hope Walker is working on another book to satisfy the insatiable urge to experience the harrowing tales he so aptly tells.

Superb Reading

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------I was spellbound the whole way. In January 1998 the fishing vessel,La Conte sank,leaving its crew struggling in 100 mph winds and 90-foot seas. Spike Walker took me there emotionaly and made me see and feel the heroic Coast Guard rescue of the ship's crew. I can still visualize the helicopter below the tops of the gigantic waves. Spike Walker doesn't tell the story, he takes you there and places you in the middle of the ocean fighting the gigantic waves and freezing water. You can see and feel every emotion.It's hard not to get goose bumps. After reading this book I have a completely different view of the Coast Guard. I can't imagine anything harder to do than to patrol Alaskan Waters, determined to rescue anyone in danger, no matter what the odds. My hat is off to Spike Walker:

Gripping Suspense

I'm no writer, and certainly no professional literary critic, but I know what I like to read. My wife gave me an autographed copy of this book, after we both read and raved about "Working On The Edge." (Which I bought because I recognized the writer's name from when we competed in the shot put in junior high school, 37 years ago.)Coming Back Alive is one of those rare books that grabs you, and actually evokes a physical response. I had to occasionally set it down, and rest, because it was so powerful. The incredible drama of what happened when the lift of Doyle and Morley was attempted was like a blow to the gut. (Told you I was no writer.)Compliments and congratulations to Mr. Walker. He has produced some tremendous books, and this is his best yet. Now, if I can get it away from my wife...Roger Bennett