Long Voyage Back

by Luke Rhinehart

Book Overview

When the bombs came, only the lucky escaped. In the horror that followed, only the strong would survive. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440149878
• ISBN13: 9780440149873
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Real Page-Turner

I love survival and "end of civilization" stories, and this one doesn't disappoint. I also love sailing adventures and this is a good one. Rather than using a multiple-viewpoint method that so many disaster novels utilize, with characters all over the world, this story sticks with the tight-knit group of survivors on the trimaran. The author does a good job in describing the sailing aspects and the challenges of crew interaction in a manner that will be appreciated by sailors and landlubbers alike. The nuclear holocaust angle is well done, and how people react to the terror. There is a good balance of on-water vs. on-land action in the book. Fast-paced adventure, hard to put the book down. Great character development. "Olly" is a treasure. Minor gripe #1: some of the fighting is a bit theatrical. At one point, somebody is actually knocked out by receiving a quick karate-chop to the neck. God I hate the knockout-punch myth as it appears in books and movies. Minor gripe #2: Since the boat is a trimaran (three-hulled) sailing vessel, WHY IS THE COVER PHOTO OF A SLOOP???!!!!!!! Somebody really screwed the pooch in the publishing house by putting a photo of a SLOOP on the cover of a novel that takes place on a multihull! To make matters worse, it was published by the Naval Institute Press of Annapolis, MD!! I bet the author still gets shudders over that to this day. Unbelievable error to anyone who sails. Great read -- recommended.

Just like you were there & very believable!

Although this book was written in 1983, it is just as scary and applicable today. Rhinehart wrote a very realistic book about nuclear holocaust that could still happen, except probably not by the Russians against the US. The scenario of thieves, pirates and desperate & fanatical people just trying to survive makes you feel like you are going thru it yourself. A horrible prospect, to say the least. I liked the idea to attempt to sail away and survive off the sea. Having just finished this great book, I feel like I was right there and part of the group. I wish there was a sequel. This is one book that is worth the read & hard to put down.

A tale of escaping a nuclear holocaust by sailboat

Using the topic of sailing away from a nuclear war, Luke Rhinehart creates a moving yarn of radiation clouds, near escapes, refugee centers, pirates, famine, plague, and survival. Insights into life in the Caribbean and South America after the war are prophetic.