The Last Run: A True Story of Rescue and Redemption on the Alaska Seas

Fantastic, riveting read about the men of the La Conte who are caught in a huge storm and forced to ride it out in the water itself. It also focuses on the helicopter rescue crews who risked their lives -- and very nearly lost them -- trying to save those men. To this day I've not read a more riveting storm-at-sea type story (and I've read quite a few). I probably liked this even more than The Perfect Storm, which is usually the yardstick for these types of books. Top-notch research and writing make this one not to miss if you like this kind of story.

The Last Run is a story of dedication, greed, tenacity and heroism. Dedication of investigators to match miniscule remains to a missing person. Greed of fishermen to catch just a few more before heading back to port and safety from the storm. Tenacity of fishermen cast adrift in bone chilling water fighting towering waves and hurricane force wind until help arrived. Heroism of Coast Guard search and rescue. A true story of human struggle and redemption.
Author Todd Lewan commences his drama with a CSI-like investigation and segues ways into painting portraits of the five fishermen who later find themselves together on a sinking fishing ship in the middle of an Alaskan hurricane. The portraits he paints have the blemishes of real men who show more came to Alaska hoping to be allowed a second or third chance or perhaps, just the opportunity to survive.

The last half of the book is a fast paced drama of the men fishing, fighting the storm, running from the storm and then not escaping. As the fishermen are repeatedly (every 10-15 seconds) entombed in towering waves, the reader anxiously waits for the Coast Guard to arrive on scene and commence the rescue. The tension builds and builds and though the ultimate ending is told in the first few pages of the book - the reader needs to know what really happened and finds no comfort in the foreshadowing.

The story is masterfully told. It starts fast, slogs along for a bit while the characters are developed and then roars along chapter after chapter.

Author Lewan deserves kudos for including a map of the Alaskan region early in the book and later, pictures of the main characters. The map is helpful in tracking the story and the pictures put a face on the words.

What I would do to improve the book? I would change very little. Perhaps, include more information about the Coast Guard helicopters. An appendix with a detailed drawing of a helicopter described in the book would be interesting. Maybe a picture of a guardsman in rescue gear or an aerial photograph of the Coast Guard base would add to the story. show less

Lewan's writing seems very authentic. The characters feel very real and believable. While he presents heroic acts, the people involved are ridden with faults and insecurities. Alaska presents as a frontier nation, full of people who have spent their second and third chances and are chasing a fourth. I really enjoyed this after a slow start.

I mainly read this book because I'm acquainted with a relative of one of the rescuers and heard about this story. Lewan's tale of a dramatic helicopter rescue of Alaskan fisherman who were shipwrecked started out beautifully. But it quickly got bogged down in superfluous detail and background about each person's life. I basically felt like Lewan didn't have enough material for a whole book.... so he tried to flesh it out the best he could and all that stuff just made the book more difficult to read.

interesting! amazing how dedicated the coast guard is.