With the recent discovery of the Endurance—which sunk 107 years ago and currently lies remarkably well preserved at the bottom of the Weddell Sea—now is the perfect time to discuss Alfred Lansing's classic book about the ship's last journey. Published in 1959, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage tells the whole story in captivating detail. It follows the British explorer Ernest Shackleton as he launches his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which aimed to send a group of adventurers across the Antarctic continent, from west to east, on foot. He, along with 27 crewmen and 69 sled dogs, left London on 1 August 1914. They arrived on South Georgia Island a few months later. On 18 January 1915, Endurance became hopelessly mired in thick polar ice. As the vessel slowly begin to sink into the frozen depths, the men were forced to abandon ship. As their vessel disappeared, they found themselves utterly alone in "a place where no man had ever been before, nor could they conceive that any man would ever want to be again" (104).

Knowing a cache of food and supplies had been left on Paulet Island, some 346 miles away, the men had little choice but to trek off to find it. Any chance of rescue was even farther afield. The journey that ensued was a remarkable one, fraught with danger of every kind. In spite of a constant battering by severe weather, lack of adequate food, physical exhaustion, and mental fatigue, remarakably, not one of the men perished. They all lived to tell the tale—and what an amazing one it is!

Lansing describes their entire journey in vivid prose, allowing the reader to trudge in the men's footsteps, feeling the excitement of discovery as well as the misery of being constantly wet, cold, dirty, overworked, bored, and tired. Although I would have liked to know more about Shackleton himself (his childhood and personal life are almost wholly ignored in the book), I found Endurance to be a riveting account of his Antarctic expedition. It's narrative non-fiction at its best, bringing history to life in a way that is not just fascinating, but also engrossing and impactful. I couldn't stop reading this iconic book.

Tasia "Sia" Gianopoulos has spent so much time in the water over the last 17 years of her life that it seems she was born with gills.  These days, she's diving not just for fun but because, with her dad in prison, she and her mom desperately need the money.  Their charter scuba diving business allows them to do what they love and pay the bills.  

Leading diving expeditions to shipwrecks in the Florida Keys is second nature to Sia, but she has an odd, unsettling feeling about visiting the U.S.S. Andrew.  Something about the trip just feels off.  When one of the divers die, the whole group desperately tries to get back to land.  An attack by a horrifying sea monster leaves divers dead, the Gianopoulos' boats in ruins, and four kids stranded on a remote island.  With a thick jungle at their backs and a sea of deadly water in front, there is no escape route.  As the days wear on with no rescue in sight, Sia, her younger brother, and two kids who are virtually strangers to them must learn how to survive on an island where nothing is as it seems.  Can they learn its strange ways?  Can they defeat the sea monster that guards the terrifying secret that may be their only way home?  

When a book is described as LOST meets Stranger Things, it leads the reader to expect a certain level of greatness.  Did Fractured Tide, a debut YA sci fi/horror novel by Leslie Lutz, deliver?  I'm not sure it's possible to totally meet the expectations of such an illustrious billing, but the book offers a story that is tense, tightly-plotted, and exciting.  Told through letters Sia writes to her father, the tale has an intimate feel that just adds to the plot's intensity.  With the urgency of LOST and the eeriness of Stranger Things, it uses classic sci fi/horror elements to keep the reader on the edge of their seat while they burn through the pages to see what happens next.  Entertaining and satisfying, Fractured Tide is simply a good read.  Despite some violence and gore, it's also a mostly clean read that I can hand to my 15-year-old LOST lover without reservation.  I love that.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall)

  

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Liv Connelly has always been fascinated by the story of the Patriot, a schooner that vanished without a trace off the Carolina coast in 1813.  No one knows what befell those aboard the missing vessel. Liv's especially curious about the fate of the ship's most famous passenger, Theodosia Burr Alston, the beloved 29-year-old daughter of Aaron Burr.  What happened to "Theo"?  Did she drown in stormy waters?  Was she taken captive by greedy pirates?  Theories abound.  Liv wants the truth.  Although crippling asthma and a paranoid, anxiety-ridden father keep her grounded, she longs to comb the ocean floor for clues, to solve the mystery for herself.

Her obsession with shipwrecks leads Liv to two men, both graduate students in marine archaeology.  Whit Crosby and Sam Felder couldn't be more different—the former is spontaneous, unpredictable; the latter calm and controlled.  The friendship between the three is exciting but rocky.  

Thirteen years after they all meet, Liv is married to Whit; the couple has been estranged from Sam for years.  That all changes when they need his help on a dive.  Sam's return brings a tornado of emotions for Liv.  Sam's obviously looking for a second chance, not just with Liv but at fulfilling their shared dream of finding the Patriot.  With her business in the red and her marriage on the rocks, it's time for Liv to finally decide what—and who—she really wants.

It's difficult not to be intrigued by the mystery at the heart of The Last Treasure by Erika Marks.  I'd never heard of the Patriot before picking up the novel, but now I, too, wonder what happened to Theodosia and her fellow passengers.  It's a puzzle, the possible solutions of which kept me reading this book despite not feeling overly connected to its players.  I'm not fond of love triangles to begin with—I especially dislike them when those involved are fickle, selfish, and just not all that likable, a description which fits Whit, Liv, and Sam.  This, coupled with a loosey-goosey plot that focused more on romance than mystery, made The Last Treasure a bit of a disappointment for me.  I wanted to like it a lot more than I actually did.  Oh well.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't really think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

 If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a few F-bombs plus milder expletives) and sexual content

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of The Last Treasure from the generous folks at Penguin.  Thank you!