Not Without Hope

This book was too good to put down.

I was able to finish this book in an afternoon. I often felt as though I was right there with the main character, and only survivor, of a small capsized boat 75 miles off the coast of Florida. The horrific events that took place as four football players, two from NFL teams, struggled against hypothermia and raging seas bore witness to the human spirit. At one point, I did have to walk away and clear my head for several minutes as the story was so intense. The only criticism is that, in an effort to make the book longer, it became somewhat repetitive near the end. Highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic read!

What a fabulous and well written book! How i wish there would be more books like that! It is such a great book that my daughter who is 11 is truly enthralled with it and my husband is waiting to read it next. Sure makes you think about what to have on the boat and to mot overlook.
Thank you for telling your captivating story!

Great Book

Enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down once I started reading it. Made you feel like you were right there watching them as they went throught this horror.

Human endurance as told by the sole survivor.

The story that could only have been told by the sole survivor. It brings to the reader what "The Perfect Storm" could not--first hand account of a very tragic boating accident, loss of life, and finally rescue. I hope boaters everywhere read this and take something from it.

Great Book!!! Highly Recommend!

This book is a very good book, one you can't put down, harrowing but sad. The book is written by Nick Schulyler, a former college football player turned personal trainer who survived a boating accident that left three of his friends dead, including two NFL players and his best friend a former USF Bulls college football player. The story is about four (4) friends who set out for a deep-sea fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico. They had planned on a fun and relaxing day drinking a few beers, having some laughs and had planned to get home before an approaching cold front hit. After getting to their fishing destination, and fishing for a short time, the seas began to swell and the winds picked up so they packed everything up and decided to head back to shore. As they started to leave, they realized that the anchor was stuck. The four were inexperienced boaters and decided that the best way to get the anchor to release was by tying the anchor rope to the front of the boat and hitting the throttle. Instead of the anchor breaking free, the front of the boat sank and filled with water and the boat capsized. In order to survive, the men had to try to get to the life jackets under the boat. They had no beacon to alert authorities and their cell phones would not work so far out in the Gulf. They had no food or water as it was trapped in coolers under the boat, so all they could do was cling to the overturned boat throughout the night as the seas got rougher and the clouds got black from the incoming cold front. The four men were continuously being tossed from the boat by large waves and they started to battle hypothermia, hallucinatioms, hunger, dehydration and huge waves. Being athletes, they worked as a team praying together, talking about what they would have done different in their lives and what they were going to do when they returned home. When one fell off the boat, the others would swim out to retrieve tham and help them back onto the boat. Nick Schuyler, the only one able to survive by holding on to the boat's propeller, tells his story about survival and what is what like watching three of his best friends die.

great start, slow finish

The first three-quarters of the book is very interesting. He describes his companions, the boat, the trip, his reluctance to go on this particular voyage, very clearly. The account of the hours in the water as his companions died, is harrowing. The last part of the book, however, when he tries to come to terms with being the lone survivor, is superficial and tedious.

Fascinating

I live in Tampa and enjoy boating, as well as survival stories. So I was really looking forward to this book. It met my expectations. I could hardly set it down. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, even though I knew the ending. I would give it five stars except the writing is not as polished as it could be - I was confused by what seemed like abrupt transitions from first-person to third-person. Still, it's a great read and a remarkable story of survival.

The best thing is.....

Not Without Hope is written by Nick .zSchuyler with, I suppose, help from Jere Longham. Once it got going I could not put it down. I had to get up early to go shooting and was up til 1:30 am standing in the light reading page after page. It is sort of sad how the guys in the book get so battered by the sea so fast. It must have taken incredible strength to last as long as they did. I feel very sorry for them all. Some parts were repetitive I thought and some words were used out of context which I attribute to the Authors possibly being unfamiliar with the words they were writing. That's always a bit of a turn off for serious readers, however, this is a great little book and worth buying if only to be reminded of how delicate we all are.

What an amazing thing hope is. And what amazing things you can do with just a sliver of it.

I cried and then I cried some more. Never in my life have I read a book that touched me to the core as did Not Without Hope. Never in my life have I read a book that inspired me as did Not Without Hope. This story is a demonstration that when you think you can't go on...you can. This story reveals the amazing human spirit. After reading this, you will be filled with gratitude for everything that is right with your life and for every relationship you have. You will be humbled. You will be grateful for your family and your friends. You will be happy to be alive. You will be heart-broken for all that was lost. You will know absolutely what is important in your life. You will know absolutely where your priorities lie. You will know absolutely the small stuff should never be sweated. And you will be amazed at what can be accomplished with just a sliver of hope.

Didn't want to put it down.

I read an excerpt of this book while waiting in a doctor's office in some magazine there. I couldn't put the magazine down then and went right out and bought the book. It is a gripping account of these courageous men and last hours. It was informative by demonstrating do's and don't that we take for granted on the water; and now I have different outlook on a quick fishing trip. There apparently has been some controversy over this book but it is worth every minute. I believe the point of the book was if you learn one thing from the mistakes of those four souls then it was worth it to Mr. Schuyler. I know I did.

What a Harrowing Story

I read someof the other reviews before I bought this book, but they didn't sway me one way or the other. I am so glad I bought this! What a wonderful story!!!
Granted, there is a lot of repitition in the book, but what did people expect? He was on that water for 43 hours with nothing but the same thing to do over and over again. He watched these three friends die around him.
So if there's a lot of turmoil and pain still surrounding the whole situation, I think he deserves a break for watching three people die. People he cared about and called friend.

As for the book, I think it was well written and it's told as though he is actually talking to someone rather than writing it himself.

I think this book is worth reading, no matter how much it repeats itself.

To Nick: I hope you find peace with this tragedy, sweetie. I really do.

Great Book

Only took four sittings to finish.Needed to know more than the media and the real thing did that.

And then there was one...

I saw Nick on Oprah and thought...let me grab this book. I bought a 2nd book for a friend as well.

I felt this was something that I wanted to read and see what he learned...as we don't have time to make all the mistakes in this life.

I so enjoyed this book! I couldn't put it down and finished it in a such a short time...I imagined how frustrating everything seemed and how unbelievable this was. The big question, how could this happen?

Life happens all the time and in many shapes and forms...when we share these types of stories...it's a reminder that you never know what will happen in your life...your decisions will make all the difference!

I recommend picking up this book and getting a group of friends...read it outloud. Share this task...and talk about it...hear all the points of view there. Grow, live better and brighter...you never know!

Amazing!

Although I had seen Nick Schuyler on Oprah and heard him on the radio, I was riveted by this book. Despite the negative feelings between the families, having to watch anyone die and the feeling of being helpless is a major trauma. I appreciate that Nick wanted to put the story into his own words so that he could honor the others. I hope that he can heal and live and long and productive life. You will not be disappointed by this book! Although I agree with some of the other reviews, the writing is sometimes lacking in substance, I still, literally, could not put it down, it had me up into the wee hours of the night.

Excellant reading

I followed this story as it was happening. We are boaters also owning a 24 ft Everglades boat. I felt so bad for all on the boat. I find this book very interesting & I would recommend it to anyone. Good reading & lessoned learned to all boaters.

Interesting Tale

Storyline was quite interesting, but book is not well written. Seemed several portions were repetitive as if the writer were trying to hit that "minimum words" length. If you want to read about this historic boating accident it's an excellent read.

Amazing story!!

I literally couldn't put this book down. A must read!!!

A shallow tale of tragedy in deep water

I bought this book because I was familiar with the tragic accident and was interested in knowing more about how it came about. I feel very sorry for Nick Schuyler and can only imagine what his ordeal must have been like. But the writing of this book is terrible. It is repetitive, shallow and lacks any significant insight into the kind of courage it must have taken to simply survive and then live through the survival. There were awkward jumps from the first person narrative to observations by others that took a little rereading to figure out. I stuck with it simply because I needed this man to be saved so i could go on to other things. But I cannot recommend this book in any way.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.