There was one thing I took away from this book. Anytime I read something like this, which is very much what the title suggests, I always do the “What would I do?” thing. Most of the time the answer isn’t something like “stand strong,” or “remain hopeful.” Most of the time it’s “I wouldn’t last five minutes,” or “eat my fellow passengers.”
The Lifeboat details a crew of folks who go down on a ship that has suffered a mysterious explosion. It gets ugly and gets ugly fast, but what makes this book interesting isn’t so much the physical action but the mental torture that happens during and after the ordeal. There was one line, something about the real danger not being the sea but the people, and within ten pages you see that coming a mile away. And it’s true. For all of our good intentions at heart we are selfish, dangerous creatures with built in regard for self that quickly and easily drives us to do the unthinkable.