by Michael J. Tougias and Alison O’Leary, 2016, Pegasus Books, Ltd.

I didn’t initially think much about this book. It’s the story of a family that was on board a freighter bound to New Orleans from Costa Rica during WWII that was torpedoed by a German submarine. The book begins by highlighting the family of four whose father was working for the United Fruit Company in Columbia and Costa Rica during the start of WWII. They eventually decided to return to their home in San Antonio when the war started. Unfortunately, they were torpedoed on the last night of their journey. Amazingly, all four survived, even though many crew members were lost.

The authors highlight the Navy’s efforts to downplay the presence of the U-boats and the huge losses of ships near the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico of the U.S. during the first years of the war. This event was largely unknown and the authors decided to write a book about it.

The book is well researched, and it tells the story of the two U-boats that were prowling the Gulf of Mexico and their captains. Rather than demonizing the Germans, it shows the dedication they had to their missions. I was pleasantly surprised at how well written and interesting the book turned out to be.