by R. A. Scotti, Back Bay Books, 2004

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  I was expecting another fairly dry (no pun intended) description of the devastation wrought by this super storm.  Instead, I got a collection of well-written vignettes of what happened to certain individuals during the storm, along with some pretty well-researched description of the impact of the hurricane on a macro level.

The author, R. A. Scotti, is apparently also a mystery/suspense writer.  She utilizes these skills well in her telling of the stories in this book.  I am reminded of how well Ken Follett applies the skills he utilized in writing adventure stories to his more recent work (he managed to keep his readers’ interest while telling a story about building a cathedral, which should be a bit like reading about grass growing).  I think that many of the authors today who write popular fiction tend to be stuck in their groove and aren’t able to do anything different (e.g., James Patterson, et. al.).  I guess one reason is that once they start raking in the money doing what they are doing, there is little incentive to try anything new.

Anyway, I have digressed a bit.  As I have stated, I think that this book is extremely readable and interesting and my only criticism is that she may have devoted a bit too much discussion as to what happened to the school bus passengers on Jamestown Island.  Possibly, too much information here.  Other than that, I recommend this book, especially to anyone who has lived or spent any amount of time in the areas affected (which is just about all of the Northeast U.S.)