The Wave (In Pursuit of The Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean) by Susan Casey

  In the middle of the ocean off the coast of Scotland, the RRS Discovery has just found that what was myth, is more of a reality then we have ever known. The stories of oceans devouring ships and one hundred foot waves based off eye witness accounts is now being proven as real with the advance of technology and the actual measuring devices on ships and platforms across the world. In pockets throughout the oceans of the world , ships, freighters and tankers are disappearing at alarming rates.  As technology advances continue to improve, scientists throughout the world are coming together to discuss the alarming facts of what possibilities exist with global warming and how this process has and is affecting the ocean currents. While there have been eyewitness accounts for hundreds of years, there is a disturbing trend that is believed to have made what was an anomaly, into something that is far more frequent, terrifying and destructive then previously thought. There is some talk that in order to become this giant wave where there are certainly treacherous seas, that some anomaly seems to happen where the energy is sucked from other waves giving itself a huge peak that stands high in the air for seemingly moments before crashing down and destroying everything in its course. It seems that often times the wave or similar group of waves seem to come out of thin air actually after the sea has calmed down from a storm. Some of these Rogue waves as they are referred to, are caused by disruption under the sea as well as storms. Witnesses often speak of a smell in the air created by the energy coming off the air surrounding this monster.

  And as happens with many of the challenges that mother nature throws at us, there are the usual challengers.This particular challenge is picked up by hundreds of surfers world wide. This books also follows the exploits of this amazing group of individuals as they challenge the mightiest of waves,willing to risk life and limb for the ultimate challenge of surfing the hundred foot wave. Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction which is proved out over and over between the pages of The Waves.

I found this book to be very thought provoking and even hauntingly beautiful. It is also a brutal and terrorizing
look at what global warming is doing to our oceans. Susan writes a very comprehensive account of both the scientific studies as well as the surfing from her view from the inside. She knows the people involved in both sides of the issue through both research as well as being one of them. While this is not a book of fiction, it reads very much like one, leaving you breathless at times and horrified and fearful at others. A very real look at a possible future.

Rated 4/5

I received this book as a free copy from Goodreads First Reads. I am not receiving any compensation and all opinions are my own based off my independent reading of this material.