Into the Abyss
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. Joseph Campbell.
On a wintry October night in 1984, nine passengers boarded a Piper Navajo commuter plane bound for remote communities in the far north of Canada. Only four people - strangers from wildly different backgrounds - will survive the night that follows: the pilot, a prominent politician, an accused criminal and the rookie policeman escorting him.
Into the Abyss is a dramatic tale of tragedy, a coming of age story and a compassionate account of how four men resurrected shattered lives. Like Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air or Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, the book will trace the arcs of each character's life and fight for survival. It will also follow four men's transformative journeys from the depths of physical and spiritual loss to the riches of lives begun anew.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this electrifying history, Canadian journalist Shaben chronicles a devastating plane crash and its ramifications on the four survivors. On an icy night in October 1984, a small commuter plane crashed in the Canadian wilderness. One of the four survivors was the author's father, Larry Shaben, the country's first Muslim cabinet minister. The others included the young pilot, a police officer, and the drifter he was escorting to face criminal charges. Larry's physical wounds healed within two months. But he was a different person, more subdued and "quietly haunted," writes Shaben. Over the ensuing years, her curiosity about the event grew. "The crash's impact on my father, and the unlikely friendships that formed between the survivors lodged the event firmly in my psyche," she writes. Shaben skillfully navigates the intricate language of flying for those not familiar with its jargon. She delves into the darker side of the Canadian commuter airline industry and its sorry record of accidents and unreliable equipment. She also adroitly recounts how the survivors cooperated on the night of the crash, in spite of their differences. Though each man incurred emotional scars as a result of the incident, the bonds formed between the survivors during the ordeal lasted for decades. Shaben's riveting narrative is filled with heart and the story is well told.
