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Seize the Storm
Sailing from California to Hawaii, Susannah, her family, and a crewman are driven by a vicious storm into the path of a drifting powerboat. The ghostly boat carries the bodies of two drug runners and a huge stash of money. For the sailors, stealing the sordid treasure changes everything, causing dissent and division, compromising each of them, and putting their futures at risk. Because now they are being pursued by the worst enemies imaginable, including a drug lord's son eager to prove himself and a cold-blooded teenage hit man with murder on his mind.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2012
15 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Michael Cadnum
77 books19 followersMichael Cadnum has had a number of jobs over the course of his life, including pick-and-shoveler for the York Archaeological Trust, in York, England, and substitute teacher in Oakland, California, but his true calling is writing. He is the author of thirty-five books, including the National Book Award finalist The Book of the Lion. His Calling Home and Breaking the Fall were both nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award. He is a former Creative Writing Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts. Also a poet, he has received several awards, including Poetry Northwest's Helen Bullis Prize and the Owl Creek Book Award. Michael lives in Albany, California, with his wife Sherina.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 12, 2012
The drone of an aircraft engine alerts Susannah, age 17, that the mysterious powerboat on the
horizon may spell trouble. She also spies an injured dog in the water which her cousin is able
to pull aboard their luxury yacht. Her family investigates the drifting boat and is shocked to find
dead bodies and a huge stash of cash. They whisk the money aboard, tie the floundering vessel
to theirs, and resume their voyage to the Hawaiian Islands. Panic sets in when the seaplane
returns, guns pulled, and lands beside them. The injured dog baring his teeth as the familiar
armed intruder boards indicates a suspenseful story conclusion. (Grades 9 & up)
horizon may spell trouble. She also spies an injured dog in the water which her cousin is able
to pull aboard their luxury yacht. Her family investigates the drifting boat and is shocked to find
dead bodies and a huge stash of cash. They whisk the money aboard, tie the floundering vessel
to theirs, and resume their voyage to the Hawaiian Islands. Panic sets in when the seaplane
returns, guns pulled, and lands beside them. The injured dog baring his teeth as the familiar
armed intruder boards indicates a suspenseful story conclusion. (Grades 9 & up)
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October 29, 2021This book is called Seize The Storm, and is written by Michael Cadnum. Here is my summary,
On board the family yacht Athena’s Secret, cousins Savannah and Martin- tagging along, Savannah's parents and the yacht driver Axel. While sailing the blue, the group gets wound up in a storm. They come across an adrift powerboat, not running or moving. On deck are the deceased bodies of 2 sailors, and a wounded dog. But along with them is a stash of $800,000 dollars. The family takes the money, but finds out later they should have reconsidered. The Yacht is being followed by a crew of 3 pilots who are out for 1 mission, Get the money. The family prepares for warfare while the murderers land the water plane, hijack the powerboat, and head for Athena’s Secret. Once they meet, they send bullets back and forth, until Leonard breaks up the fight. They both agree that Elwood and his crew can keep the money, just as long as no one else gets hurt. But Axel wants the money, so he points the gun at Elwood, which causes more conflict than needed. The dog jumps at Elwood, bites his arm, neck, and leg, tearing chunks out his body. The only way to get rid of the dog is to plunge into the ocean salt water, which burns Elwoods wounds. He later died of blood loss and the family yacht got away, without the money.
There is only 1 theme to this book, and that is free money is not always free. The original owners of this money were the 2 sailors on the powerboat, and they killed each other, due to greediness. One of them wanted the money for themselves. They both shot each other, this is proven on page 121 of the book, “ “The iPhone guy wasn’t dead,'' Martin continued. “He staggered up to the helm, and the puka shell guy blew most of the rest of his clip trying to defend himself, getting killed anyway. Then iPhone guy crawled back down here and died. That explains the paths of blood on the stairs and the bullet holes in the Plexiglass-puka shell guy did not have very good aim.” So Axel and Martin brang the money back to the yacht. Then Elwood,Shako, and Jermey (the bad guys) saw the yacht, and the money, so they decided to try and steal it. The theme starts to get to one of the characters, Claudette, as she decided to throw the money overboard, she didn’t want anyone to get hurt because they took the money. That’s how I came up with the theme. Money isn’t free, and it apparently got to one of the characters in this book.
I did not enjoy this book, at all. It was boring the first 110 pages, then it started to get better. I didn’t understand what the book was about, or what I was reading, there was just a lack of explaining. This is by far one of the worst books that I ever could have chosen to read. I suffered through the first 110 pages, and then suffered through the end of the book. The ending was terrible, that was the number one thing I hated, was the ending. The Family didn’t even get the money, and the bad crew got away with it. I don’t recommend this book to anyone, unless you’re really good at focusing. It jumped between characters and characters so it really caught me off guard on what character I was reading about.
On board the family yacht Athena’s Secret, cousins Savannah and Martin- tagging along, Savannah's parents and the yacht driver Axel. While sailing the blue, the group gets wound up in a storm. They come across an adrift powerboat, not running or moving. On deck are the deceased bodies of 2 sailors, and a wounded dog. But along with them is a stash of $800,000 dollars. The family takes the money, but finds out later they should have reconsidered. The Yacht is being followed by a crew of 3 pilots who are out for 1 mission, Get the money. The family prepares for warfare while the murderers land the water plane, hijack the powerboat, and head for Athena’s Secret. Once they meet, they send bullets back and forth, until Leonard breaks up the fight. They both agree that Elwood and his crew can keep the money, just as long as no one else gets hurt. But Axel wants the money, so he points the gun at Elwood, which causes more conflict than needed. The dog jumps at Elwood, bites his arm, neck, and leg, tearing chunks out his body. The only way to get rid of the dog is to plunge into the ocean salt water, which burns Elwoods wounds. He later died of blood loss and the family yacht got away, without the money.
There is only 1 theme to this book, and that is free money is not always free. The original owners of this money were the 2 sailors on the powerboat, and they killed each other, due to greediness. One of them wanted the money for themselves. They both shot each other, this is proven on page 121 of the book, “ “The iPhone guy wasn’t dead,'' Martin continued. “He staggered up to the helm, and the puka shell guy blew most of the rest of his clip trying to defend himself, getting killed anyway. Then iPhone guy crawled back down here and died. That explains the paths of blood on the stairs and the bullet holes in the Plexiglass-puka shell guy did not have very good aim.” So Axel and Martin brang the money back to the yacht. Then Elwood,Shako, and Jermey (the bad guys) saw the yacht, and the money, so they decided to try and steal it. The theme starts to get to one of the characters, Claudette, as she decided to throw the money overboard, she didn’t want anyone to get hurt because they took the money. That’s how I came up with the theme. Money isn’t free, and it apparently got to one of the characters in this book.
I did not enjoy this book, at all. It was boring the first 110 pages, then it started to get better. I didn’t understand what the book was about, or what I was reading, there was just a lack of explaining. This is by far one of the worst books that I ever could have chosen to read. I suffered through the first 110 pages, and then suffered through the end of the book. The ending was terrible, that was the number one thing I hated, was the ending. The Family didn’t even get the money, and the bad crew got away with it. I don’t recommend this book to anyone, unless you’re really good at focusing. It jumped between characters and characters so it really caught me off guard on what character I was reading about.
July 2, 2018
I didn't like this book at all. It reminded me of an Elmore Leonard book where there is no real protagonist. We know the thoughts and feelings of all the characters but none of them are very likable. In the story, Leonard and his family take one last adventure on their yacht, Athena's Secret, before the family their loses their entire fortune to poor investments. They run across a storm and then a boat called the Witch's Grass on which two men have been shot and killed. They find a bunch of money and their own greed makes them want to keep it even though they know it probably was earned through criminal pursuits. More than half the book is spent getting to know all the characters, even the criminals. Then there is a storm that injures Leonard, followed by finding the other boat. Not a book I would recommend for young people or anyone else. ( )
August 12, 2017
This book was a fun adventure. The story has lots of interesting characters and it becomes a fight for survival. With a fight at sea with drug smugglers.
November 28, 2017
This book was very good and it was a page turner and was thriling.
December 5, 2017
I like how interesting this story it is. The way they find the two bodies and money on the boat was my favorite part.
January 13, 2021
Seize the Storm by Michael Cadnum is about Susannah and her family who are on a cruise ship sailing from California to Hawaii. On the other hand Sako, Elwood, and Jeremy are on a plane searching for a bag of money. But a vicious storm brewed while Susannah and her family were on board and Leonard, the families dad, became very sick and crippled after he almost fell off the boat due to high winds pushing him off. Tension rises as a mysterious ship started to follow the family's boat. The crew aboard the ship seemed to want something, so Martin and Axel decided to investigate the ship. Martin searched the boat and found two dead bodies and a gym bag full of money. The family contemplated keeping the money or not, but they soon had to give it up because Shako, Elwood, and Jeremy held them at gunpoint until they gave the money back. Susannah and her family escaped safely but kept none of the money.
Micheal Cadnum uses some specific methods in the story to make the reader want to keep reading. One example of what he does is he uses foreshadowing at the end of chapters also known as cliff hangers. At the end of chapter 12 Cadnum uses foreshadowing to hint that Leonard might fall off the boat into the water. “Leonard hung suspended in the wind, kept from the water only by Martin’s grasp, yellow glove to yellow glove. But Leonard’s glove was too big, the wrong fit, and he was slowly but inexorably slipping free.” Because Cadnum uses foreshadowing it hooks the reader into wanting to keep reading to find out what happened. Another example of foreshadowing that he uses is at the end of chapter 42 trying to tell us that there might be a gun fight between some characters soon. “Distracted by the departure of the money, they all made an important mistake: no one took the Glock away from Axel. He kept the pistol, tucked back into the top of his Diesel denims.” Micheal uses the foreshadowing correctly because he left me wanting to read more and I'm sure anyone else who read the story would have felt the same way.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes crime or mystery books. The use of foreshadowing would make someone who likes mystery like this book. A Lot of mystery events go on throughout the story like how towards the end there is a dog that mysteriously shows up in the ocean and no one knows whose dog it is and why there is a bullet hole in its ear. Mystery is hidden throughout the whole book, you might think you have the ending figured out, but then the story turns out to end totally different. Crime was also a huge part of this book and a couple characters even died! “Come up here, was all Martin could say. Axel carried himself carefully, putting his hand on the rail as he came up the stairs in uncharacteristic caution. Martin stood aside so Axel could take a look. Axel was silent. He plainly did not like what he was looking at, either, but he knelt beside the dead guy’s handgun, a large automatic lying on the cross hatched, slip-roof-metal flooring of the pilot house.” I personally did not love this book because I thought that it was slow moving. I felt like the whole part before the ghost ship showed up there wasn't much that went on to entertain me. I felt like for a good portion of the book, the only thing that the characters did was drive the boat. I also thought that this book was a little confusing because of the words used throughout the story. But what I did like about this book was that the author makes the story unexpected and you never know what will happen next.
Micheal Cadnum uses some specific methods in the story to make the reader want to keep reading. One example of what he does is he uses foreshadowing at the end of chapters also known as cliff hangers. At the end of chapter 12 Cadnum uses foreshadowing to hint that Leonard might fall off the boat into the water. “Leonard hung suspended in the wind, kept from the water only by Martin’s grasp, yellow glove to yellow glove. But Leonard’s glove was too big, the wrong fit, and he was slowly but inexorably slipping free.” Because Cadnum uses foreshadowing it hooks the reader into wanting to keep reading to find out what happened. Another example of foreshadowing that he uses is at the end of chapter 42 trying to tell us that there might be a gun fight between some characters soon. “Distracted by the departure of the money, they all made an important mistake: no one took the Glock away from Axel. He kept the pistol, tucked back into the top of his Diesel denims.” Micheal uses the foreshadowing correctly because he left me wanting to read more and I'm sure anyone else who read the story would have felt the same way.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes crime or mystery books. The use of foreshadowing would make someone who likes mystery like this book. A Lot of mystery events go on throughout the story like how towards the end there is a dog that mysteriously shows up in the ocean and no one knows whose dog it is and why there is a bullet hole in its ear. Mystery is hidden throughout the whole book, you might think you have the ending figured out, but then the story turns out to end totally different. Crime was also a huge part of this book and a couple characters even died! “Come up here, was all Martin could say. Axel carried himself carefully, putting his hand on the rail as he came up the stairs in uncharacteristic caution. Martin stood aside so Axel could take a look. Axel was silent. He plainly did not like what he was looking at, either, but he knelt beside the dead guy’s handgun, a large automatic lying on the cross hatched, slip-roof-metal flooring of the pilot house.” I personally did not love this book because I thought that it was slow moving. I felt like the whole part before the ghost ship showed up there wasn't much that went on to entertain me. I felt like for a good portion of the book, the only thing that the characters did was drive the boat. I also thought that this book was a little confusing because of the words used throughout the story. But what I did like about this book was that the author makes the story unexpected and you never know what will happen next.
April 23, 2013
Seize the Storm. By: Seglin, Shannon, School Library Journal, 03628930, Aug2012, Vol. 58, Issue 8.
CADNUM, Michael. Seize the Storm. 234p. CIP. Farrar. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-36705-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-429-95488-4. LC 2011020865.
Gr 8 Up--Seventeen-year-old Susannah, her family, and an 18-year-old crewman are sailing from California to Hawaii. The trip starts out smoothly until they are driven by a storm into the path of a drifting powerboat. The mysterious vessel is carrying two dead bodies and a stash of 100-dollar bills. For Susannah and her family, this cash changes everything. Her father is in debt and could use it, but the teen would rather burn the money than keep it. Everyone on the yacht seems to have a different view of what to do with the find, causing dangerous divisiveness. The yacht is being followed by an airplane carrying some pretty bad dudes: Jeremy Tygart, a drug lord's son who wants to prove himself, and Shako, a teenage hit man who likes killing people. This adrenaline-filled adventure keeps readers on edge, and Cadnum has a way of making them feel as if they know each character personally. Teens who like action and adventure will enjoy this title.
By Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA
CADNUM, Michael. Seize the Storm. 234p. CIP. Farrar. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-36705-3; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-1-429-95488-4. LC 2011020865.
Gr 8 Up--Seventeen-year-old Susannah, her family, and an 18-year-old crewman are sailing from California to Hawaii. The trip starts out smoothly until they are driven by a storm into the path of a drifting powerboat. The mysterious vessel is carrying two dead bodies and a stash of 100-dollar bills. For Susannah and her family, this cash changes everything. Her father is in debt and could use it, but the teen would rather burn the money than keep it. Everyone on the yacht seems to have a different view of what to do with the find, causing dangerous divisiveness. The yacht is being followed by an airplane carrying some pretty bad dudes: Jeremy Tygart, a drug lord's son who wants to prove himself, and Shako, a teenage hit man who likes killing people. This adrenaline-filled adventure keeps readers on edge, and Cadnum has a way of making them feel as if they know each character personally. Teens who like action and adventure will enjoy this title.
By Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA
July 31, 2012
This is a young adult thriller, a genre I am not very familiar with so my standard for comparison is wanting. The writing here is sharp and fast paced. There are a lot of teenagers for obvious reasons and their roles seem disproportionate to real life, but there you go. In the story a wealthy family, teen daughter and cousin and first mate are sailing to Hawaii from San Francisco. Meanwhile, a drug/arms dealer has sent his teen son on a flying mission with a middle aged pilot and a teenaged killer to find a lost drug boat with money on it. The family sails into a storm for no obvious reason, and then find the drug boat with two dead guys and a lot of money. THe bad airplane sees them, lands at the boat as our heros sail away. THe bad guys repower the speed boat and come after them. Pretty exciting. When they catch them, the plot is resolved in a rather unbelievable fashion. Still, the book has pace and is exciting. If it gets kids reading for pleasure, some day they can graduate to good literature.
February 17, 2014
I'm glad this book ended as it did. I worried all through the book that it would turn more violent. It was psychologically intense with very few good guys. The author used two sets of characters on two different courses. It was obvious they would intersect but not apparent how or why until almost halfway through the book, but surprisingly the plot did not flag, and the character development blossomed. Perhaps it was getting to know that characters that kept me engaged. One of the more unusual reads of the year.
BOOK TALK: Three men in a plane scan the ocean below for a missing vessel. Sent to retrieve money, two of these men have blood on their hands. Four family members and a crewman sail the ocean in a yacht. The family's fortune is gone and this is one last trip before the yacht must be sold. One drifting powerboat with two dead bodies and a gym bag of money. All will meet in the middle of the ocean. Bad decisions will be made, putting more lives at risk. Who will live and who will die? And in the end, who will have the money?
BOOK TALK: Three men in a plane scan the ocean below for a missing vessel. Sent to retrieve money, two of these men have blood on their hands. Four family members and a crewman sail the ocean in a yacht. The family's fortune is gone and this is one last trip before the yacht must be sold. One drifting powerboat with two dead bodies and a gym bag of money. All will meet in the middle of the ocean. Bad decisions will be made, putting more lives at risk. Who will live and who will die? And in the end, who will have the money?
January 23, 2013
Susannah, her cousin Martin, and her parents are sailing to Hawaii when they come across an abandoned (they think) boat. On it they discover two dead men and a bag full of money -- $800,000 worth of money. What happens when the associates of the dead men show up could possibly doom them all.
This book had so much potential, and then blew it. I love the format -- short chapters filled with tons of suspense, leading to thrilling action. I just didn't like the characters... none of them. I wanted to be able to root for a good guy, but there wasn't a good guy. All of the characters were flawed and seemed to make terrible decisions. If there had been a point where they realized the poor decisions and regretted them, then maybe I would have liked it better. I don't feel like anyone redeemed himself in the end. I'll be interested to read what others thought of this book, because right now, I wouldn't recommend it to others. D rating.
This book had so much potential, and then blew it. I love the format -- short chapters filled with tons of suspense, leading to thrilling action. I just didn't like the characters... none of them. I wanted to be able to root for a good guy, but there wasn't a good guy. All of the characters were flawed and seemed to make terrible decisions. If there had been a point where they realized the poor decisions and regretted them, then maybe I would have liked it better. I don't feel like anyone redeemed himself in the end. I'll be interested to read what others thought of this book, because right now, I wouldn't recommend it to others. D rating.
November 27, 2012
This book was pretty good at the beginning, but there was too much suspense and some characters made bad decisions too much.
That there was a family in a luxury boat going from San Francisco to Hawaii and a father makes his killer young son go to find a boat with drugs and money to bring them back on a plane. In the boat where the family was, a friend of Susannah’s family and her cousin was getting in love with Susannah, both of them try to get the attention of Susannah, while that happens there is a storm and suddenly that takes them to close to a boat that the killer son was finding. The family goes towards the boat, but they find two dead bodies, they put the money that was on the boat where the dead bodies were, on their boat. The killer son sees them and begin chasing the family and shot at them , the family and their friend take out the weapons that they had on board and shot back. The ending was exciting and it was weird how they resolved the problem.
That there was a family in a luxury boat going from San Francisco to Hawaii and a father makes his killer young son go to find a boat with drugs and money to bring them back on a plane. In the boat where the family was, a friend of Susannah’s family and her cousin was getting in love with Susannah, both of them try to get the attention of Susannah, while that happens there is a storm and suddenly that takes them to close to a boat that the killer son was finding. The family goes towards the boat, but they find two dead bodies, they put the money that was on the boat where the dead bodies were, on their boat. The killer son sees them and begin chasing the family and shot at them , the family and their friend take out the weapons that they had on board and shot back. The ending was exciting and it was weird how they resolved the problem.
September 26, 2012
A wealthy family with financial troubles is on a sailing trip from San Francisco to Hawaii and a group of mobsters are in a plane looking for a boat with missing colleagues and money. Difficult weather, floating garbage, and a dog bring these two parties together. Told in alternating chapters until they finally find each other, this story of suspense and greed keeps the reader frantically turning pages. None of these people is particularly likeable, but with the non-stop action, mystery and violence the story is sure to be a hit. There is graphic violence and a pretty vivid description of a couple of dead bodies, but there is little or no profanity.
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May 15, 2015Everybody has that day when you just feel as if somebody is watching you. You feel as if someone is standing over your shoulder. Sometimes a hunch is more than just a hunch. Right when you think your situation in life can not get any worse, it does. Tommy Wilhelm is at his breaking point in life. This book is motivational. It is original. Word to word, cover to cover, it is most definitely a page turner. I highly recommend it if you are in need of a good read. I highly recommend setting aside a few hours in your day to read. Once you pick it up, you can't put it down.
July 3, 2015
Sorry to say that I don't like this book at all! It was terrible to be honest, I hate not finishing a book because you never know when they will surprise you but I literally had to force myself to finish it because it was a library book so couldn't just put it back on the shelf for another time. There was no real excitement for the build up for the beginning chapter or so, very disappointed and sadly won't end up reading anything else by the author because of it
November 8, 2012
Good story idea, fabulous ending. I wanted this to be the best book I ever read because the premise seemed exciting, like a good chase movie. Lots of potential here, but it failed to deliver in one important (to me, anyway) area...the characters were just too flat, no depth and I never really got a feel for who they were. Other than that one little flaw, a fun read.
May 28, 2012
Pretty poor writing and an unsubstantial story with almost zero character development. Still, it was interesting enough. Not a survival story as the jacket claimed. More a story about unpleasant people who make very bad decisions.
May 24, 2013
I think this book is very intense, and full of action. This book reminds me of when I went on a boat trip, and but a ton more action. I would recommend this book, although it is kind of hard to follow.
March 7, 2013
This is a great book that will keep the reader asking "what would I do in this situation?" Very realistic considering the the black market drug trade, bad choices parents make to "better their children's lives" and encountering the greed in all of us. How much are you willing to risk?
May 13, 2014
It's a very predictable book has to do with a family taking money that they don't know belongs to a drug lord and well he kind of wants it back. Personally i didn't see it as a captivating read but don't let that influence you not to read it. Everyone has there own opinion.
June 18, 2012
I really liked this one. I liked being able to read each character's thoughts. I've always loved books that take place on the open sea. I'm an armchair adventurer.
July 16, 2012
An interesting story of three crafts meeting at sea and the lure of a bag full of cash. It didn't seem realistic at all, but it was entertaining.
April 9, 2014
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May 30, 2013
Just such a strange book
March 17, 2016
Absolutely terrible. The book is not well written and doesn't follow the given summary at all. Ick. An utter waste of time.
October 21, 2016
It was a good book with excitement and a huge storm with a twisting ending
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 26, 2018they are lost in a storm the mood of the story is distrustful
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews