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The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand
From award-winning ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman, and written using exclusive interviews and information comes the definitive account of the dramatic story that gripped the world: the miracle rescue of twelve boys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cave miles underground for nearly three weeks—a pulse-pounding page-turner by a reporter who was there every step of their journey out.
After a practice in June 2018, a Thai soccer coach took a dozen of his young players to explore a famous but flood-prone cave. It was one of the boys’ birthday, but neither he nor the dozen resurfaced. Worried parents and rescuers flocked to the mouth of a cave that seemed to have swallowed the boys without a trace. Ranging in age from eleven to sixteen, the boys were all members of the Wild Boars soccer team. When water unexpectedly inundated the cave, blocking their escape, they retreated deeper inside, taking shelter in a side cavern. While the world feared them dead, the thirteen young souls survived by licking the condensation off the cave’s walls, meditating, and huddling together for warmth. In this thrilling account, ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman recounts this amazing story in depth and from every angle, exploring their time in the cave, the failed plans and human mistakes that nearly doomed them, and the daring mission that ultimately saved them. Gutman introduces the elite team of volunteer divers who risked death to execute a plan so risky that its American planners admitted, “for us, success would have meant getting just one boy out alive.” He takes you inside the meetings where life and death decisions were grimly made and describes how these heroes pulled off an improbable rescue under immense pressure, with the boys’ desperate parents and the entire world watching. One of the largest rescues in history was in doubt until the very last moment. Matt Gutman covered the story intensively, went deep inside the caves himself, and interviewed dozens of rescuers, experts and eye-witnessed around the world. The result is this pulse-pounding page-turner that vividly recreates this extraordinary event in all its intensity—and documents the ingenuity and sacrifice it took to succeed.
After a practice in June 2018, a Thai soccer coach took a dozen of his young players to explore a famous but flood-prone cave. It was one of the boys’ birthday, but neither he nor the dozen resurfaced. Worried parents and rescuers flocked to the mouth of a cave that seemed to have swallowed the boys without a trace. Ranging in age from eleven to sixteen, the boys were all members of the Wild Boars soccer team. When water unexpectedly inundated the cave, blocking their escape, they retreated deeper inside, taking shelter in a side cavern. While the world feared them dead, the thirteen young souls survived by licking the condensation off the cave’s walls, meditating, and huddling together for warmth. In this thrilling account, ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman recounts this amazing story in depth and from every angle, exploring their time in the cave, the failed plans and human mistakes that nearly doomed them, and the daring mission that ultimately saved them. Gutman introduces the elite team of volunteer divers who risked death to execute a plan so risky that its American planners admitted, “for us, success would have meant getting just one boy out alive.” He takes you inside the meetings where life and death decisions were grimly made and describes how these heroes pulled off an improbable rescue under immense pressure, with the boys’ desperate parents and the entire world watching. One of the largest rescues in history was in doubt until the very last moment. Matt Gutman covered the story intensively, went deep inside the caves himself, and interviewed dozens of rescuers, experts and eye-witnessed around the world. The result is this pulse-pounding page-turner that vividly recreates this extraordinary event in all its intensity—and documents the ingenuity and sacrifice it took to succeed.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2018
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2202 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 269 reviews
June 4, 2019
Several times as I was reading this book, my husband would ask me “But why read this? You already know how it’s going to end.” And I’d always reply, “You’re not going to believe what's happening right now!”
In the summer of 2018, like so many others around the world, I was riveted by the media coverage of the rescue operation to bring out 12 boys and their young soccer coach from deep inside a cave in Thailand. The miracle of finding them alive then became a metaphorical holding of our collective breath as we waited for days as a disparate group of cave explorers, military, and others frantically tried to figure out how to bring them out. Matt Gutman, Chief National Correspondent for ABC News, covered the rescue on the ground in Thailand and he shares a story of ingenuity, persistence, and a series of serendipitous minor and major miracles that led to the successfully bring them all out alive.
It’s an incredible story. Some of those miracles include: a British man living nearby knowing to call on the resources of some of the most experienced cave dive rescuers in the world in the UK; the fact that one of the rescuers who came in from Australia was also an anesthesiologist; and a vital pump not breaking until right at the last minute—any earlier and there would have been devastating consequences.
I don’t do well in confined spaces so I have zero understanding why people would want to willingly claw and squeeze their way through tunnels, in the pitch dark, while underwater for fun! Gutman does an excellent job of taking you through the long series of passages from the cave entrance to “Pattaya Beach,” the small sandbar where the boys had (yet another miracle!) found shelter. I found myself getting very uncomfortable as he conjured the sense of tight, enclosed space so well, and I frequently tensed up as different rescuers encountered moments of blind panic.
I won’t spoil the book for you by sharing all of the details. What does come through, though, is that this was not the success of a handful of people, but rather a masterful example of a huge team all coming together to figure out a very dangerous situation on the fly. Yes, there is competition, distrust, and cultural misunderstandings, all exacerbated by the life and death stakes not only for the boys, but also for the cave divers. But the hours of work that so many people did to lay guide ropes, transfer huge amounts of equipment along the miles of tunnels, and set everything up didn’t come through in the media coverage, and the book remedies that.
Read this if you want to find out just how dangerous this rescue was, what it really involved, and to understand why the rescuers believed only 2 – 3 of the boys would make it out alive.
In the summer of 2018, like so many others around the world, I was riveted by the media coverage of the rescue operation to bring out 12 boys and their young soccer coach from deep inside a cave in Thailand. The miracle of finding them alive then became a metaphorical holding of our collective breath as we waited for days as a disparate group of cave explorers, military, and others frantically tried to figure out how to bring them out. Matt Gutman, Chief National Correspondent for ABC News, covered the rescue on the ground in Thailand and he shares a story of ingenuity, persistence, and a series of serendipitous minor and major miracles that led to the successfully bring them all out alive.
It’s an incredible story. Some of those miracles include: a British man living nearby knowing to call on the resources of some of the most experienced cave dive rescuers in the world in the UK; the fact that one of the rescuers who came in from Australia was also an anesthesiologist; and a vital pump not breaking until right at the last minute—any earlier and there would have been devastating consequences.
I don’t do well in confined spaces so I have zero understanding why people would want to willingly claw and squeeze their way through tunnels, in the pitch dark, while underwater for fun! Gutman does an excellent job of taking you through the long series of passages from the cave entrance to “Pattaya Beach,” the small sandbar where the boys had (yet another miracle!) found shelter. I found myself getting very uncomfortable as he conjured the sense of tight, enclosed space so well, and I frequently tensed up as different rescuers encountered moments of blind panic.
I won’t spoil the book for you by sharing all of the details. What does come through, though, is that this was not the success of a handful of people, but rather a masterful example of a huge team all coming together to figure out a very dangerous situation on the fly. Yes, there is competition, distrust, and cultural misunderstandings, all exacerbated by the life and death stakes not only for the boys, but also for the cave divers. But the hours of work that so many people did to lay guide ropes, transfer huge amounts of equipment along the miles of tunnels, and set everything up didn’t come through in the media coverage, and the book remedies that.
Read this if you want to find out just how dangerous this rescue was, what it really involved, and to understand why the rescuers believed only 2 – 3 of the boys would make it out alive.
January 16, 2022
A nail-biting real life thriller about the rescue of 13 soccer team members stuck in a flooded cave system. Of course, most of us were aware of the media frenzy around this mission during the summer of 2018, but I had little insight into any details. Even though I knew all the boys got out, the chance of this was so slim that I literally held my breath during some of the passages. The real work started after they had been found, and during the intense days that followed, the likelihood that they would die of suffocation outweighed any other scenario.
March 10, 2021
This the story of the Thai boys and their soccer coach who were exploring an enormous and many-chambered cave in the countryside when the monsoon rains began, a month early, trapping them inside. They retreated farther and farther from the entrance until they were more than a mile inside, on a patch of rising dirt where they remained for fourteen days while the world watched and an international team of rescue cave divers and U.S. and Thai SEALS came up with a plan to get them out. It's a can't-put-down read even though the end is already well-known. The author is a correspondent for ABC news and a fine writer of non-fiction, if this book is anything to go by. I am, as Jane Austen would put it, all admiration: both for the writers and for the divers.
June 18, 2020
The Boys in the Cave is the true story of the miraculous rescue of twelve young footballers and their coach, trapped by floodwaters deep inside a massive cave system in Northern Thailand after a day trip goes horribly wrong. It’s two years ago already, but I can still remember being totally gripped - alongside most of the rest of the world - by a mission so complex and unprecedented, and the euphoria when news came in first that they had been first found alive, and then of their successful extraction. The American author is a head journalist for ABC News and was on site for most of the three weeks, and has interviewed many of the key figures involved.
I was fascinated by this story at the time, partly because only two months earlier I had been in Thailand, first for a medical conference and then for a kayaking trip. I’ve never seen the appeal of caving and the idea of being trapped underwater would have to be the scariest thing I can imagine. I haven’t been scuba diving in about fifteen years, but did quite a lot when I was younger, so also found the descriptions of diving through the cave absolutely terrifying. Thinking of twelve boys, the youngest only 11, imprisoned in the dark for nearly three weeks, their desperate parents waiting outside in the glare of the international media, with all experts predicting that pending monsoon rains would make rescue impossible, was just horrific. If I hadn’t known the ultimate outcome then I’m not sure I could’ve read this, then tension was so high. In fact if this were fiction one would dismiss the ending as being too unrealistic.
One of the fascinating aspects of the book is how much politics came into play, and sometimes jeapordised the operation. The outcome was ultimately a triumph of compassion over ego, and enormous amounts of luck, that people with just the right skills happened to be close by, or knew of other people with even more specialised skills who would abandon the safety of their lives and travel to the other side of the world to try and save these children. I felt pretty proud when we heard that the cave divers who first found the boys were two Brits - so it was slightly disturbing to read that they were supposed to hang back so the Thai Navy Seals could have the glory.
I was also very interested in the medical aspects of the rescue - as a travel doctor I know more than most about tropical infectious diseases, so the range of possible infections faced not just by the boys and their rescuers but also by the thousands of volunteers, army, media, family and support workers in that hot humid muddy environment was huge. Unfortunately the book barely touched on this.
Then there were the technicalities of anaesthetising the boys to allow underwater transfer - which at first no one was willing to risk - Gutman describes how the heroic Australian anaesthetist who achieved this initially insisted on being granted immunity from prosecution or litigation before even setting foot in the country, because he feared being blamed for their deaths. I don’t remember hearing at the time about how the dive team had to give repeated injections of ketamine to keep the boys unconscious during the many hours required. The saddest part is obviously the death of Thai Navy Seal Saman Gunan, who sacrificed his life to the mission, and the portrait at the end brought a tear to my eye. The book is, appropriately, dedicated to him.
Where the book drags a bit is when he introduces and describes every single actor in the drama - the attention to detail is admirable but I soon lost track of who was who. It’s understandable as some of the unpublicised heroes - like the Thai water engineer who coordinated the pumping that allowed access, and the American rock climber who bridges the delicate gap between the international teams, and the Thai government and military, to allow the mission to proceed. The only sour notes are his nauseating fawning over the odious egomaniac, who tried to hijack the rescue with his impractical pod to impress his Twitter followers - perhaps Gutman was afraid of getting sued, also some fairly unkind and unwarranted speculation over the motives of some participants.
I read this on my Kindle, but also downloaded it to my iPad, so I could refer to the maps, and see all the photos at the end. Overall, if you’re interested to know more from behind the scenes of arguably the most amazing story of the 21st Century so far, this is a comprehensive and competently written account.
Perhaps one day it might include interviews with some of the boys themselves, once they reach adulthood, which would help round it out better.
I was fascinated by this story at the time, partly because only two months earlier I had been in Thailand, first for a medical conference and then for a kayaking trip. I’ve never seen the appeal of caving and the idea of being trapped underwater would have to be the scariest thing I can imagine. I haven’t been scuba diving in about fifteen years, but did quite a lot when I was younger, so also found the descriptions of diving through the cave absolutely terrifying. Thinking of twelve boys, the youngest only 11, imprisoned in the dark for nearly three weeks, their desperate parents waiting outside in the glare of the international media, with all experts predicting that pending monsoon rains would make rescue impossible, was just horrific. If I hadn’t known the ultimate outcome then I’m not sure I could’ve read this, then tension was so high. In fact if this were fiction one would dismiss the ending as being too unrealistic.
One of the fascinating aspects of the book is how much politics came into play, and sometimes jeapordised the operation. The outcome was ultimately a triumph of compassion over ego, and enormous amounts of luck, that people with just the right skills happened to be close by, or knew of other people with even more specialised skills who would abandon the safety of their lives and travel to the other side of the world to try and save these children. I felt pretty proud when we heard that the cave divers who first found the boys were two Brits - so it was slightly disturbing to read that they were supposed to hang back so the Thai Navy Seals could have the glory.
I was also very interested in the medical aspects of the rescue - as a travel doctor I know more than most about tropical infectious diseases, so the range of possible infections faced not just by the boys and their rescuers but also by the thousands of volunteers, army, media, family and support workers in that hot humid muddy environment was huge. Unfortunately the book barely touched on this.
Then there were the technicalities of anaesthetising the boys to allow underwater transfer - which at first no one was willing to risk - Gutman describes how the heroic Australian anaesthetist who achieved this initially insisted on being granted immunity from prosecution or litigation before even setting foot in the country, because he feared being blamed for their deaths. I don’t remember hearing at the time about how the dive team had to give repeated injections of ketamine to keep the boys unconscious during the many hours required. The saddest part is obviously the death of Thai Navy Seal Saman Gunan, who sacrificed his life to the mission, and the portrait at the end brought a tear to my eye. The book is, appropriately, dedicated to him.
Where the book drags a bit is when he introduces and describes every single actor in the drama - the attention to detail is admirable but I soon lost track of who was who. It’s understandable as some of the unpublicised heroes - like the Thai water engineer who coordinated the pumping that allowed access, and the American rock climber who bridges the delicate gap between the international teams, and the Thai government and military, to allow the mission to proceed. The only sour notes are his nauseating fawning over the odious egomaniac, who tried to hijack the rescue with his impractical pod to impress his Twitter followers - perhaps Gutman was afraid of getting sued, also some fairly unkind and unwarranted speculation over the motives of some participants.
I read this on my Kindle, but also downloaded it to my iPad, so I could refer to the maps, and see all the photos at the end. Overall, if you’re interested to know more from behind the scenes of arguably the most amazing story of the 21st Century so far, this is a comprehensive and competently written account.
Perhaps one day it might include interviews with some of the boys themselves, once they reach adulthood, which would help round it out better.
March 8, 2019
Like many people around the world, this story fascinated me. I remember watching it on the news and praying for the boys. As with all news stories, you catch snippets and see just one small portion of the whole story. So I was excited when I found this book.
The trouble with this book is that it gets a little bogged down in the middle. For a prologue, you are with the divers as they first encounter the soccer team who have been trapped at this point for 10 days. Then you go back to the fateful day when the team decides to do a little caving after soccer practice. It's really interesting and while I couldn't relate to all thirteen, Matt does a good job personifying them.
And then we meet the rescuers. ALL the rescuers. Matt works hard to acknowledge as many as possible and talk about what they were doing to assist in the rescue. Name after name is thrown at you with a mini-bio. I was so confused. Matt has interviewed all these people so they are very real, but they just became a blur in my mind.
The other big issue was the cave itself. The boys and the coach were trapped in what became known as chamber 9. That meant that the divers had to go through 8 chambers and tunnels in order to get to them. Again, very interesting but the details started to bog me down.
From meeting the boys on July 2nd to the rescue on July 8th a lot of talking and planning happened. Great. I feel like it should have, but this is where I feel the book dragged. SO much. We don't get the pictures until close to page 200.
The book picks up with the actual rescue and the author again does a great job describing the torturous journey and the absolute faith these boys had. When you know that the divers went in with the expectation of getting one boy out alive, you have to admire their work. Unfortunately, probably due to how much the boys were willing to talk, you really lose the boys' story.
They talk about how it felt to be in total darkness all the time (not fun), starvation (REALLY not fun), and the excitement mixed with fear when the divers first showed up. But they were prepped on how they were going to get out of the cave. You don't hear from any of them about whether they were nervous or if they really understood what was happening.
So this book was good, but it was almost too thorough about some of the technical details. I would have liked a little more human side to the story.
The trouble with this book is that it gets a little bogged down in the middle. For a prologue, you are with the divers as they first encounter the soccer team who have been trapped at this point for 10 days. Then you go back to the fateful day when the team decides to do a little caving after soccer practice. It's really interesting and while I couldn't relate to all thirteen, Matt does a good job personifying them.
And then we meet the rescuers. ALL the rescuers. Matt works hard to acknowledge as many as possible and talk about what they were doing to assist in the rescue. Name after name is thrown at you with a mini-bio. I was so confused. Matt has interviewed all these people so they are very real, but they just became a blur in my mind.
The other big issue was the cave itself. The boys and the coach were trapped in what became known as chamber 9. That meant that the divers had to go through 8 chambers and tunnels in order to get to them. Again, very interesting but the details started to bog me down.
From meeting the boys on July 2nd to the rescue on July 8th a lot of talking and planning happened. Great. I feel like it should have, but this is where I feel the book dragged. SO much. We don't get the pictures until close to page 200.
The book picks up with the actual rescue and the author again does a great job describing the torturous journey and the absolute faith these boys had. When you know that the divers went in with the expectation of getting one boy out alive, you have to admire their work. Unfortunately, probably due to how much the boys were willing to talk, you really lose the boys' story.
They talk about how it felt to be in total darkness all the time (not fun), starvation (REALLY not fun), and the excitement mixed with fear when the divers first showed up. But they were prepped on how they were going to get out of the cave. You don't hear from any of them about whether they were nervous or if they really understood what was happening.
So this book was good, but it was almost too thorough about some of the technical details. I would have liked a little more human side to the story.
June 24, 2019
This book is terrifying, but such a page turner. On every page I keep going “NOPE. NOPE. NO WAY” Amazing that this rescue actually happened. The story is well told.
January 8, 2019
This is an excellent book with detailed information surrounding the geographical, medical, physical, political, and emotional trials the rescue team(s) faced in getting the 12 Thai boys and their coach from the flooded cave in summer 2018.
There are details and angles of the story that mainstream media perhaps didn't know, or missed, in reporting when the ordeal was taking place. It's so easy for couch warriors to say "Well why didn't they just drill them out!" or some other similar response. This book offers insight into the magnitude of problems that were working AGAINST the teams.
It's a political climate (the politicians wanted a Thai team to be the first the boys saw), an emotional climate (there are 12 children trapped and likely to die), a geographical problem (this is a deep cave, at least a mile inward and downward, with places so narrow that some divers had to be turned away because they wouldn't fit), a religious angle (though not all of the families were Buddhist, those that were were also highly superstitious because of the Sleeping Princess legend and mountain), a meteorological problem because the monsoon season was starting and the area had already had higher than usual rainfall, then a medical problem because of oxygen in the airtight room. Oh and a personnel problem because cave divers are a small percentage of hobbyists in the world, and then RESCUE cave divers are an even smaller percentage.
I mean, everything is stacked against this rescue for LIVE children, let alone just bodies.
There are a few pictures in the book, and one graphic of the cave's map, but I really wish I'd had more throughout when the different chambers and stopping points became so vital to the story.
I realize this book happened quickly, as in, the rescue itself was only a few months ago and as time goes on, more details and viewpoints will become books. And a movie, very likely. But the author did a fantastic job in interviewing the families and getting a good foothold in the region. Things like, the religious backgrounds, the school discipline, even the authoritarian obedience all playing a factor in making this rescue happen (and an understanding of how this rescue maybe wouldn't have taken place in the U.S. if it had been there.)
Highly recommended for the curiosity seeking!
There are details and angles of the story that mainstream media perhaps didn't know, or missed, in reporting when the ordeal was taking place. It's so easy for couch warriors to say "Well why didn't they just drill them out!" or some other similar response. This book offers insight into the magnitude of problems that were working AGAINST the teams.
It's a political climate (the politicians wanted a Thai team to be the first the boys saw), an emotional climate (there are 12 children trapped and likely to die), a geographical problem (this is a deep cave, at least a mile inward and downward, with places so narrow that some divers had to be turned away because they wouldn't fit), a religious angle (though not all of the families were Buddhist, those that were were also highly superstitious because of the Sleeping Princess legend and mountain), a meteorological problem because the monsoon season was starting and the area had already had higher than usual rainfall, then a medical problem because of oxygen in the airtight room. Oh and a personnel problem because cave divers are a small percentage of hobbyists in the world, and then RESCUE cave divers are an even smaller percentage.
I mean, everything is stacked against this rescue for LIVE children, let alone just bodies.
There are a few pictures in the book, and one graphic of the cave's map, but I really wish I'd had more throughout when the different chambers and stopping points became so vital to the story.
I realize this book happened quickly, as in, the rescue itself was only a few months ago and as time goes on, more details and viewpoints will become books. And a movie, very likely. But the author did a fantastic job in interviewing the families and getting a good foothold in the region. Things like, the religious backgrounds, the school discipline, even the authoritarian obedience all playing a factor in making this rescue happen (and an understanding of how this rescue maybe wouldn't have taken place in the U.S. if it had been there.)
Highly recommended for the curiosity seeking!
February 20, 2020
Vizita celor 12 membri ai echipei de fotbal juniori (11-16 ani) și antrenorului acestora (25 ani) la peștera Tham Luang a ajuns să fie o capcană aproape letală pentru toată echupa. Neglijând condițiile meteorologice acute în acea perioadă, nivelul apei a crescut repede împiedicând copiii să iasă, peștera urmând să-i țină captivi timp de 10 zile.
Problema locală s-a transformat într-o problemă de importanță națională. Băieții, peșteră, operațiune de salvare, pompe, diveri. Ziarele scriau: căutările copiilor pierduți în peșteră continuă. Mii de militari și salvamari, tehnică sofisticată modernă, cabluri, fire electrice șerpuiau în bezna peșterii. Părinții copiilor dormeau în corturi, murdari de noroi de la ploaia care nu înceta, așteptând vești. Corturi amplasau cantine, puncte medicale, baricade, routere si relee care asigurau cea mai rapidă și sigură conecțiune din Thailanda. Salvatorii dormeau în mașini, soldații cșdeau în nisipul de la intrarea in peșteră și adormeau extenuați.
În haosul creat, autoritățile aveau viziuni diferite asupra situației și aruncau cu ordine ridicole și imposibil de îndeplinit.
Nu a lipsit nici competiția dintre echipele de salvatori. Unii voiau să fie primii, si, astfel, multă informație nu s-a dezvăluit altor echipe de salvare, ceea ce a pus piedici organizării, astfel amânând salvarea băieților cu câteva zile, timp prețios ținând cont că aceștia erau înfometați, deshidratați, slăbiți și cu posibile traume.
Cartea e scrisă de un jurnalist aflat la fața locului și se bazează pe surse video, articole, mărturisiri ale supraviețuitorilor, salvatorilor și toti ceilalți implicați în operațiune.
Cartea și evenimentele pe care le descrie e o dovadă că la nevoie orice impediment politic, lingvistic și de simpatie dispare sau trebuie depășit. Oameni din toate colțurile lumii s-au adunat pentru a sări in ajutor copiilor. Cartea mai e un omagiu eroilor neînfricați care au dat dovadă de curaj și sârguință, și celui care și-a pierdut viața în procesul de salvare, Saman Kunan, diverul care asigura copiii cu rezervoare de oxigen.
Problema locală s-a transformat într-o problemă de importanță națională. Băieții, peșteră, operațiune de salvare, pompe, diveri. Ziarele scriau: căutările copiilor pierduți în peșteră continuă. Mii de militari și salvamari, tehnică sofisticată modernă, cabluri, fire electrice șerpuiau în bezna peșterii. Părinții copiilor dormeau în corturi, murdari de noroi de la ploaia care nu înceta, așteptând vești. Corturi amplasau cantine, puncte medicale, baricade, routere si relee care asigurau cea mai rapidă și sigură conecțiune din Thailanda. Salvatorii dormeau în mașini, soldații cșdeau în nisipul de la intrarea in peșteră și adormeau extenuați.
În haosul creat, autoritățile aveau viziuni diferite asupra situației și aruncau cu ordine ridicole și imposibil de îndeplinit.
Nu a lipsit nici competiția dintre echipele de salvatori. Unii voiau să fie primii, si, astfel, multă informație nu s-a dezvăluit altor echipe de salvare, ceea ce a pus piedici organizării, astfel amânând salvarea băieților cu câteva zile, timp prețios ținând cont că aceștia erau înfometați, deshidratați, slăbiți și cu posibile traume.
Cartea e scrisă de un jurnalist aflat la fața locului și se bazează pe surse video, articole, mărturisiri ale supraviețuitorilor, salvatorilor și toti ceilalți implicați în operațiune.
Cartea și evenimentele pe care le descrie e o dovadă că la nevoie orice impediment politic, lingvistic și de simpatie dispare sau trebuie depășit. Oameni din toate colțurile lumii s-au adunat pentru a sări in ajutor copiilor. Cartea mai e un omagiu eroilor neînfricați care au dat dovadă de curaj și sârguință, și celui care și-a pierdut viața în procesul de salvare, Saman Kunan, diverul care asigura copiii cu rezervoare de oxigen.
November 4, 2020
Gripping Rescue Account
This book is one of those amazing survival reads that keep you glued to the story from start to finish. (I only took a break mid-book to go vote, since it is Election day here in the states.) It recounts a daring operation by rescue teams from around the world in a Thai cave, where 12 young preteen-teen boys on the local soccer team became trapped by early Summer flooding. It made international news, and all 12 boys and the assistant coach were rescued after two weeks in heartbreaking conditions. But, the details make fascinating reading. And, the author did a wonderful job.
Despite the normal conflict between personalities involved in the rescue operations, the author shows a respect for all parties, with insightful reporting. He seemed to understand where each person was coming from, within the scope of their own personality and character traits.
I could certainly sympathize with the Thai government officials, who seemed to be most concerned for the boys' safety and the good of the country as a whole. Like in Burma, the military has a tight control on the power of the country. But, Thailand made it through the colonial era without suffering the indignities of colonization because of the strength of that same military. While the leaders didn't always take the actions other countries wanted taken, his reasons were always within the bounds of what he thought best for the children and their families... for his people as a whole. That is good leadership.
I selected it months ago for my read when I arrived in Thailand (my current stop) on my Journey Around the World in 80 Books for 2019-2020. My next stop is Vietnam. I enjoyed the whisper-sync Kindle with Audible narrated by the author. Mr. Gutman reads well, and has a young and energetic voice that keeps you interested with all the tonal changes and clear pronunciation. I was pleased to have both the audio and e-text, especially since the Kindle format includes all the photos. This book is well worth reading! There are Go-pro videos of the rescue online, as well as documentaries. But, the book is much more riveting than the videos in this case.
This book is one of those amazing survival reads that keep you glued to the story from start to finish. (I only took a break mid-book to go vote, since it is Election day here in the states.) It recounts a daring operation by rescue teams from around the world in a Thai cave, where 12 young preteen-teen boys on the local soccer team became trapped by early Summer flooding. It made international news, and all 12 boys and the assistant coach were rescued after two weeks in heartbreaking conditions. But, the details make fascinating reading. And, the author did a wonderful job.
Despite the normal conflict between personalities involved in the rescue operations, the author shows a respect for all parties, with insightful reporting. He seemed to understand where each person was coming from, within the scope of their own personality and character traits.
I could certainly sympathize with the Thai government officials, who seemed to be most concerned for the boys' safety and the good of the country as a whole. Like in Burma, the military has a tight control on the power of the country. But, Thailand made it through the colonial era without suffering the indignities of colonization because of the strength of that same military. While the leaders didn't always take the actions other countries wanted taken, his reasons were always within the bounds of what he thought best for the children and their families... for his people as a whole. That is good leadership.
I selected it months ago for my read when I arrived in Thailand (my current stop) on my Journey Around the World in 80 Books for 2019-2020. My next stop is Vietnam. I enjoyed the whisper-sync Kindle with Audible narrated by the author. Mr. Gutman reads well, and has a young and energetic voice that keeps you interested with all the tonal changes and clear pronunciation. I was pleased to have both the audio and e-text, especially since the Kindle format includes all the photos. This book is well worth reading! There are Go-pro videos of the rescue online, as well as documentaries. But, the book is much more riveting than the videos in this case.
November 23, 2018
4.5 rounding up. I was overwhelmed with this news event, I could barely breath until everyone exited the cave for days, this book had my anxiety level sky rocketing again even though I knew the outcome! With loads of behind the scenes info I read this in one sitting, snapping at my husband to be quiet if he dare talk to me as I was plummeting deep in the cave in the cold silty waters medicating comatose kids! Frankly, I could use a stiff drink now, the book was an adrenaline rush for me!
May 28, 2024
This story is absolutely insane! I actually never heard about this until I saw the movie 13 Lives (great movie, by the way). So yes, I was already familiar with the story after that, but was still very interested in reading about it.
This definitely pulled me in from the prologue, and I basically read every chance I got. It's a 9 hour audiobook, so I really did not expect to finish this as quickly as I did, but I couldn't help but fly through this. It's very well written, and the rescue mission is explained in very great detail. Honestly, sometimes it's a bit too wordy, and I had to re-read some parts to fully grasp it. But overall, I really loved reading about this.
This definitely pulled me in from the prologue, and I basically read every chance I got. It's a 9 hour audiobook, so I really did not expect to finish this as quickly as I did, but I couldn't help but fly through this. It's very well written, and the rescue mission is explained in very great detail. Honestly, sometimes it's a bit too wordy, and I had to re-read some parts to fully grasp it. But overall, I really loved reading about this.
July 2, 2021
(4.5 starts)A good retelling of the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their coach that got stuck in a cave in 2018. The story is incredible and the way the rescue unfolded is even more remarkable. A world came together and did everything in their power to rescue this kids. Thai, Europe, US, Australia, Europe, etc all pitched in and made the damn thing happen is such a short period of time... it is almost unbelievable when you learn about this deadly cave and the circumstances in it. I have a new found respect for rescue cave divers, a specialty that is impressive in any light. I knocked off a star only because I felt the writing could have been a hair better, at times I wanted a little more description or detail.
January 24, 2019
I was enamored by the news stories of the 12 boys who were trapped in the cave in Thailand this past summer. Conceptually I thought I understood the complexity. However, this book helped me realize how something so harmless could suddenly turn so dangerous and how utterly amazing it is that all 12 boys as well as everybody else got out alive. The overlapping themes of politics, religion, expertise (medical and cave diving), and the unpredictability of weather conditions were fascinating and created a riveting story that I couldn't put down.
January 28, 2019
This story is still fairly new especially to the book fans. The story had a lot of repetitive details that got a little old, but the story itself is an amazing rescue story well worth the time to read. A bit of foul language their in as well.
September 2, 2024
This was about the rescue of the 12 Thai soccer team members and their coach being rescued from a flooded cave. My memory isn't exact, I didn't take notes and some of the info may be incorrect. The first half was all very technical. This book didn't tell us much about the boys while they were in the cave. There probably wasn't too much to tell though. They were cold, hungry and scared in the dark. It is clear that meditation and the boys' obedience helped. It was very hard to keep all the key players straight. Many names were foreign to me, of course, and hard to remember. The author made it even more confusing by sometimes referring to someone by their last name, and other times by their first. I guess I didn't realize that sacrifices were still offered to gods or spirits in 2018. It's no more bizarre than other religious/superstitious practices, but I guess I just assumed that it wasn't a thing anymore. This helped me to understand Thai culture a bit better. The cave was part of a cautionary tale about a princess who got knocked up out of wedlock and her father killed the baby daddy. She then kills herself and the baby. The mountain and cave are supposed to be shaped like her face, breasts and belly. Thai people believe the cave has spirits and don't usually venture in after dark. A mid-level Buddhist monk came to appease the spirits and was told that it must have a sacrifice of a cow, bison and 2 men in exchange for the 13. A very fit triathlete did end up dying. Soon after, a high ranking monk came to renegotiate and fix the still-learning monk's missteps. He negotiated for 13 chickens, one for each of the victims, I think. It's sad that some cultures are still stuck in behaviors that can be detrimental. Like, everyone is so afraid of delivering bad news to the Prime Minister, that they won't abandon bad ideas that aren't working in this situation. Ideas like trying to drill an exit tunnel which has worked for minors trapped in very different situations and trying to feed an air tube to where they were stuck. It just caused a more dangerous situation for the rescue divers and wasted time, resources and left more people to pollute the water with pee and poo. Everyone knows how dangerous contaminated water is. If no expenses were being spared, why couldn't they provide workers with empty bottles for pissing into and lined camping toilets to dispose of their shit in a bag? That could've helped so many people avoid illness, not to mention improving the smell. Why didn't they have back up pumps at the cave, just in case one failed. No one wanted to admit to the higher ups that the ideas weren't working and why. Also, there is still this saving face, machismo BS that just won't go away. The movie The King and I illustrates just how to stupid this futile practice of saving face is, and that happened in 1862. Come on, get over your egos! It's dangerous and just shows your stupidity. This phenomenon appears to be a strictly male problem and can be found worldwide. Thank goodness a few good men were willing to risk their careers and reputations to speak the truth and make sure that the higher ups were informed of what was really going on. The guys in the cave didn't have enough clean air and the situation was dire. I'm glad that the right people for the rescue agreed to help and were allowed to. I thought the whole thing with the megalomaniac, Elon Musk, was hilarious. He may be a genius and have some of the world's best engineers at his disposal, but they weren't experts at cave diving rescues. I hope his heart was in the right place when he tried to help, but calling the rescuer a pedo and throwing a man-sized tantrum because his little idea wasn't helpful is ridiculous. Between that, and the stepping on of each other's toes, done by the different divers, it's a miracle that the rescue wasn't choked out by all the toxic masculinity. They should have given the mom who was trying to build up her strength so she could swim her son out, a crash course in cave diving and let her have at it. Never underestimate the power of a mama bear protecting her cub. All the tiger moms should have banded together and the whole thing probably would've been over in 5 days. Too bad testosterone had to get in the way of a smoother rescue. I'm so glad they all got out ok and so sad that one man lost his life trying to help.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2022
I remember watching bits and pieces of this in 2018, a Thai team of young soccer players and their young coach trapped in a cave with many chambers, and the seemingly impossible possibility of a rescue. I had forgotten that these boys were not swimmers, adding to the mounting obstacles preventing a quick rescue. I knew the end result, but listening to this account brought back all the anxiety that I felt at the time, waiting for/hoping for good news of a rescue. I thought this was a fascinating read, so much behind the scenes info that was kept hush from the world as many came together to plan the rescue.
August 5, 2025
I was thinking about rating this lower early on, as I struggled to get through the first 100 pages or so. The build up to the rescue felt long winded with fewer interesting details than I was expecting. However, I now realize that a lot of the details about the rescue were kept locked up pretty tight until after all was said and done, and I commend the author on his investigative journalism after the fact. The description of the rescue was very well done, almost as if he had a camera right there the whole time, despite all of it most likely being from 1st/2nd hand accounts. The organization and execution of the rescue was extraordinary and the way this story is told is very well done.
July 2, 2025
If anyone thinks they may find this book boring even for a moment, I can promise you that isn't possible. I don't think Matt could have told the story of this amazing rescue any better. He's very matter of fact, but doesn't overwhelm you with facts. He doesn't dive deep into the history of the people he's writing about to try and get people in their emotions. He tells you exactly what happened when it happened, and really shows you what a miracle it was that all those boys made it out alive, and how without a few expert divers from around the world fighting to be heard, none of them would have stood a chance.
I recommend the audio book which is narrated by Matt Gutman himself.
So many brave people put their own lives on the line to rescue a group of teens they didn't know. One even lost their life. I applaud everyone involved, I applaud the boys for how mature and positive they remained. A truly amazing book about a truly amazing rescue.
I recommend the audio book which is narrated by Matt Gutman himself.
So many brave people put their own lives on the line to rescue a group of teens they didn't know. One even lost their life. I applaud everyone involved, I applaud the boys for how mature and positive they remained. A truly amazing book about a truly amazing rescue.
June 2, 2025
I enjoyed this book but I did think it dragged on in some chapters and the author of the book was just a news reporter and not a survivor from the cave.
January 14, 2020
For some reason, I missed learning about the teenage boys stuck in a Thailand cave in the summer of 2018. At the time, the story of their ordeal and rescue was big news the world over. I am much more up to date with the news now, but back then, not as much unfortunately. This book was written by an ABC news journalist who covered the story in detail. This captivated me from beginning to end. I had a hard time putting the book down and found it very suspenseful when the rescue got going even though I knew the boys would all make it. It was still nerve wracking at times to read, but so, so interesting. Many, many people from all over the world were involved in this rescue, it truly could not have happened without the expertise from so many countries and organizations, both military and non military. It was interesting to read about the difficulties in coordinating all these agencies and people from different disciplines and countries. There were also differences of opinion on how to proceed and what to focus on before a rescue could happen. The author talks about lots of disorganization, lack of communication and wasted time, to be expected when so many people are involved, but perplexing when lives are at stake and time is running out. There were many heroes in this story - the cave divers who brought the boys out being the most obvious, but also there were people who devised ways to pump water out of the cave so the rescue could happen. There were also mountain climbers who spent days trying to find other entrances and routes that would be safer than an underwater rescue. Lots of heroes also arranging things behind the scene. So many people involved meant lots of individuals to keep up with while reading, something I found tedious and exasperating at times. The stranded boys themselves I found surprising. They remained unusually calm, cooperative and positive throughout their long ordeal. This could be credited to their culture and religious beliefs. While stuck in the cave, they also practiced meditation with their coach. They were an inspiration during the story. Wow, this was such an emotional, heartwarming book I am so glad I read and one of the more compelling ones I have read in awhile. I loved learning about this event and the cooperation between so many people to bring an almost impossible rescue to happen.
December 10, 2018
I don't read much non-fiction but this book caught my attention because I was so interested in their rescue while it was happening. It was a very interesting book and gave a lot of behind the scenes information that had not been available during the rescue.
Back in June, 2018, we first learned about the Thai soccer team - 12 young boys and their coach - were trapped deep in a cave. Authorities knew that they were in the cave because they found their bikes and backpacks but they had no idea where they were inside the massive cave or even if they were still alive. The rainy season had started and much of the cave was flooded and only accessible by trained divers. Once the boys were found, a plan had to be made to get them out. Everyone on the rescue team felt that there was no chance that all boys would be brought out alive. It was only through the skill and determination of several of the dive leaders that all the boys survived.
Even knowing the outcome of the rescue attempts didn't deter from the excitement in this book. I had no idea all that was involved and how totally dangerous it was for all involved. If you were glued to your TV set during this rescue, you need to read this book and get more in-depth information to realize what heroes the rescuers really were.
Back in June, 2018, we first learned about the Thai soccer team - 12 young boys and their coach - were trapped deep in a cave. Authorities knew that they were in the cave because they found their bikes and backpacks but they had no idea where they were inside the massive cave or even if they were still alive. The rainy season had started and much of the cave was flooded and only accessible by trained divers. Once the boys were found, a plan had to be made to get them out. Everyone on the rescue team felt that there was no chance that all boys would be brought out alive. It was only through the skill and determination of several of the dive leaders that all the boys survived.
Even knowing the outcome of the rescue attempts didn't deter from the excitement in this book. I had no idea all that was involved and how totally dangerous it was for all involved. If you were glued to your TV set during this rescue, you need to read this book and get more in-depth information to realize what heroes the rescuers really were.
August 8, 2020
Matt Gutman does a great job of taking this headline-grabbing drama from summer 2018 and turning it into an exciting thriller. Even though I knew from the start that all the boys and their coach would be rescued, and that one diver would die, I was on the edge of my seat with the suspense of the details. How did the team get trapped in the first place, and how did they survive all those days in the cave? Who found them, and how on earth did they ever get them out? Seeing the diagrams of the cave and reading about the incredibly difficult conditions for the divers made me marvel even more that this story had an overall happy ending. I tried scuba diving, and felt panicked and claustrophobic in the clear warm waters of Jamaica, so the idea of swimming against the current for hours through 70 degree water with 6 inches of visibility -- oh, and let's add that you are in a completely submerged small tunnel and keep bumping your head on stalactites and dragging your abraded feet against rocks -- that is the stuff of nightmares!
4 stars for the book (and 10 stars to the rescuers!).
4 stars for the book (and 10 stars to the rescuers!).
December 17, 2018
When I heard about a teenage soccer team whom were trapped deep in a cave in Thailand, I wondered "how in the hell did they get in there?" Then as the rescue attempts became an even bigger head scratcher I wondered why was it taking so long. This book, written by one of the newscasters on scene since the beginning, delivered those answers. The boys were cave exploring with their coach, and completely unaware of the rain outside became trapped when the path leading to the outside world was filled with raging rain waters. The monsoon season makes deeper areas of the cave unreachable without dive equipment, but that wasn't supposed to start for another month. One thing I realized was the massive pissing contest the rescuers played in deciding who would make first contact, the best approach, and the best plan for rescue. Overall, it's a great read.
April 29, 2019
Even though we know what happened last summer by watching the news, this book was still an "edge of your seat" story! I had so many questions about how the rescue took place that were fully explained in the book. The full story proves that the rescue was even more of a miracle than was gathered from the news reports. So many behind the scenes details about the real heroes of the rescue. Wonderful account.
July 10, 2020
I know this much is true:
1. Courage + resilience + brilliance = making the impossible, possible
2. I hate cliches, but teamwork does work.
3. I am never going inside a cave again.
P.S. ROC is my new favorite term = Rehearsal of Concept; as we try to head back to school in the fall, this might be a strategy to consider.
1. Courage + resilience + brilliance = making the impossible, possible
2. I hate cliches, but teamwork does work.
3. I am never going inside a cave again.
P.S. ROC is my new favorite term = Rehearsal of Concept; as we try to head back to school in the fall, this might be a strategy to consider.
August 19, 2020
“They were over a mile and a half into the Tham Luang cave; directly above were six hundred yards of limestone rock. Not a single photon of light penetrates this place — so when flashlights are switched off, there was nothing for the rods and cones of their retinas to adjust to. The darkness was complete.”
December 4, 2018
I don’t read much nonfiction, so this is a little out of my routine. I needed something to listen to on my drives and this was available. It is a fascinating story and I had no idea how complex the situation was as it was unfolding in real life. I’ll try more nonfiction in the future.
December 24, 2020
A thorough, detailed account of the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave system in Thailand. It really is amazing the way the rescue came together and Gutman tells the story very well. Even when you know the outcome, he still keeps you on the edge of your seat.
December 11, 2018
Standard reporting about how the boys got stuck in the cave and the logistics of getting them out.
September 25, 2019
Exceptional story of bravery, teamwork, ingenuity, courage, stupidity, selfishness, self-preservation. Worth a read.
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