THE OUTLAW SEA A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime

William Langewiesche describes the almost anarchic world of the open ocean--poorly maintained tankers foundering with millions of barrels of oil, pirates attacking cargo ships with impunity, and the potential for terrorist attack from a merchant vessel. Langewiesche is an extraordinary reporter, and his stories of individual ships and their crews are compelling, particularly his recounting of the final hours of the ESTONIA, a passenger ship that sank with more than 800 people in the Baltic Sea in 1994. As a narrator, Langewiesche's tone is a bit detached -- he sounds like one might imagine a hard-nosed investigative journalist would--but there's authority and conviction in his delivery. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]