In the tradition of Erik Larson and David Grann, Save Our Souls is the riveting, true account of an unlucky family shipwrecked on a remote island with a known murderer; and it might just be the book to get you into reading non-fiction.

Fact is often stranger than fiction and books like this illustrate that point. Although it sounds like the plot of Swiss Family Robinson, or maybe a drama mini-series, in 1887 a shark fishing vessel wrecked off the coast of Midway Atoll stranding its remaining crew there. Among those stranded were the Walker family, a captain husband, his wife, three sons, and their loyal canine, Jessie. Far from the lush, verdant islands scattered across most shipwreck fiction, Midway is mostly sand and birds, making survival a constant challenge. But in addition to surviving the elements, the Walkers and their crew have to contend with a mysterious castaway already present on the island, a man whose experience and history may be the difference between life and death.

I knew absolutely nothing about this event prior to reading this. My initial reaction was one of elation and gratitude that someone had gone through the trouble to write a whole book about the topic. This read was exactly what I was looking for, well-paced and researched, with more than enough information to appease my curiosity. The author does a splendid job of building suspense, so much so that one afternoon I read for hours in one sitting because I absolutely had to get some answers. On the whole this was an immediately engaging, well written book laden with a profusion of detail and told with astute deftness.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes exciting, absorbing non-fiction, or even readers who usually only read thrillers and adventure titles, there is more than enough of both here to satisfy anyone.