07 Apr Book Review: Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler and Jere Longman

Some books hit hard because they’re rooted in real events, and Not Without Hope is one of those stories that stays with you because you know every harrowing detail actually happened. This isn’t a novel or a fictional survival tale—it’s a firsthand account of a tragic boating accident that claimed three lives and left one man to tell the story. Written by Nick Schuyler, the sole survivor, along with journalist Jere Longman, it’s a raw, detailed, and haunting memoir that tries to make sense of both the physical ordeal and the emotional aftermath.

What’s it about?

In February 2009, four friends—Nick Schuyler, Will Bleakley, and NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith—set off on a fishing trip from the coast of Florida. It was supposed to be a day out on the water, nothing unusual for a group of athletic, confident, and experienced guys. The weather was a little rougher than expected, but they were on a 21-foot Everglades boat and didn’t anticipate trouble.

That changed fast.

The anchor got stuck on the seafloor, and when the men tried to free it by tying the anchor line to the boat’s engine and gunning it, the boat flipped. Just like that, they were in the Gulf of Mexico, clinging to the capsized hull in open water, no land in sight, no help on the way.

The Coast Guard wouldn’t even begin searching until long after night fell.

What follows is a minute-by-minute recounting of their 43-hour ordeal. Battling cold, exhaustion, dehydration, and the emotional toll of realizing help might not come, the men do everything they can to survive. They huddle for warmth, try to keep each other’s spirits up, and fight off hypothermia. But the sea is relentless. One by one, they begin to succumb. Bleakley is the first to die. Then Cooper. Then Smith. Nick, barely conscious, manages to hold on just long enough to be spotted by a Coast Guard helicopter on the final day.

The book is more than just a survival account. It’s also a story about friendship—about the bonds these four men shared, how they met, what they meant to each other, and how those relationships played out under the most extreme circumstances. Nick writes with honesty about his guilt, his trauma, and the way the accident changed his life. He doesn’t paint himself as a hero. He lays it bare: the mistakes they made, the helplessness he felt, and the grief that still lingers.

The narrative also dips into the media storm that followed. Because two of the men were NFL players, the story exploded across national news. The public wanted details, answers, someone to blame. Nick had to grieve in public, field questions he wasn’t ready to answer, and live with the knowledge that he was the one who came back.

Throughout the book, there’s a quiet but intense focus on the choices that led to that day. It doesn’t feel judgmental, but it is clear. A better weather check. A different call on the anchor. A faster response time from the Coast Guard. It’s a series of what-ifs that compound the tragedy and make the survival feel even more precarious.

What This Chick Thinks

I don’t usually reach for survival memoirs, but this one gripped me from the first page. It’s impossible not to feel the tension as soon as they’re out on the water. You know what’s coming, but it still feels shocking as each stage of the ordeal unfolds.

What stood out most to me was the emotional clarity. Nick Schuyler writes like someone still trying to make peace with what happened. There’s no sensationalism here. It’s not written to shock. It’s written to remember. The pain, the fear, the guilt—it’s all here, but so is the love and admiration he had for his friends.

The physical aspects of survival are brutal. The cold, the hallucinations, the helplessness. But it’s the psychological weight that lingers. You can feel how alone he was after he was rescued, how disorienting it was to be celebrated by strangers while privately mourning three friends he would have done anything to save.

This is also a book that subtly challenges assumptions. There’s a lot of strength in the way the men fought to stay alive, not just for themselves but for each other. It’s a heartbreaking story, but it’s also deeply respectful of the lives that were lost.

Final Thoughts

Not Without Hope is devastating, gripping, and unflinchingly honest. It’s not easy to read, and it’s not meant to be. But it’s a powerful tribute to the friends Nick lost, and a reminder of how thin the line can be between a day of fun and a fight for survival. If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to survive when everything goes wrong, this book lays it out plainly.

Rating: 8.5/10

Try it if you like

• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer – A real-life story of survival, isolation, and the search for meaning in the face of extreme conditions.
• 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin – A harrowing survival story of a man lost at sea for over a year.
• A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard – Another deeply personal account of trauma and survival, told with raw honesty and strength.