"All he could see, in every direction, was water." Preface, p. xvii

"When the school track season began in February, Louie set out to see what training had done for him. His transformation was stunning." Chapter 2, p. 17

"Louie and his father rode together to the train station. The platform was crowded with uniformed young men and crying parents, clinging to one another, saying good-bye. When Louie embraced his father, he could feel him shaking." Chapter 6, p. 54

"Before Louie had left the States, he'd been issued an olive-drab Bible. He tried reading it to cope with his anxiety, but it made no sense to him, and he abandoned it." Chapter 8, p. 89

"it was absolutely dark and absolutely silent, save for the chattering of Phil's teeth. The ocean was a flat calm. A rough, rasping tremor ran through the men. The sharks were rubbing their backs along the raft bottoms...