Back From The Deep, Doug Horner
Back From The Deep, Doug Horner
List: $30.00 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $15.00

Back From The Deep
How Gene and Sandy Ralston Serve the Living by Finding the Dead

Author: Doug Horner

Narrator: Wesley Scott

Unabridged: 9 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Steerforth

Published: 03/12/2024


Synopsis

The dramatic story of an unlikely search and recovery duo who help law enforcement and grieving families with their uncanny knack for locating bodies underwater

A powerful debut for fans of deeply reported stories that follow real people with obsessional passions, and of authors like Tracy Kidder, Sebastian Junger, and Patrick Radden Keefe

When the police and FBI exhaust their abilities and options, and when grieving families run out of resources, their last best hope has been an Idaho couple who have spent their retirement years pursuing lost causes — and have located 130 victims from lakes and rivers across the United States and Canada.

Gene and Sandy Ralston, a married Idaho couple in their mid 70s, are self-taught underwater search-and-recovery specialists who volunteer their time and equipment. And yet the Ralstons are counted among the best in the world. The Ralstons have an uncanny knack for finding bodies in deep water and can regularly find a missing person within hours, sometimes even minutes, of launching their boat.

Law enforcement and emergency response agencies seek out their peculiar expertise, but when the Ralstons' home phone rings it's usually a family member of a missing person. Someone reaching out after the local police and volunteer groups have called off the official search. Someone who heard from a friend of a friend about a couple from Idaho who will travel thousands of miles at the drop of a hat — charging only their travel costs — to help complete strangers.

About The Author

Doug Horner is a writer and editor from Calgary. He writes essays and deeply reported features on a variety of topics for national and international publications. Doug is drawn to stories that have a strong personal or emotional dimension that provides depth and context to broader issues and abstract ideas. He started his career at a monthly magazine that covers the culture and politics of the Canadian province of Alberta. He has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and English from the University of Calgary and a post-graduate certificate in Journalism from Mount Royal University. Doug enjoys exploring the mountains on backcountry skis when there is snow and by bike or by foot for the rest of the year. This is his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kate on December 19, 2024

The couple Gene and Sandy Ralston are really admirable, what they do and how they live. I would have loved to have known them personally. The cases they helped were fascinating. However, I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the writing style of the book. Still an enjoyable book. Thanks to Netgalley and Ste......more

Goodreads review by Valerity (Val) on February 10, 2024

An amazing story about an elderly couple who have spent a long time doing sonar searches and recovery for the bodies of people who have drowned. A moving book about how talented and empathetic they have become at doing something many others have tried and failed at. Sadly, they haven’t been able to......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on May 29, 2024

The subjects of the book are doing important work that most people never consider the need for until their own desperate hour. They use their own equipment time and resources to find and recover the bodies of drowning victims who do not resurface without charging any fees other than covering their b......more

Goodreads review by Graeme on August 02, 2024

Thoroughly engrossing read from a distinct new voice in Canadian literature. Doug Horner writes a fascinating account of the lives of two very significant individuals. His deceivingly straight-forward prose contains multitudes of depth; you may find yourself punched in the gut with tears in your eyes......more

Goodreads review by Danielle on January 06, 2024

Thank you NetGalley and Steerforth Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. This is a story of a couple, Gene and Sandy Ralston, who run an underwater search and retrieval operation with their own boat and equipment including sonar devices that bought themselves.......more