From Captain Lord’s sweeping denials of what actually occurred, to Second Officer Stone’s inability to speak for himself, to other papers beating him to the punch. Steadman is a fascinating and more than capable lead, and Dyer is adept at sharing his frustration at every obstacle placed in his way. The stories of survival and heroism that emerge in the aftermath of the Titanic’s sinking are not for him, but despite being ordered to do as he does best and follow the bodies fished from the sea, Steadman sniffs out a different story - that of the Californian and her crew, who might have been able to save them all. Steadman’s angle is to “follow the bodies,” writing stories for the Boston American that offer a final breath of life to the unjustly deceased, from the young women who died in the Triangle Shirt Factory Fire, to (in the post- Californian years) the soldiers of World War One.
Drawing on both his personal experience as a ship’s officer, as well as extensive historical research, Dyer has crafted an impressive story, mixing historical fact and fiction to create a tale fraught with tension, frustration, and tragedy.Īt the centre of the novel is Steadman, Dyer’s own creation, surrounded by a cast of (mostly) historical figures. That’s the premise behind David Dyer’s debut novel, The Midnight Watch, based on the true events of that fateful April night and beyond. Why? Boston American reporter John Steadman is desperate to find out. Yet despite eight distress rockets, the tramp steamer didn’t come to her aid. The ship Stone saw that night was the Titanic, more than 1500 lives were lost, and the Californian was the nearest vessel to her. Over the next few days, the news begins to trickle in, first a drizzle, then a storm, then a deluge. Captain Lord, “Lord of the Californian,” does nothing.
They’re distress signals, undoubtedly, but the distant ship isn’t responding to his morse lamp messages. Stone is expecting a quiet night, but when a white rocket emerges from the darkened ship, followed by seven more, the sparks from their trails lingering in the night sky, he calls upon his captain for advice. Across the Atlantic ice field that has halted his own ship’s progress for the night lies another, a passenger steamer, her lights dim. It has just gone midnight on April 15 1912, and Herbert Stone - second officer aboard the SS Californian - is about to take watch.
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