Reviews
The Royal Meteorological Society
“If you read only one book about tornadoes and storm chasing, make it this one. It is utterly brilliant. Unforgettable. A wonderful legacy to a storm chaser extraordinaire.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Best Reads of 2018
“I was blown away by this shattering biography of Tim Samaras, daddy of all storm chasers.”
The Texas Observer
“A hell of a story, and Hargrove has gotten as close as anyone could hope to its core… conveyed in prose that flirts with poetry without ever turning purple… The book also offers a streamlined primer in tornado science, historical and in the making. But it’s the moments when monsters coalesce from the ether that both Hargrove and Samaras live for.”
Weather Underground
“The Man Who Caught the Storm is a stunner… Brantley Hargrove has done a masterful job… Hargrove captures the arc of Samaras’s life and its many dimensions—tinkerer, sky watcher, family man—with eloquence and respect. Hargrove also brings to a general audience the larger, complex world of research-oriented storm chasing more deftly than any other book I’ve read… Hargrove’s prose is rich and varied, and he specializes in gem-like descriptions… Five stars out of five.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Hargrove puts you there and you can’t get out. Many a novel is not written this memorably… He invents a kind of writing as tempestuous, fearful, poetic, and concrete as his subject… In Brantley Hargrove, a writer to watch, the life of Tim Samaras has gotten a storyteller worthy of all its curious, brilliant, devastating grandeur."
The Wall Street Journal
“Samaras’s story is told well in ‘The Man Who Caught the Storm'… a narrative that often reads like a thriller."
The Amazon Book Review
An Amazon Best Science Book of the Year
“Brantley Hargrove's account is a deft blend of humanity and science, achievement and tragedy."
Longreads
“The Man the Who Caught the Storm is hardly a meteorological textbook. Rather Hargrove weaves a uniquely American tale of adventure — ‘nowhere else on the planet do tornadoes happen like they do in this country,' as he explained to me — diving into the circumstances and makeup that leads a man to chase what he should be running from."
U.S. Tornadoes
“Hargrove’s intense and intimate research into Tim Samaras’ life is on full display in this book, and poring through Tim’s story was both enchanting and humbling."
Popular Science
“This gripping book takes you inside Samaras’ life and tragic death, relying on hours of interviews with friends and family and chase footage to offer an incredible look at his perilous calling.”
The Washington Post
“Hargrove is one today’s great science writers… In The Man Who Caught the Storm, he takes the reader not only on a journey through the remarkable life of engineer-explorer Samaras, but also through the beautifully desolate roads of the Plains while on the chase."
The Dallas Morning News
“Hargrove finds fresh stories to tell… The result is a detailed, nuanced portrait of what drove this man into the path of some of the world's most dangerous storms."
Booklist
“Pulse-pounding… Hargrove’s biography will gratify severe-weather fans while memorializing its protagonist.”
Outside Magazine
“The Man Who Caught the Storm manages to be both cinematically thrilling and scientifically wonky."
Lincoln Journal Star
“Hargrove makes the reader feel the icy hailstones which precede the blast of wind and smell the lingering ozone. More importantly, he unravels the tragic tale of a man who, like Icarus, exceeded the boundaries of nature.”
Library Journal
Starred review
“[Hargrove is] a deft writer who uses evocative prose to provide readers the adrenaline rush of a tornado chase while teasing out the complex scientific concepts of meteorological science into concise and understandable explanations.”
Cowboys & Indians
“It’s a vivid, beautifully written, and incredibly reported page-turning tale of a man’s obsession with one of the most powerful forces in nature."
Kirkus Reviews
“An enthralling profile… Hargrove's debut biography honors [Tim Samaras's] legacy as an unparalleled storm chaser."
Publishers Weekly
“Insightful… Hargrove not only skillfully presents Samaras's life story but also the collective story of a storm-chasing subculture."