The Mercy of the Sky

The Story of a Tornado

By: Holly Bailey

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

The Mercy of the Sky is the harrowing inside account of Oklahoma's deadliest tornado, penned by a local writer who became a national correspondent.

Oklahomans have long been known for their fatalism and grit, but even old-timers are troubled by the twisters that are devastating the state with increasing frequency. On May 20, 2013, the worst tornado on record landed a direct hit on the small town of Moore, destroying two schools while the children cowered inside.

Oklahoma native Holly Bailey grew up dreaming of becoming a storm chaser. Instead she became Newsweek's youngest-ever White House correspondent, traveling to war zones with Presidents Bush and Obama. When Moore was hit, Bailey went back both as a journalist and a hometown girl and spoke with the teachers who put their lives at risk to save their students, the weathermen more revered than rock stars and more tormented than they let on, and many shell-shocked residents. In The Mercy of the Sky, Bailey does for the Oklahoma flatlands what Sebastian Junger did for Gloucester, Massachusetts, in The Perfect Storm, telling a dramatic, pause-register story about a town that must survive the elements - or die.

©2015 Holly Bailey (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Fantastic book and fantastic delivery

I've listened to this book multiple times now. This is one of those stories where you catch something new every time you listen.

The true life facts are horrendously heartbreaking, but the author has done an amazingly thorough and respectful job at telling them.

I also have to give major props to the narrator. She makes it through even the saddest details without ever losing her composure, all the while exhibiting plenty of emotion where it's needed. I can truly feel the anguish, anger, sadness, desperation, fear, and strength of the characters throughout her narration of these accounts.

Because of the level of genuine respect and care that are shown by the author and portrayed through the narrator, I'm sure I'll continue to listen to this story every so often. I highly recommend it.

a sad story

while listening to the story I wanted to cry many times. good book. well done!

Remarkable a great read

It was a great book
full of bravery and courage, a book not read lightly

Well researched, fascinating!

I was hoping for an answer to the “why”... but i just don’t think science knows yet. Kept my attention and was over too soon. Narrator was easy to listen to. I very much felt I was there in the storm. Great book! I recommend it to any one who likes tornadoes or just a good true life story. Also, this is the best and most interesting of all the tornado Story books I’ve listened to, and I have listened to a lot!!

Really a good read/listen

It starts off a little bit slow (giving the background of Gary England and etc was a little tedious for me, but at the same time the write picks up the pace soon after & without the knowledge of their beginnings you wouldn’t really understand these people as throughly. So a bit slow in the beginning, but with necessary details). The book picks up pace fast and you become engrossed in these people’s fight for survival and to help one another. I cried several times during this book & found myself feeling heartbreak for the people of Moore, more than I had expected to from just listening to the book. This is a story of loss, but also of strength and resilience and the ability to rebuild over and over again. Definitely a must in any library, I feel.

Should be No-Mercy From The Sky

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely

What did you like best about this story?

The Intensity of the narrator

Which character – as performed by Erin Bennett – was your favorite?

It's an amalgamation of characters and the story is told from each of their own prospectives.

If you could give The Mercy of the Sky a new subtitle, what would it be?

The Story of the 2013 Tornado Outbreak and Heartbreak

Any additional comments?

I read quite a few comments before I decided to go with this book. Originally I chose Into The Storm by Reed Timmer but once I gobbled thru that on a cross-country road trip I downloaded this one. I've been a weather nut my entire life and while in the end, I decided to go with physics-related studies (the university I was at did offer an Atmospheric Sciences program) I always secretly wished I'd attended the A/S program. There are a few negative reviews about this book, most of which circulate around the narrator or the way the story was delivered. Having worked with the National Severe Storms Laboratory and the National Weather Center (and Service) doing research related work in the realm of severe weather I can say that, for me, the delivery of the narrative of this book was spot on. I think the author and narrators are both trying to deliver the confusion, frustration, anxiety and fright these victims experienced thru her writing, having seen some of this horrible devastation first hand I can place the feelings they're trying to convey with the looks or actions I've seen on others faces while they're trying to make sense of what's just happened to their lives. The narration can be over the top the way she delivers it, but that lends it'self to the way she's attempting to frame the story and how these poor people felt. Personally, I loved this book and how it was written. First 9-10 chapters are about different meteorologists and their own stories of the devastating 2013 Moore OK tornado but that gives the book a solid narrative and it doesn't become mundane. Listening to how these weather professionals from meteorologists, to news station chopper pilots to the chasers on the ground relaying video and info back to the stations to the HERO teachers whom literally laid on top of children to shield them from flying debris, some of whom lost their lives this book is amazing, it's worth a read/listen if you're on the fence about it. Your eyes will get a little watery and throat a little thick listening but it was a fantastic book and I'm sure I'll be listening to it on my back across the country to Norman for storm season in 2018. Cheers.

A captivating story about the weather.

I’ve probably listened to this book four times. I’m a weather enthusiast, but the root of my enthusiasm is my fear of tornadoes that started when I was a young child and our house was narrowly missed by a tornado.

This book gives the perspective of what it is like to be on the ground in a community that experiences a violent tornado. It is so well written I gritted my teeth through the characters’ fear and anxiety; I cried at the sad loss of life; and I celebrated the heroes of May 20, 2013 as they deserved to be celebrated.

This could happen in any town in America. It is a must read.

I was hooked the whole time

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book and could see myself listening to it again. My mom joined me in the car one day, and I couldn't wait to hear what was going to happen to the characters next so I asked if she'd like to listen. She was sad she wouldn't get to hear the rest of it!

I enjoyed the surprise of getting to hear about the history of weather forecasting in addition to stories from the tornado. Being an Oklahoman, I'm familiar with the weathermen mentioned and found their stories interesting. But I also enjoyed the stories of the people who lived through the storm.

I do wish the author had broken the stories up a little bit more in timeline form. I did find it mildly emotionally exhausting to relive the tornado over and over again, and I had trouble figuring out what was happening at what time in relation to everything else. My mom and I (even in the short time she listened to it) found it really annoying how frequently the author uses the word "tiny" to describe things. Every town to her that isn't Oklahoma City is a "tiny town". This was really annoying because the towns she described as tiny really aren't that tiny at all, and it makes me wonder what word she'd use to describe the smaller ones. Probably "tiny" because it's her word of choice.

All that being said, once I was able to get over the author using several words repeatedly, the story was very fascinating, and I was hooked the entire time.

worth the time and money

I enjoyed it and found it to teach me o thing or two
The stor y is both true and ex citing

Great Attention to detail!

A fantastic way to tell so much detail in a human way. I don’t understand the survivor’s guilt and I hope I never do.