Title: Come Hell or High Water: Life Lessons from Hurricane Katrina: Facing Life’s Greatest Challenges No Matter What
Author: Marvin LeBlanc
Publisher: Blooming Twig Books
ISBN: 978-1933918891
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 224
Reviewed by: Lisa Brown-Gilbert

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Based on one of the most tragic disastrous events to date, Marvin LeBlanc’s Come Hell or High Water is the kind of memorable book, that punctuates the necessity for maintaining an appreciation for life.

This intensely moving, memoir, focuses on his experiences with surviving devastating loss, emotional anguish, human mortality, through tenacity, hope and rebuilding. His perspective comes not only as one of the many victims of the catastrophic, Hurricane Katrina, but also as an employee of a large, well known insurance company in that area, who tirelessly dedicated his efforts to help.

Part chronicle, as well as part self-help book, this is a work which rehashes the tragic experiences, suffered by author LeBlanc as he shares his perspective, gleaned insights, business acumen and lessons learned, throughout his deeply emotional journey traversing the aftermath of his personal losses, aside from the tremendous loss of life and livelihood suffered by his neighbors and friends in St Bernard, Parish, New Orleans.

Moreover, he exposes the scars of suffering, the mental anguish of losing everything that you own, through a multifaceted tour of the disaster, guided via heart-wrenching pictures featured throughout the book, which imprints on your memory horrifying images of absolute destruction. Especially devastating are the included images of an entangled clump of children’s bikes, boats run ashore, pictures of empty acres where flourishing houses once stood, houses with boarded up windows bearing scribbles of angry curses for a storm, that arrived, destroyed and left a world of pain and death in its wake.

The book is divided into three sections, with each section focusing on varying aspects of the disaster, bringing into focus the pieces of author LeBlanc’s total experience. Additionally, at the end of each chapter is a journal page with insightful writing prompts spurring insightful interludes as you stop and attempt to answer the questions. Part one includes chapters on the arrival of the storm, the failing of the levees and the hardship of survival. Then moving into part two, he delves into the aftermath. Part three looks more into his mentors and business background but you can see where he offers important insights which can be applied either in business or in everyday life.

Overall, Come Hell or High Water made for a fantastic read, although it was concerning much tragedy it also brought to light much triumph, survival and revival. Author Marvin LeBlanc did an excellent job of bringing tenacity to the forefront to face down disaster. Also, I found his writing to be engaging, well-organized and resonated easily with his humble down to earth stature as well as, sage advice. This book made for a truly great read and I recommend reading it, it will both humble and inspire you.