The last person was pulled onto the boat. All commotion suddenly died out, and the engine roared alive. The boat, at full speed, left the mouth of Cam Ranh Bay, heading east into the unknown waters of the high seas. It was 2:00 a.m. on October 12, 1979. Here and there hundreds of tiny lights of night fishing boats danced and twinkled in the morning hours. How many of them, I wondered, are patrol boats? After multiple trips to Communist prison camps, Lien Le knew that only death awaited him. He soon began plotting his and his family's escape from Vietnam, working out intricate details in the secrecy of the night. Even after several failed attempts and years of planning, his faith remained, giving him the determination and the hope to press on. The Spirit Stills the Storms: From Tyranny to the American Dream is his bold journey to freedom, one in which he risked all for his dreams of a better tomorrow. His gifted storytelling, filled with detailed description, gives readers a firsthand glimpse of the prison camps, perilous escape attempts, overcrowded boats, typhoon-plagued passages, and beyond, leaving them with a newfound sense of appreciation and wonder for life, liberty, and the ever-present spirit which stills the storms.