Only four men survived the plane crash. The pilot. A politician. A cop... and the criminal he was shackled to.
On an icy night in October 1984, a commuter plane carrying nine passengers crashed in the remote wilderness of northern Alberta, killing six people. Four survived: the rookie pilot, a prominent politician, a cop, and the criminal he was escorting to face charges. Despite the poor weather, Erik Vogel, the 24-year-old pilot, was under intense pressure to fly. Larry Shaben, the author's father and Canada's first Muslim Cabinet Minister, was commuting home after a busy week at the Alberta Legislature. Constable Scott Deschamps was escorting Paul Archambault, a drifter wanted on an outstanding warrant. Against regulations, Archambault's handcuffs were removed-a decision that would profoundly impact the men's survival.
As the men fight through the night to stay alive, the dividing lines of power, wealth, and status are erased, and each man is forced to confront the precious and limited nature of his existence.

This is the astonishing true life adventure story of a plane crash in the wilds of northern Canada...and the four men who survived to tell the tale. On a wintry October night in 1984, nine passengers boarded a Piper Navajo commuter plane bound for remote communities in the far north of Canada. Only four people - strangers from wildly different backgrounds - will survive the night that follows: the pilot, a prominent politician, an accused criminal and the rookie policeman escorting him. "Into the Abyss" is a dramatic tale of tragedy, a coming of age story and a compassionate account of how four men resurrected shattered lives. Like Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" or Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm", the book will trace the arcs of each character's life and fight for survival. It will also follow four men's transformative journeys from the depths of physical and spiritual loss to the riches of lives begun anew.