Hostage
A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
On 23 October 2009, British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped from their sailing boat in the archipelago of the Seychelles.
Their yacht, Lynn Rival, was recovered six days later by naval forces, abandoned off the central Somali coast.
After the attack, Paul and Rachel were taken first onto a previously hijacked merchant ship and then to Somalia, where they were held for over a year, enduring threats and intimidation while their captors tried to extort millions of dollars from their family.
In this remarkable book, the Chandlers recount their terrifying ordeal, revealing the inspiring and poignant story behind the dramatic headlines. At the heart of their survival was their unshakeable belief in each other and their determination to survive, making Hostage an unlikely love story; for Paul and Rachel, death, at times, seemed preferable to being separated.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While sailing in the Seychelles in 2009, retired Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped by heavily-armed Somali pirates and held for ransom for over a year in the hijackers' homeland before finally being released. Here, with the help of ghostwriter Edworthy, the couple tell their riveting tale in no-frills prose that shifts swiftly back and forth between Paul and Rachel's perspective. The account of their initial capture is thrilling, but being held hostage for over a year means a lot of idle hours the couple did yoga, played Patience, created and solved crossword puzzles, and wrote in their journals. But it is the entries composed during the weeks when Paul and Rachel were split up often without knowledge of the other's safety or well-being that reveal their dedication to and love for one another. Transcripts of phone calls between the couple and family members back home regarding the exorbitant ransom are both painful and fascinating, revealing tense emotional bonds and sobering financial realities. A noteworthy account of this century's version of crime on the high seas. Photos, illus., and maps.
