Special Operations.Com

International Kidnapping and Hostage Taking

Guerrilla Hostage: 810 Days in Captivity - by Denise Marie Siino - Millions of people around the world prayed for Ray Rising after hearing of his kidnapping by Colombian guerrillas on March 31, 1994. Many more read of his captivity in the newspaper, and the world rejoiced with him and his family when he was released unharmed on June 17, 1996. In Guerrilla Hostage, readers will experience the shadowy jungles, the uncertainty, and the ultimate joy of Risings 810-day
ordeal. They will also learn what it means to live with integrity despite harsh and frightening circumstances. 

At Your Own Risk : An American Chronicle of Crisis and Captivity in the Middle East - by Tom Sutherland, Jean Sutherland - n 1983, Tom Sutherland, a professor at Colorado State University, accepted the position of Dean of Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Two years later, he was kidnapped by gunmen from the Islamic Jihad. Tom spent nearly more than six years in captivity--the second longest period of any western hostage in Lebanon. At Your Own Risk is the passionate chronicle of Tom and his wife Jean's remarkable experience in Lebanon before, during, and after the hostage years. Tom's story of captivity alternates with Jean's, who stayed in Beirut teaching and working for Tom's release. More than a hostage story, At Your Own Risk is a rare portrait of the Middle East that transcends the Sutherland's personal struggle to place a turbulent decade in the Middle East in perspective. This book reveals the love, commitment, and hope of a special couple whose faith in the future never wavered. 

News of a Kidnapping - by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Grossman (Translator) - A recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the great novelist Gabriel García Márquez, returns to his roots as a journalist in telling an involved story from his native Colombia. Drug kingpins who feared being extradited to the United States, where they would likely face life sentences, decided to dramatically pressure the Colombian government. Ten prominent Colombians, some of whom were well-known television personalities, were kidnapped and held as hostages. Some of the survivors of the ordeal asked García Márquez to tell the story, and the novelist does a masterfully understated job. The various characters, from the hostages kept in makeshift dungeons to the despairing government officials to the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar are portrayed brilliantly in this real-life tale of suspense.

Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years - by Terry Anderson - In March 1985, Terry Anderson was swept up in the violent conflict of a turbulent era. At the mercy of Shiite captors for nearly seven years, he lived in chains, wondering fearfully if each day would be his last. But his spirit soared beyond captivity, and he never gave up. Nor did those who loved him. And now, a free man again, he tells the harrowing and poignant story of a hostage's survival and final
triumph.

Ransom : The Untold Story of International Kidnapping by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach - Ransom opens with the story of five men taken hostage in 1995 in Kashmir, the hotly disputed paradise that lies between India and Pakistan. The men--two Britons, an American, a German, and a Norwegian--were tourists hiking their way through the breathtakingly
beautiful part of the Himalayan mountains that crosses through Kashmir, when men with weapons appeared and snatched the five hostages from their wives, girlfriends, and fellow tourists. Interweaving the story of the Kashmir abduction with accounts of other kidnappings and interviews with antikidnapping "risk" experts, Ann Hagedorn Auerbach weaves a mesmerizing tale of kidnapping on a massive scale: as many as 20,000 to 30,000 incidents occur annually, she claims, up from about 6,000 per year during the 1980s.

Miles to Go Before I Sleep : My Grateful Journey Back from the Hijacking of Egyptair Flight 648 - by Jackie Nink Pflug, R. Post (Editor) - For anyone who has survived a trauma, the question has always been how to move beyond the experience. How does one stop being a victim? Pflug, who was one of three Americans on a plane from Athens to Cairo when it was hijacked by terrorists, answers that question and shares her story, in an inspiring book she hopes will serve as a springboard for personal growth and development.

Lives at Risk: Hostages and Victims in American Foreign Policy - by Russell D. Buhite - Buhite (history, U. of Tenn.) examines key instances of hostage- taking since the beginning of America's history. He shows how federal policies toward hostages have evolved--from a flexible approach during the early republic, to a militaristic strategy in the 19th century, and
in this century back to a position that can embrace negotiation--and how previous experiences can help policymakers deal with terrorist threats to Americans in Bosnia and elsewhere

444 Days : The American Hostage Story - by Sid Moody 

Hizb'Allah in Lebanon : The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis - by Magnus Ranstorp 

Yours Till the End: Two Survivors of the Hostage Crisis - Their Amazing Story - by Jackie Mann

Back