Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters

Well, this was a long and torturous read.
Let me start by saying that I have great sympathy for the authors, British couple Paul & Rachel Chandler, who really did no wrong. They were abducted by Somali pirates in the waters of the Seychelles (they were nowhere near Somalia, as was initially reported by media), and could have been rescued quite easily had the Seychelles Coastguard and authorities not bungled a search by looking 10 miles astray of the position they were advised, and them seemingly not bothering to follow up when told of their error.

Instead Paul and Rachel were taken to Somalia, where they remained under guard in fairly poor conditions for over a year while a ransom fee was negotiated.

Their story is interesting, but the book is hard work. We read almost daily diary entries from either or both of them. What they live is repetitious, daily torment - the reader is subjected to this. They are typically out of contact with family back in the UK for long periods - the reader is subjected to this. They each have plenty of time for internal thoughts and analysis - and the reader is subjected to this. They are also moved about frequently from house to house (house overstates most of their accommodation), are often adjacent to the fighting of various militia, engaged in gunfire, and intermittently passed telephones to speak to family members, but also others who they don't know, but are mostly media.

The standoff, of course is money. The Somali pirates believe they will get two million dollars (USD), and don't understand or won't believe that the family have little money - Paul and Rachel being in a position to draw on no more than around two hundred and twenty thousand pounds. This is all made more complicated by the banks refusing the family access to their funds while held under duress.
There are a few minor spoilers below - unavoidable if the story is to be discussed, but if you are about to read this book it might be best avoided.

So for over a year they are held captive, usually together, but for periods they are held separately -which they find very difficult. The reader has all view of the situation from the position of Paul and Rachel, and therefore is limited to the infrequent telephone calls with family. These are generally all the same conversation, prompted by the pirates saying the family are not negotiating.

So for me at least, this was a frustrating read - lots of daily diary repetition, lots of frustrating non-activity, no outside knowledge of what is going on. At 385 pages, the capture happens relatively quickly, the journey in their yacht to Somalia is done by page 65. There is a final chapter where they are handed from the pirates to a rescue party (after money has been dropped) and a couple of short chapters where things are wrapped up (not particularly clearly). Other than that, this leaves a great many pages to cover their year and a bit of captivity.

The final frustration is that little is really explained after the fact. Money was paid - it doesn't seem like it was their savings - but it is not explained where it did come from. A Somali businessman living in Britain was a key part of securing their release - spending 6 months in Nairobi and Mogadishu in the process. There was money other than the $440K given to the pirates, but there seems to be no clear understanding of how much or where it came from. The only thing that is clear is that the British Government was not involved - having a policy of not negotiating.

While a really interesting situation, I didn't enjoy this a read, and it took me far too long to get through this book.
3 stars