CHAPTER ONE
Florence Aubenas’s The Night Cleaner reveals the brutal working conditions endured by France’s working class.
Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot’s Nos Très Chers Emirs explores the complex relationship between France and its allies in the Persian Gulf.
Dorothee Moisan’s Rançons: le Business des Otages looks at the business of hostage-taking, with a particular focus on the Kidnapping and Ransom (K&R) industry.
The Pearl Project was an initiative of Georgetown University that confirmed details surrounding the death of Daniel Pearl, including his killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Mariane Pearl’s A Mighty Heart tells the story of Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and killing through the eyes of his wife.
Terry Anderson’s Den of Lions is the definitive personal account of the Lebanese hostage crisis. See also, The Hostage’s Daughter, by Sulome Anderson, a personal account of the toll that Anderson’s kidnapping took on his family and his daughter’s quest for answers.
CHAPTER TWO
Josh Hammer’s The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the story of Abdel Kader Haidara’s mission to rescue centuries-old Arabic texts from Mali after Al Qaeda seized control of the country in 2012.
Jay Badahur’s The Pirates of Somalia goes inside the world of Somali pirates, drawing upon interviews about their lives, spending, and deadly missions.
Daniele Mastrogiacomo’s Days of Fear is a firsthand account of the days the author spent in captivity of the Taliban, who kidnapped him and his driver in Afghanistan in 2007.
CHAPTER THREE
In A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout recounts the 460 harrowing days that she spent in captivity after being kidnapped in Somalia.
A Rope and a Prayer is the account of New York Times reporter David Rohde, who was kidnapped while reporting in Afghanistan. It also features chapters from Rohde’s wife Kristen Mulvihill, who worked tirelessly for his release.
Gabriel García Márquez’s News of a Kidnapping is the definitive chronicle of the wave of kidnappings carried out by Medellin Cartel in the early 1990s. The victims included Maruja Pachón, Diana Turbay, and El Tiempo editor Francisco “Pacho” Santos, who would later be elected the country’s vice president.
Michael Scott Moore’s The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast is both a haunting personal memoir and a reflection on the nature of Somali piracy.
Ann Hagedorn Auerback’s Ransom: The Untold Story of International Kidnapping details the rise in international kidnappings since the Cold War.
Judith Tebbutt’s A Long Walk Home is a first-person account of her kidnapping at the hands of Somali pirates.
In Impossible Odds, aid worker Jessica Buchanan and her husband, Erik Landemalm, recall Buchanan’s months spent in captivity in Somalia, and Landemalm’s efforts to win her release.
John Otis’s Law of the Jungle chronicles stories of kidnapping and drug trafficking in the South American jungles.
Even Silence Has an End is Ingrid Betancourt’s firsthand account of her six and half years held by FARC militants in the Colombian jungle
Juan Zarate’s Treasury’s War: The Unleashing of a New Era of Financial Warfare details the U.S. administration’s efforts to leverage financial power in order to hold powerful regimes accountable.
547 Jours is Hervé Guesquière’s account of his time spent in captivity in Afghanistan.
Russel D. Buhite’s Lives at Risk: Hostages and Victims in American Foreign Policy provides a history of the U.S. response to kidnapping and terrorism.
In the Presence of My Enemies, by Gracia Burnham with Dean Merrill, is an account of Burnham’s life as a hostage of the Abu Sayyaf, and the rescue effort that cost the life of her husband.
CHAPTER FIVE
Loretta Napoleoni’s Merchants of Men looks at the rise of kidnapping and refugee trafficking among extremist groups that have gained a hold on the Western world post-9/11.
In Hunting Season, James Harkin investigates James Foley’s kidnapping and killing, as well as the two dozen other ISIS hostages taken around the same time as Jim.
Javier Lesaca’s Armas de Seduccion is an examination of the digital tactics used by ISIS to recruit its most vulnerable new members.
In El país de las alma rotas, Javier Espinosa and Mónica G. Preito detail their days covering the Syrian Civil War, followed by the kidnapping of Javier.
The ISIS Hostage is Puk Damsgård’s account of the kidnapping of Daniel Rye.
Lawrence Wright’s The Terror Years is a collection of the author’s reporting on the Middle East, including five families whose children were kidnapped by ISIS.
Janine DiGiovanni’s The Morning They Came For Us provides a firsthand look at the horrors lived by Syrians experiencing the Civil War each day.
Jonathan Powell’s Talking to Terrorists: How to End Armed Conflict examines the art of negotiating with extremist organizations.
CHAPTER SIX
In The Trade, Jere Van Dyk reexamines his kidnapping and eventual release in Afghanistan, and probes the shadowy world of hostage negotiations.