Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters

The dramatic account of a British couple's kidnap by Somali pirates and their subsequent spell in captivity is revealed for the first time.

On October 23, 2009, British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped from their sailing boat off the archipelago of the Seychelles. Naval forces and search rescue centres did not swing into full action until the story broke on October 27 when Somalis informed the media that the couple were in their hands. The yacht, S/Y Lynn Rival, was found the next day by naval forces, abandoned off the Central Somali Coast.

After the attack, Paul and Rachel were taken first onto a previously hijacked merchant ship, the MV Kota Wajar, and then onto land near Ceel Huur, north of Harardheere on the coast of Somalia. The couple were released, over a year later, on November 14, 2010, after a reported $800,000 ransom was paid.

In this remarkable book, Paul and Rachel Chandler exclusively recount their ordeal, revealing the entire breathtaking, inspiring and poignant story behind the dramatic headlines. At the heart of their survival was their unshakable belief in each other and their determination to survive against all the odds, making Hostagean unlikely love story, in which death, at times, seemed preferable to being separated.