“I prayed that the remote-controlled plane was searching for me. I prayed that the artillery fire did not hit the house where we were held. And I prayed for God to get me out of there.”Buried alive is the compelling and inspirational account of how one man lived through 311 days as an Iraqi hostage. Told with frank and honest clarity, Roy Hallums’s account takes an unflinching look at the plight of hostages taken by extremists in the Middle East. Roy’s vivid retelling of his ordeal is riveting. Every moment; his abduction late one night from his office, to the abductor’s frantic shuffling between safe houses, to his final imprisonment buried below his abductor’s floor, is told in Roy’s straightforward narrative.
Roy recounts his interrogations at gunpoint by his insurgent captors, how he was kept blindfolded and bound for months, and his near starving conditions. During his captivity Roy encounters other hostages. A Romanian news team, an Iraqi man and his son, even one of the kidnappers who’d fallen out of favor. He chronicles his captor’s attempts to exact a 12 million dollar payoff from the U.S. Government for their cause and the eventual breakdown of negotiations.
Roy also details his family’s frustration, fear, and unrelenting faith during his nearly year long absence. Excerpts from his daughter’s diary tell the heartbreaking story of his family’s attempts to locate their missing father. He takes the reader behind the scenes as he details the efforts made by the Hostage Working Group that finally ends with the brazen, broad-daylight rescue led by Commander Dan O’Shea.
Peppered with pictures taken by his rescuers, this tale of desperation, indomitable hope, and the will to survive is well worth attention.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255