Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity, and a Dramatic Rescue (NelsonFree)
Written by Roy Hallums
Narrated by Milton Bagby
4/5
()
About this audiobook
A true-life adventure sure to shock as well as inspire.
AK47s, masked thugs, and brutal urgency erupt from Roy Hallums' account of his abduction in Iraq, shredding through those frequently sterile cable news reports revealing that another "American contractor is being held hostage . . ."
Hallums was the everyman behind that report?a 56-year-old retired Naval commander working as a food supply contractor in Baghdad's high-end Mansour District.
His abduction was transacted in a matter of minutes, amidst a hail of gunfire and a handful of casualties. For the first few months of his captivity, Hallums endured beatings and psychological torture while being shuffled from one ramshackle safe house to another.
From the four-foot-tall crawlspace where he carried out the bulk of his nearly year-long abduction, Hallums established a surprising degree of normalcy?a system of routines and timekeeping, along with an attention to the particulars that defined his horrific ordeal. His experience is recreated here, rich with harrowing specifics and surprising observations.
Photos are included in the audiobook companion PDF download.
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Reviews for Buried Alive
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Buried Alive: Kidnapped and Entombed in the Deserts of Iraqby Roy HallumsThomas Nelson Publisher, Nashville, Tennessee (2009)Roy Hallums, a Man, was kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents and this book tells the story of his ten months of captivity. The journey of Roy from one 'safe' house to another until the last and worst place, a house with an underground where he has been buried alive. Roy tells his story from distance and bravery: survive day by day with the help of his memories (about friends, relatives and an imaginary road trip coast to coast). This book reminds me another one by Oriana Fallaci (A Man) where she tells the story of Alexandros Panagoulis, arrested and tortured because they thought he was against the dictatorship in Greece. Both books teach us the value of small things when our life is full of everything (e.i. a cockroach becomes an important event during the imprisonement of Alexandros) and Roy "Because (he) could not see or do anything, (he) listened to every little sound ..." p. 92 and survive. Roy doesn't grab a 'sound strategy' to survive, apart from Hope. Sometimes the book is even funny: when the kidnappers, after stuffing toilet paper in Roy's ears (to prevent him from hearing), they said "No talking" and Roy responded "Yes, yes" and the guard: "Good" p. 100 I recommend this book to everybody who wants to learn more about the middle-east history, and I expecially recommend to read this story about a Man. I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publisher as part of their Booksneeze.com book review blogger program.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Buried Alive is a true story written by Roy Hallum about his 311 days as a captive of the Iraquis. Roy is working as a contractor in Iraq when he is snatched and transported from place to place in secret until he reaches his final destination. This is not only his story but it's a harrowing journey through the hell of being held hostage and captive in a concrete hole beneath the floor of a house in Iraq. The author also recounts what his family went through knowing he was being held hostage in Iraq at a time when the United States did not pay ransom for hostages.Throughout the book, Roy maintains a composure that I cannot even imagine being able to come close to. If the beatings were not enough to break him, the lack decent food, the bugs and filth and the stark terror of never knowing if you'll live or die certainly would be. Throughout this all, Roy knows he will not convert to Islam if offered the chance for freedom and his faith sustains him. Although he doesn't write in depth about his faith, you can feel it through the strength he maintains when faced with this terror.While Buried Alive isn't the type of book I normally read, I had a hard time putting it down as each page drew me deeper into his struggle. I was afraid the book would be overly graphic as the author explained the torture and beatings he endured and was very thankful to find that wasn't the case at all. This book made extremely thankful for the men and women who risk their lives every day in Iraq and countries like it. They must live in constant fear of ending up the way Roy Hallums did or worse. I highly recomend read this book if for no other reason than to remind you of what you have to be thankful for.