In the original dust jacket. Board binding the same as the cover.

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This is one of the best books I have ever read, his knowledge of words and descriptions transports you to where he is or imagine what things felt like. His humanity to others is wonderful. Brian never gave in or gave up and encouraged and supported John McCarthy. There was great humour between the both of them which made me smile. I would recommend this book.

Review: It’s a bit of a daunting prospect facing a book about life as a hostage. Especially, a four and a half year ordeal. Brian Keenan subtly acknowledges that almost immediately; he seems to take the reader by the hand, coaxing them onward. It’s going to be okay, he seems to say.

That pretty much sums up Brian’s spirit, strength and compassion, his ability to extend himself beyond boundaries, and penetrate to the very heart of the matter, to the depths of human suffering. It’s a breathtakingly honest and intimate account, detailing each excruciating indecency with utter candour. Though, curiously, it’s actually written from a highly objective perspective which, Brian confesses, he purposely cultivated as a coping mechanism: experiencing and enduring his circumstances with part of his mind and spirit detached, observing. I guess it is this detachment that nourishes the compassion imbuing the entire book.

Not to say that this is at all a clinical study. It is an intensely human, emotional and personal account. Brian Keenan’s will to survive, unbowed, is a stunning testimony to his courage and the human spirit. This book captures much of Brian Keenan’s struggle and his triumph, yet can hardly convey the experience of four and half long years: the suffering of each petty torture, every physical beating, the tedious deprivation, the interminable isolation. Because, as Brian himself points out, it would just be too boring. Even if words could encompass it. That observation alone speaks volumes.

My only criticism is that the account ends rather abruptly at Brian’s release. It would have been really interesting to learn how he adapted to his freedom and what effect the whole ordeal had on his rehabilitation back into the ‘normal’ world. Worthy of another book perhaps, judging by the quality of this one.