Buried Alive by Roy Hallums

I must say that I was a little unsure when I first picked up this book to review. It is a true story of a kidnapping, captivity and rescue of a man named Roy Hallums from Iraq.

What I must say is that I loved the opening of the book. It provided you the historical background of where the United States and Iraq were during 2004. It was at the beginning of the US led invasion of Iraq, where countless numbers of people were being kidnapped from not only various countries but from the United States as well. The primary reason for doing this was to fund the insurgent groups that were responsible for the kidnapping. The ransoms that were paid out depended on a variety of factors from who you were, who you worked for, why you were in Iraq, and what country you were from.

This was at a time when the US did not negotiate payment of ransoms for kidnapping. So it was extremely difficult for the kidnappers to get any money from the US government. This book follows the true life story of Roy Hallums who lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years before being transferred to Iraq to assist with food operations during the rebuilding efforts.

The book chronicles the life of Roy during his 311 days of waiting for his release from his kidnappers, never knowing if he would make it out alive or not, and also the story of what his family went through trying to negotiate his release as well.

To tell you that I recommend this book is a bit of an understatement. I picked it up and didn’t put it down until I finished it, all in one day. It was that great! I felt like the entire time, I was right there with Roy going through some of the worst situations imaginable. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great book to read that you won’t be able to put down!

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book to review by Thomas Nelson Publishers.