BookSneeze Review - Buried Alive, by Roy Hallums

I joined this website (BookSneeze) that sends you free books in exchange for your posting a review of them. I like free books, so I signed up instantly! I wanted to have a separate page on this blog for all my book reviews, but I haven't figured out how to do that just yet :) So until I find a way to make that work, if you want to find other book reviews from me, I'll tag them all and we'll see that works :) Without further ado, here is my first post!

Buried Alive: Kidnapped and Entombed in the Deserts of Iraq, by Roy Hallum

This book was truly gripping, even before you add in the fact that it is a first person account of an actual event. It's better written than many first-person accounts, but still maintains a very personal feel; you don't get the sense when you read it that the words are coming from another person's mouth. There are many accounts written regarding the US presence in Iraq, and most of them are politically slanted. While this book starts off by giving you a brief history of the political climate in which it is set, it is done with the intent of giving you a context for the events that will follow and not to sway you in one direction or another.

The premise of this book is simple: an average man is kidnapped during a party at his place of work and held prisoner for almost a year (in a prison buried under a home, hence the title) while his kidnappers attempt to negotiate a ransom from the US government (HA! Good luck there). This is not a story of heroics and daring deeds, but rather a story of a man who kept his wits about him enough to make it through each day until help finally arrived (at which point he asked for a burger, whiskey, and cigar while debriefing military officials). His family's account of events are also interspersed throughout the novel (lest we think they sat at home and didn't notice he was gone!) but what sticks with you when this book is over is how powerful the human mind can be, and what can be endured with enough will-power and common sense. It's not a book with a lot of glitz and glamor, but it's not supposed to be – it's a true story of a real event, and real events are not glitzy and glamorous. Real life is dirty and raw and even if it does end up well, it's never tied up neatly with a bow. This book captures all of that and more. I would highly recommend it.