Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters - Softcover

On 23 October 2009, British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped from their sailing boat in the archipelago of the Seychelles.

Their yacht, Lynn Rival, was recovered six days later by naval forces, abandoned off the central Somali coast.

After the attack, Paul and Rachel were taken first onto a previously hijacked merchant ship and then to Somalia, where they were held for over a year, enduring threats and intimidation while their captors tried to extort millions of dollars from their family.

In this remarkable book, the Chandlers recount their terrifying ordeal, revealing the inspiring and poignant story behind the dramatic headlines. At the heart of their survival was their unshakeable belief in each other and their determination to survive, making Hostage an unlikely love story; for Paul and Rachel, death, at times, seemed preferable to being separated.

Paul Chandler is a Cambridge-educated civil engineer and Rachel Chandler is a former government economist. Both have a passion for sailing and travelling, and honed their seamanship skills over some 30 years in the waters around the UK and the Mediterranean. The couple have enjoyed a part-time sailing lifestyle since retiring in 2005 and now live in Dartmouth, Devon, where they are currently restoring Lynn Rival.

Sarah Edworthy is an experienced journalist who spent 16 years at the Daily Telegraph and currently writes for a variety of national publications and websites.