Hostage Three

Hostage Three by Nick Lake, 369 pages

Amy has been rebelling quietly against her dad since her mom died. Her dad, however, is at work all of the time and barely seems to notice. Her stepmom notices but doesn’t get upset. Right after Amy finishes high school, her dad decides to buy a yacht and the three of them are going to cruise around the world. Unfortunately, their route takes them into pirate’s territory and they soon find themselves being held hostage by Somali pirates. The pirates are demanding millions of dollars in ransom and negotiation are moving slowly. Amy is terrified but at the same drawn to one of the pirates, Farouz. She and Farouz talk and as she finds herself learning more about his life, she also finds that she and he are more alike than she could have imagined. This is an excellent story about a story that, while unlikely to happen to the average person, certainly has a plausible premise so teens could definitely identify with this book. Although it has an element of suspense and terror, the book is more of a coming of age story than horror. Although the perspective is from a girl, the pirate side of the story would probably keep most boys interested also.