American Hostage

A story of hope, love, survival, and the struggle to bring back alive a hostage in Iraq. Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton were journalists and filmmakers working on a documentary about the looting of Iraq's archaeological sites, with their Iraqi translator Amir Doshi. In the late summer of 2004, Marie-Hélène returned home while Micah remained for a final two weeks of filming. Then something went horribly wrong: Micah and Amir were kidnapped. This is the memoir of Micah's harrowing abduction and survival in captivity, as well as the heroic and successful struggle of Marie-Hélène, along with family and friends, to win Micah's and Amir's release. Marie-Hélène took a risky step: instead of relying on the authorities, she used her experience in Iraq to construct a massive grassroots effort to reach out to Micah's captors and plead for his release. The world watched and waited as the drama unfolded, but the authors, now safely home and engaged, detail the untold story.--From publisher description.