Well, ‘Buried Alive‘ by Roy Hallums was the book I was really waiting for. I have this profound interest regarding the atrocities and disasters that are going on in war-ridden countries like Iraq, Afghanistan. I went through the books like ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns‘ and ‘The Kite Runner‘ by Khaled Hussaini, and all these books made me is more touchy about the situations.

And then, I happened to get a handful of this piece.

Short description:

Contractor Roy Hallums recounts the harrowing ten months he was held captive by Iraqi insurgents, the heroic rescue by American troops, and the faith that helped him survive it all.

In November 2004 Roy Hallums was working late at his office in Iraq at the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Company, supposedly well-protected by armed security guards, when four kidnappers broke in and hauled him away at gunpoint. The next ten months were the darkest of his life. Hallums spent most of his time in a concrete pit beneath a farmhouse, constantly bound and blindfolded. A small pipe in the ceiling provided the room’s only oxygen – and its only link to the outside world.

Hallums banked on one group in particular not forgetting his existence — the US military. And sure enough, on September 7, 2006, they successfully rescued him. This is the edge-of-your-seat story of a trip through hell for Hallums, the daring rescue mission, and faith that brought him through the experience.

Review: ‘Buried Alive’ is a story of humiliation and terror that Roy had to face during his ten months of captivity by the Iraqi insurgents. Many a times while going through the book, I was having flashbacks of the 2009 movie ‘Brothers‘ starring Toby Maguire of Spiderman fame. In a short stint in the movie it was shown how he and one of his friends were being kept captive. Finally, the character of Toby in the film was forced to kill his friend and what followed was a horror filled life on his own. Little wonder that he could not forgive himself.

These emotions and sentiments are reflected in this book. Though not the exact same ways, but then, when you are suffering due to the mistakes you have never done, the language of pain is all the same everywhere.

Verdict: Roy Hallums‘ ‘Buried Alive‘ is a must read book – It gives an insight to the ones who want to know about the problems and insurgencies in the Middle-East. And also this book gives people like me more facts and figures about the same. Terror, torture can never win over life, the final triumph gives this sermon to everyone.