Hostage Three

Hostage Three by Nick Lake is a thrilling story of human survival in an unexpected situation. Amy is almost 18, still grieves for her mother, detests her new stepmother and has no desire to spend the next 12 months on a yacht sailing around the world with her father and stepmother. She spends the days sunbathing, listening to music on her iPod and waiting for her birthday. All is going well until off the coast of Somalia the yacht is overtaken by a group of pirates. Although the pirates threaten the Amy’s family and the crew, the people on the yacht are worth more alive as the pirates turn them into hostages demanding millions.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced, coming-of-age, survival story. Amy begins falling for the pirate’s translator and begins learning more about his family, his past, and his hopes and dreams for the future. During the hostage situation, Amy also begins connecting again with her father and learning more about herself as well. The reader learns more about Amy’s mother and their special connection, but also the events leading up to her mother’s death.

The story is well-paced and the back story is revealed at a steady pace as you read further into the story. The main characters are well-developed and the reader evens feels empathetic to the pirates as you learn more about their lives outside of the hostage situation. My only criticism of this book, is the physical format. I opened up to the first chapter and thought I was missing a page or two. The story begins at the top of this page, no indentation, no mention of a chapter title, but I soon got over this issue as the story intrigued me. The other criticism also come from a format issue, the author chooses not to use quotation marks, only a dash to separate between different characters talking. Again, this is not typical, but I was able to soon ignore this formatting quirk and enjoy the story. The only other thing readers should be aware of is that the author is British and that can be seen in some of the writing. Overall, I enjoyed this really emotionally gripping story.

Title: Hostage Three
Author: Nick Lake
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: 2013
Page Number: 384 pgs.