IMPOSSIBLE ODDS

A harrowing and heartwrenching memoir of humanitarian aid worker Jessica Buchanan’s kidnapping by Somali land pirates, her three months in captivity, her rescue by the Navy SEALs, and her husband’s extraordinary efforts to help bring her home.

In 2006, 27-year-old Jessica Buchanan arrived in Nairobi with a teaching degree and dreams of helping to educate African children. By 2009, she had married the man of her dreams, a Swede named Erik Landemalm. Erik coordinated humanitarian aid with local authorities in Africa. With plans of starting a family they moved to Somalia - and their future was looking bright ... On October 25, 2011, Jessica and a male colleague were kidnapped at gunpoint and held for ransom by an organized band of Somali land pirates. For the next three months, Jessica was terrorized by wo dozen gangsters. She was held outdoors in filthy conditions and insufficient nourishment while her health deteriorated. Negotiations for ransom dragged on for three months as the captors grew increasingly impatient. As Jessica was suffering in captivity her husband was trying to reach a deal with her captors.

On January 25, 2012, President Obama ordered a rescue operation by a team of twenty-four Navy SEALs. The team killed all nine kidnappers, with no harm to the hostages, who were quickly airlifted out on a military rescue helicopter. IMPOSSIBLE ODDS details Jessica and Erik’s journeys during those torturous months. Together, they relate the events prior to the kidnapping, the drama of Jessica’s fight to stay alive, and Erik’s efforts to bolster and support the hunt for her while he acted as liaison between their two families, the FBI, professional hostage negotiators, and the United States government. JESSICA BUCHANAN and ERIK LANDELMAM both worked in the humanitarian aid field in Somalia. They have recently relocated to the United States, where they are lecturing on their experiences while raising their son, August, born in October, 2012. ANTHONY FLACCO is the author of numerous nonfiction books and novels. He holds an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute, where he was honored with the Paramount Studios Fellowship Award and a Disney Studios Fellowship. He serves as an editor of nonfiction books and novels, frequently gives seminars on writing, and is an editorial consultant to Martin Literary Management in Seattle.