News of a Kidnapping

Consumedthesepasttwentyyearsbya"biblicalholocaust,"Colombiahasenduredleftistinsurgencies,right-wingdeathsquads,currencycollapses,choleraepidemics,and,mostrecentlyandcorrosively,drugtrafficking.ReturningtohisdaysasareporterforElEspectador,GabrielGarciaMarquezchronicles,withconsummateskill,theperiodinlate1990whenColombiansecurityforcesmountedanationwidemanhuntforPabloEscobar,theruthlessandelusiveheadoftheMedellncartel.TenmenandwomenwereabductedbyEscobar'shenchmenandusedasbargainingchipsagainstextraditiontotheUnitedStates.Fromthetestimoniesanddiariesofthesurvivors,GarciaMarquezreconstructstheirbizarreordealwithcinematicintensity,breathtakinglanguage,andrigor.Wearedrawnintoaworldthat,likesomephantasmagoricalsettinginagreatGarciaMarqueznovel,wecanscarcelybelieveexists--butthatcontinuallyshocksuswithitscold,hardreality.