by Jay Bahadur
First published 2011
Freelance journalist Jay Bahadur travels to Puntland in northeastern Somalia to investigate modern piracy from the inside. He becomes the only Western reporter to penetrate deeply into pirate society, sitting with hijackers as they chew khat and take business calls on mobile phones. Bahadur documents how these maritime criminals spend their earnings and examines their motivations for launching dangerous raids against massive cargo vessels. He interviews security forces fighting the piracy epidemic and speaks with former hostages who endured months of captivity aboard seized ships while their families negotiated ransoms. The book reveals the human reality behind international headlines about Somali pirates attacking commercial shipping in one of the world's most lawless regions.
Genres: adventure, non-fiction, journalism, africa
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: Puntland, Somalia
254 pages · Kindle Edition · Scribe