Customer Reviews

Proof of Life

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An average novelization of the movie, which was extremely engrossing. Fills in some emotional scenes and character's thoughts that weren't included in the movie, with the months that they cover. Especially enjoyable were the excerpts from the source material for Proof of Life.

I remember why I have made it a point not to buy or read books based upon movies. While the movie caught my attention in a big way, this book did little to add to the experience beyond a few differences in minor details. What was worth reading were the excerpts from the Vanity Fair article, "Adventures in the Ransom Trade", and the book "Long March to Freedom: Tom Hargrove's . . " The full versions of these are worth tracking down.

Having not seen the movie Proof of Life, I went into this book with no preconceived notions of what to expect. What I got was an pleasantly different story based upon the Kidnap and Ransom (K&R) industry. The K&R industry provides "insurance" for the famous, the extremely wealthy, or anyone else who is in a position that may result in their being kidnapped for ransom, typically in a third-world type country. This insuranse provides ransom money, equipment for any necessity, and an expert negotiator who will stick with you for as long as it takes - sometimes years.

Starting with this premise, Proof of Life follows just such a story in an enjoyable, if predictable, fashion. A civil engineer working in a third world country is kidnapped for ranson. A negotiator is sent to work with his wife, and ends up falling in love with her. Just to keep things interesting and not too easy, there are some hitches along the way (such as the negotiator leaves because it turns out the insurance premiums weren't paid).

Overall, this is a small novel that is by no means a literary masterpiece, but will provide a few hours of light entertainment and mindless reading on a Saturday afternoon. A short article in the front of the novel about the K&R industry is a nice bonus and helps with understanding how the story works.

This writer has a fine track record of adapting movie
scripts to novels. He invariably captures the spirit
of the movies and his characterizations are spot on.
MEN OF HONOR was another of his that was extremely well
received. In this instance, he does a great job of
delving deeper into the Crowe and Ryan characters than we
ever saw in the movie, and explains elements that were
left disjointed by the editing. If you saw the movie and
want to read a book that fills in the gaps, this receives the
highest recommendation.

As both a working Investigator Internationally,SAR team Regional Commander and involved with Hostage Negotiations/Counter-Anti Terrorism and past technical advisor(Special Operations,Naval Specwar,Law Enforcement) for film productions in the past This is one movie i didnt want to like but ended up enjoying.
I think however, that the movie was severly damaged by the "hollywood love drama' thrown in.It wasnt needed and wasted valuable space that could have launched this movie to a higher plateau with regards to the issue of kidnapping and their rescuers.
I ended up renting this movie and watching it twice over.The Technical Advisors did an outstanding job and Since it has been awhile since this was seen,I believe the TA's for the movie are/were working Hostage Negotiators/SAR operators.Salute guys.

You will see in the news this types of kidnappings and the behind the scenes work of Hostage Negotiators/SAR Team operators both civilian and Military-Law Enforcement more and more as terrorists do thier evil deeds in hopes of furthering thier warped view of humanity and political causes.From Mexico to Central-South America,SE Asia,Russia and her former states now in conflict,the entire Middle East and the Balkans...sadly this plaque and scourge to society is getting more popular day by day to terrorists. (esp.by those who adhere to that so-called "religion of Peace'which is nothing more then a large brainwashing Cult in my opinion...they havent stopped doing this since Lebanon and are currently monopolizing both terrorism,killing,maiming,torturing,bombing,and kidnapping the world over.They even relish doing the above to their own)
have a nice day.