In the Shadows: True Stories of HighStakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad

This is hard to put down. ~ Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewA top negotiator in countless highstakes missions to free Americans captured abroad and held in the worlds scariest prisons takes readers inside the dramatic and shadowy world of international hostage rescue.Brittney Griner, Danny Fenster, Otto Warmbier, Trevor Reed, Paul Whelan, Kenneth BaeWhen an American citizen is unjustly imprisoned overseas, thats when Mickey Bergmans phone starts to ring.Who else are their desperate loved ones supposed to call? Mickey and his tight team of savvy negotiators at the Richardson Center for Global Engagement are the goto rescuers of last resort, carrying on the highstakes, roundtheworld mission of master negotiator Bill Richardson. Mickey and his team do what U.S. government officials are often unable or unwilling to do: sit down with Americas toughest adversaries and find creative ways to bring our people home.Thats life In the Shadows.This is the heartpounding story of these urgent negotiations, what its like to climb inside the minds of some of the worlds most notorious strongmen, where the clear divisions between good and evil are replaced by a thousand shades of gray.The hard work is done far from the glare of media publicity. The negotiations dont follow traditional diplomatic rules. As innocent Americans sit behind bars in hellhole foreign prisons, Mickey and his colleagues stop at nothing to get our people home. And these cases almost never go as smoothly as they should, as the independent negotiators navigate between U.S. government officials and some of the worlds most headstrong leaders. And as soon as one American is freed, Mickey is off on another dicey mission to Moscow, Caracas, Naypyidaw, Pyongyang, or some other complex foreign capital. These painstaking campaigns require creative thinking, hardball pressure tactics, excruciating patience, and a genuine sense of compassion for the anxious families whose lives are thrown into turmoil when a loved one is imprisoned abroad.In Mickey Bergmans own words, In the Shadows tells the hidden story of these highdrama rescue campaigns. The crafty negotiating strategies. The strongwilled foreign leaders. The emotional rollercoaster of being responsible for innocent American lives. The exhilaration when another American is released from a foreign prisonand the terrible letdown when a promising effort hits another maddening roadblock. Mickey recounts his unique relationship with his mentor, the late, great Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, ambassador to the United Nations and legendary negotiator. He shares the wrenching closeness he develops with the desperate families he serves, who often have nowhere else to turn. He offers a detailed account of his oneonone interactions with Washingtons top power players, both Democrats and Republicans, and some of the worlds most isolated and misunderstood heads of state.For readers who want the full, searing story of these lifeordeath rescue missions and the fascinating people behind them, its all In the Shadows. As Mickey Bergman and New York Times bestselling author Ellis Henican make clear on every page, international diplomacy isnt just for government officials anymore.