
Saving Sam: The True Story of an American's Disappearance in Syria and His Family's Extraordinary Fight to Bring Him Home
Hardcover
Biographies GeneralReligion General International Relations
Publisher Price: $30.00
ISBN13: 9781546007746
Publisher: Center Street
Published: Sep 10 2024
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.10
Height: 1.10 Width: 6.60 Depth: 9.40
Language: English
A gripping testament of resilience, family, and faith, this is the incredible and true story of an American traveler who was captured and wrongfully imprisoned in Syria while on a journey to experience every country in the world.
What would you do if your son suddenly disappeared in Syria, and you had no idea what had happened to him? Would you contact the FBI? The State Department? Pray? Would you Google What to do if your son disappears in Syria?
When the unthinkable happened, the answer, in the case of Ann Goodwin and her husband Tag, was: all of the above. Their 30-year-old son Sam, who was attempting to become one of the few people in history to travel to every single country on the planet, vanished in a supposed safe-zone run by the Kurds on the Turkish border. At first, they didn't even realize he had been abducted: maybe the phone reception had gone down, they told themselves, as had happened plenty of times before when Sam was in an off-the-beaten-path place. Just wait, he'll call back soon.
But Sam never did call back, and over the coming days, the horror of their situation quickly bore down on the Goodwins, a devout Catholic family of seven living a middle-class suburban lifestyle in St. Louis, Missouri. Frustrated and increasingly terrified, the Goodwin's came to realize that they couldn't rely on their government to save Sam. They were going to have to do it themselves.
This is the extraordinary story of Sam's abduction by the Syrian regime, who threatened to hand him over to ISIS for beheading if he did not confess to being a CIA spy. It's also the story of a Midwestern American family who transformed themselves into their own detective agency, building up a network of journalists, hostage negotiators, Middle East experts, Russian diplomats, Vatican envoys, and shady mercenaries, until eventually - by nothing short of a miracle - they found a secret backdoor into the heart of the Syrian intelligence service itself.
Through multiple first-person narrators, Saving Sam recounts an inspiring and unforgettable saga that includes a travel journey to every country in the world, famous celebrities, heads of state, high-stakes diplomacy and critical life lessons around curiosity, uncertainty, prayer and what it ultimately means to be free. In a genuine, straightforward and sometimes humorous style, Sam draws on his experience as a hostage to demonstrate how we can all turn our own adversities into assets, whether it be in our personal, professional or spiritual lives.
Also in
Biographies General
The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle and Generally Have
Rubin, Gretchen
Paperback
Bar Yarns and Manic-Depressive Mixtapes: Jim Walsh on Music from Minneapolis to the Outer Limits
Walsh, Jim
Hardcover
Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World
Peters, C. J.
Olshaker, Mark
Paperback
Through No Fault of My Own: A Girl's Diary of Life on Summit Avenue in the Jazz Age
Irvine, Coco
Paperback
From Here to the Great Unknown: Oprah's Book Club: A Memoir
Keough, Riley
Presley, Lisa Marie
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Hardcover
Undercover Junkie: Chasing Highs, Confronting Killers, and Unraveling in the Chaos
Cartwright, Brent
Hardcover
Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty
Clinton, Hillary Rodham
Hardcover
We Will Be Jaguars (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Memoir of My People
Anderson, Mitch
Nenquimo, Nemonte
Hardcover
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
Sobel, Dava
Hardcover
Covet the Comeback: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Found Success, Lost Everything, Then Built a Fashion Empire
Garkinos, Christos
Paperback
Undercover Junkie: Chasing Highs, Confronting Killers, and Unraveling in the Chaos
Cartwright, Brent
Paperback
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
Sheldrake, Merlin
Paperback
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
True Gretch: What I've Learned about Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between
Whitmer, Gretchen
Hardcover
The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty
Bauerlein, Valerie
Hardcover
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Gwynne, S. C.
Paperback
What in the World?!: A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings
Morgan, Leanne
Hardcover
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!)
Lenz, Bethany Joy
Hardcover
The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to his son: Perspectives, Ideology, and Wisdom
Rockefeller, J. D.
Paperback
Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
Henion, Leigh Ann
Hardcover
Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
Romney, Rebecca
Hardcover
Reality Check: Making the Best of the Situation - How I Overcame Addiction, Loss, and Prison
Sorrentino, Mike The Situation
Hardcover
The Survivor: How I Made It Through Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter
Lewkowicz, Josef
Hardcover
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
Paperback
Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History
Campbell, Olivia
Hardcover
Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
Lankford, Andrea
Paperback
Liliana's Invincible Summer (Pulitzer Prize Winner): A Sister's Search for Justice
Rivera Garza, Cristina
Paperback
Black Saturday: An Unfiltered Account of the October 7th Attack on Israel and the War in Gaza
Yingst, Trey
Hardcover