Hostage Three

Hostage Three (2012), a contemporary thriller for young adults by Nick Lake, centers on a young girl taken hostage by Somali pirates while on holiday with her parents in the Gulf of Aden. It received numerous award nominations, including a nomination for the 2014 Carnegie Medal. An English author, Lake writes contemporary novels for children and teenagers. His debut, In Darkness, won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Aside from writing, Lake serves as the Editorial Director for Fiction at HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Seventeen-year-old Amy Fields lives with her father and her stepmother. To outsiders, Amy seems to have it all. Her rich father gives her everything she wants, and she goes on fancy holidays every year. She goes to the best schools and she wears the latest clothes. Most people don’t know how unhappy Amy is in her life.

Amy’s clinically depressed mother committed suicide two years ago. Not long after, her father married Sarah, a distant, reserved woman who isn’t interested in having a relationship with Amy. Amy resents her father for forgetting her mother so quickly. She can’t wait to turn eighteen in a few months so she can leave home to start her own life.



Since Amy’s father is a banking executive, she hardly ever sees him. When school lets out for the summer, Amy thinks she will spend a few months lounging around the pool and hanging out with her friends. Instead, her father unexpectedly decides to take her on a round-the-world trip on his yacht, the Daisy May. Disappointed that she flunked her exams, he thinks she needs support.

Aboard the Daisy May, Amy avoids Sarah, spending her time watching the dolphins, taking pictures, getting a tan, and drinking in the beautiful scenery. For a while, Amy feels that her problems have disappeared, but trouble soon appears on the horizon.

As the Daisy May sails around the Gulf of Aden, they encounter another boat. The boat is under Somali pirate control. As it sails closer to the Daisy May, there is nowhere to hide. Before Amy can signal for help, armed pirates seize the boat; Amy is sure that she is going to die.



The pirates rank their hostages in order of value. Amy is “Hostage Three,” because she is the least financially valuable. Sarah is Hostage Two, because she is married to the most valuable hostage aboard, Amy’s father, Hostage One. The pirates threaten to hurt Amy in order to ensure her father cooperates with their demands.

Powerless and frightened, Amy can only pray for mercy, but as the days go by with no sign of rescue, Amy grows despondent. Playing her violin and thinking about music help to keep her calm. Music is Amy’s passion; she plans to make a career of it someday. She doesn’t plan to attract the attention of one of her captors.

The youngest pirate, Farouz, loves music. He shows Amy that, just because he is a criminal, it doesn’t mean that he can’t find joy in nice things. Farouz surprises Amy; she decides she wants to learn more about him. She is convinced that, if she keeps Farouz on her side, nothing will happen to her father or Sarah.



Time passes and Amy learns more about Farouz. She finds out that he hates thinking of himself as a pirate. He calls himself a “coastguard.” He knows that he shouldn’t kidnap people or hijack boats, but he needs money to free his brother from prison. In Farouz’s world, piracy is the only way to earn money and make a living. While Amy can’t understand this way of life, she recognizes that not everyone lives the privileged life that she does.

One thing leads to another and Amy falls in love with Farouz. He tells her that, once the ordeal is over, they will run away together and make a new life for themselves. Amy knows that she loves Farouz, but she is not so sure that she wants to give up her family anymore. She learns that her father lost his job and that Sarah isn’t as selfish as she first seemed. For Amy, running away is no longer a simple decision.

Finally, the pirates negotiate a large ransom for the family’s release. One hostage must go to land to guarantee the transfer of the ransom money. Amy says that she will go, because then she can run away and be with Farouz if she chooses. Sarah, however, volunteers to go because she will do anything to protect Amy. She knows nothing about Amy’s relationship with Farouz.



When the exchange is completed, the pirates kill Farouz. They say that he turned soft and is no longer reliable. Amy is devastated but, because no one knows about their relationship, she can’t grieve publicly. Instead, she channels her energy into rebuilding her life in England. She retakes the exams she flunked and secures an interview for a place at the Royal Academy of Music.