SOURCE: Butt, John. “Captive in Colombia.” Times Literary Supplement, no. 4919 (11 July 1997): 21.

In the following review, Butt evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of News of a Kidnapping.

The Spanish original of this book [News of a Kidnapping] was warmly praised by me in the TLS of October 4, 1996, and my enthusiasm has not cooled after reading this English version. The suspense never flags, even when the outcome is known—which is doubly remarkable, since the author gives away the fate of all the hostages in his own introduction. Not that a reading in translation can be the same experience; on renewed acquaintance, the character of the psychopath Escobar grows in complexity and mystery, as does the troublingly ambiguous relationship between him and Villamizar, the husband of one of the captives. These two seem inhibited by a grudging and irrational mutual respect that probably reflects the moral and political inconsistencies typical...