Daniel Levin, a board member of the Liechtenstein Foundation for State Governance, was at his office one day when he got a call from an acquaintance with an urgent, cryptic request to meet in Paris. A young man who had set out for Aleppo, Syria to assist a group of volunteer doctors had gone missing and no government, embassy, or intelligence agency would help. So begins the story of one man’s search to find a missing person in Syria over eighteen tense days. Levin, a lawyer turned armed conflict negotiator, uses his extensive Middle Eastern contacts to chase one lead to the next in an underground world of drug and human trafficking. The book includes details about other cases of kidnapped Westerners in the Middle East and portrayals of power brokers, smugglers, and funders of terrorism.

Proof of Life was fascinating. I read online reviews, some of which claimed Levin’s book was fictional rather than autobiographical, but I disagree. His account was very believable, as were the video interviews he did. He was very knowledgeable, articulate, and intelligent. His bravery was impressive, not only because of his dealings with unsavory characters in Middle Eastern war zones, but also because he is Jewish, a people group loathed by many Arabs.

Unfortunately, I just didn’t like the author's writing style. The lengthy footnotes were distracting and sent me down many bunny trails. Because of that, Proof of Life read like a textbook. It also needed developmental editing, as too many phrases were repeated, and it was too heavy on simile and metaphor. Although I wasn’t a fan of the writing, I learned a great deal about recent Middle Eastern history and the current situation in several countries. The author worked hard to share his impressive knowledge of the area. Be sure to read this book when you are alert and prepared to do some research as you move through it.

This is a very engaging read, although as someone who spends time in these circles, it is hard for me to imagine this unfolding the way it was described.

A suspenseful chilling search for a missing man in what little often ignored war in Syria. Syria was one of the brutalist complicated civil war that I can ever remember. When a true story came out of a often ignored story I jumped all over this novel. Dark and chilling, fantastic.

An amazing and engaging reflection on the quest to find a missing person in war torn Syria. We follow the author throughout the Middle East and witness meetings with drug dealers, sex traffickers', gangsters and even Sheiks. This was a deeply disturbing and fascinating novel, I highly recommend that you read it.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

Incredible. The reality of hostage situations is one of the scariest things I can imagine and it really has terrified me from traveling to foreign countries, even though I know it is so rare. Daniel Levin shares his story with intensity, urgency, but also, calm words. I am so here for this.

Hands down one of the best books I've ever read! I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll just say that the search for the person missing in Syria takes many amazing twists and turns, some laugh-out-loud funny moments and some shocking, painful moments. The epilogue stunned me. And I will never talk about war the same way again after reading the book's postscript. A masterpiece.

This is an extraordinary book - I could not put it down and read it in one sitting! The plot is utterly thrilling - actually, thrillers within thrillers - and the attention to detail (in both dialogues and settings) is fantastic. Levin's account is so immediate, so real, that I felt as if I was right next to him during those twenty days. The rendering of the sexual violence is devastating, as is the callousness exhibited by many perpetrators and indifferent bystanders. Levin shows deep empathy for the victims, but without infantilizing them, and he resists depicting himself as any kind of hero. I intend to make this book required reading for my Middle East classes.

Quite an enjoyable read! The narrative itself is well-written and presents the information in a way that is easily accessible to someone outside government circles. For students who might not be familiar with the history of the Middle East, the story is engaging and motivates them to keep reading because they want to know more about the people involved.