Colonel McGill Alexander had just been posted to Taiwan as a diplomat. His family felt safe there -- until Taiwan's most-wanted criminal, Chen Chin-hsing, broke into their home and held them at gunpoint, using them as pawns to free his imprisoned wife. Used as human shields during a gun battle between the killer and the trigger-happy Taiwanese police, McGill and his daughter, Melanie, were shot. After a grueling 26 hours, the entire family was freed. Chen was captured and found guilty of multiple crimes.
The book and ebook include on-the-scene news photos as well as personal, behind-the-scenes photos. One of Taiwan's biggest news stories ever, these events thrust the Alexander family into the media spotlight. As Christian believers, they showed Taiwan and the rest of the world a stunning example of Christ's forgiveness in the midst of terror, violence and revenge.
A re-enactment of the hostage story was produced for National Geographic Channel - Locked Up Abroad series of docudramas in 2008.