A Descent into Darkness: Eli Sharabi’s HOSTAGE is a Testament to Human Endurance

Hostage by Eli Sharabi is one of the most disturbing and courageous memoirs I’ve ever read. He chronicles 491 days in Hamas captivity with haunting precision, capturing every sensory assault in agonizing detail. Iron shackles bite into his ankles. The stench from a broken toilet fills the air. Tiny white worms crawl over his toothbrush. With only one meager meal a day, he watches his belly cave inward as his body and spirit are tested beyond measure.

Yet amid this torment, Sharabi clings to the smallest shards of humanity—helping fellow captives, whispering words of hope, refusing to let his captors extinguish his faith in life itself. When freedom finally comes, it’s shadowed by unbearable grief: his wife and daughters did not survive the attack that began his ordeal.

Sharabi’s writing is vivid and unflinching, the kind of truth-telling that leaves you shaken but deeply grateful for his courage. I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from Harper Audio, brilliantly narrated by Geoffrey Cantor, whose performance adds raw intensity to every page. Hostage isn’t easy to read, but it’s impossible to forget—a devastating story of cruelty, resilience, and the will to endure. The opinions in this review are solely my own.