Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers--including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages, and a plucky octogenarian--discover their unexpected common traits.

On Christmas Eve, Detective Alex Cross receives an urgent phone call--a horrific hostage situation is quickly spiraling out of control. Away from his own family on the most precious of days, Alex calls upon every ounce of his training, creativity, and daring to save another family.

After his successful takedown of a dangerous terrorist, Bob Lee Swagger learns that no good deed goes unpunished. Summoned to court by the United States Congress, Swagger is accused of reckless endangerment by a hardheaded anti-gun congresswoman. But what begins as political posturing soon turns deadly when the auditorium where the committee is being held is attacked. Swagger, the congresswoman, and numerous bystanders and reporters are taken hostage...

After returning to his hometown on leave, Sgt. Jake Carter learns that his sister has been abducted by a band of violent extremists. To save her, Carter launches a daring one-man assault on their base of operations, only to discover the group's ruthless leader is plotting a deadly terrorist strike. With time running out, Carter realizes he's the only man who can stop the impending massacre, but this American hero may have to make the ultimate sacrifice...

A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage.

Traces the experiences of kidnapped documentary filmmaker Micah Garen, describing the constant threats of execution from his captors, and how his fiancee worked for his release through a network of journalists and Middle East contacts.

When terrorists seize hostages at an embassy party, an unlikely assortment of people are thrown together, including American opera star Roxanne Coss, and Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese CEO and her biggest fan.

The author shares an intimate portrait of her father's captivity during the Lebanese Hostage Crisis and the effect of the surrounding political firestorm on both her family and the United States, sharing additional views about the role of the crisis in Middle East politics today.

Based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, which was the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.