Law of the Jungle: The Hunt for Colombian Guerrillas, American Hostages, and Buried Treasure

Law of the Jungle by John Otis is a wild and riveting true story of kidnapping and drug trafficking in the jungles of South America. Written by a 20-year veteran reporter based in Colombia—the only reporter qualified to tell the tale—this incredible account of “The Hunt for Colombian Guerrillas, American Hostages, and Buried Treasure” tells the untold flip side of the story chronicled in the New York Times bestseller Out of Captivity. An amazing surreal-but-true adventure in the tradition of Mark Bowden’s Killing Pablo and Blackhawk Down, Law of the Jungle is, at once, heroic, tragic, and bizarre, placing the Colombian hostage story in its full and magnificently strange context.

How did a routine surveillance mission spiral into an international hostage crisis, a treasure hunt, and a story stranger than fiction?

• A Gripping Survival Story: Follow the five-year ordeal of three American hostages as they navigate the brutal realities of captivity in the Colombian jungle.
• Exclusive On-the-Ground Reporting: From a veteran journalist who spent two decades in Colombia, this is the definitive account of the crisis, pieced together from firsthand interviews and unparalleled access.
• The Hunt for Buried Treasure: Uncover the bizarre, untold story of the Colombian soldiers who stumbled upon millions in buried FARC cash while hunting for the hostages.
• The Untold Story: Discover the stunning flip side to the events chronicled in the bestseller Out of Captivity, placing the saga in its full, complex, and tragic context.

On February 13, 2003, a plane carrying three American military contractors crash-landed in the jungle-covered mountains of Colombia. Within minutes, FARC guerrillas swarmed the wreckage and killed the American pilot and a Colombian crew member, then marched the survivors—Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes—at gunpoint into the rain forest. The Colombian government sent 147 soldiers to rescue the Americans. The troops spent weeks subsisting on monkey meat and Amazon rodents as they chased the guerrillas deeper into the jungle. But then a soldier on a bathroom break stuck his machete into the ground and pulled out 20 million pesos—part of a buried rebel cache of $20 million—and the game suddenly changed.

Veteran journalist John Otis places the Colombian hostage story in its full context, exploring the inner workings of the FARC, the U.S.-backed war on drugs, and Colombia's efforts to free the rebel-held prisoners. Law of the Jungle is an edge-of-your-seat adventure and a shocking cautionary tale about the pursuit of fortune in one of the world's most dangerous places.

“With its Conradian atmosphere of jungle-induced madness and an immediacy stemming from interviews with many of the participants, this will engage all...” - Booklist

“An impossible-to-put-down read with as many twists and turns as a summer blockbuster.... Otis, a journalist who has worked in Latin America for more than 20 years, skillfully weaves this incredible tale of attempted—and eventually successful—rescue by Colombian soldiers...with fascinating Colombian history and the U.S.-backed war on drugs.” - Very Short List

“Has the feel of a John Huston movie, with its mix of tragedy, intrigue, black comedy and, ultimately, heroism....fascinating. - BookPage

“Amazing...Mesmerizing....[John] Otis has assembled a yarn that would make a magical realist blush, complete with outlandish characters, tragicomic twists of fate, and far-flung deeds of derring-do.... Riveting.” - Boston Globe

“Compelling...Wild.” - New York Post

“Well-paced...stunning....Otis brings a novelist’s eye and ear to the narrative....it’s the Hollywood-script duping of the hostages’ FARC captors and the improbable rescue of the hostages without a shot being fired that makes this book a must-read. Otis is a pro. His book is the definitive account.” - San Antonio Express-News

“Law of the Jungle is a well-reported, highly informative account of the chase, which was undertaken largely by the Colombian army....[A] thriller-opera of a story....Otis’s story rises beyond ordinary reporting: He manages to condense recent Colombian history into a clear, digestible narrative.” - Washington Post

“Gripping and funny...[Otis] tells an amazing story in his first book....Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were finally freed during the summer of 2008, and Otis tells their story in the sort of rich detail you’d expect of an experienced print journalist.” - Minneapolis Star Tribune

“An impossible-to-put-down read with as many twists and turns as a summer blockbuster.... Otis, a journalist who has worked in Latin America for more than 20 years, skillfully weaves this incredible tale of attempted—and eventually successful—rescue by Colombian soldiers....Fascinating.” - Very Short List