Held Hostage by Dennis Flynn was received direct from the publisher. Being retired law enforcement and loving Las Vegas, the opportunity to review this book grabbed me and would not let go. For those interested in hostage negotiations and understand this means many things not just as seen on television, or want to learn what it means in the real world, grab this book up and read it and understand it. The author tells what happened at an event, then the negotiators perspective and then lessons learned, all of which are very helpful to the outsider.

"Held Hostage" is about how hostage negotiators (now called Crisis Negotiations Teams) work in Las Vegas. Lieutenant Dennis Flynn worked as a part of the negotiator teams in Las Vegas from 1998 to 2015. He responded to over a thousand incidents, including suicide attempts, barricade situations, pseudo-hostage and hostage situations.

He started by briefly explaining about how he got interested in being a negotiator, the training he took, and the different positions/jobs on the team. He then provided details about ten incidents that he worked. He described the situation that the police responded to, what the scene was like when the CNT arrived, what they did, and why. He also analyzed what could have been done better and any changes they made to their procedures based on what they learned. He included pictures of the places these incidents took place so you can see what they were dealing with.

The author wrote in a way that a person unfamiliar with police, SWAT, or negotiator tools and terminology can easily understand what was going on. I better understand the challenging situations they face and how they deal with them. I'm amazed that they will spend hours talking people out of committing suicide, but horrified that passersby will call out to these hurting people to jump. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in what negotiators do.

A great book, a very interesting insight into the job of hostage negotiator. A fabulous read.

A matter-of-fact account by retired Las Vegas police negotiator Lieutenant Dennis Flynn of real crisis situations faced during his illustrious career.

Each chapter first sets up the crisis situation that has arisen, then the perspective of the negotiators that arrive on the scene as the crisis unfolds and concluding with the mistakes made and lessons learnt.

The photographs at the end of each chapter really drives home the heart-wrenching realness of these tragic people during the very worst time of their lives.

Read Held Hostage and step into the shoes of these crisis negotiators to get a dose of reality - as bad as life can be, for some it becomes unbearable.