Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13652 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Daily Record
'An amazing story.'

Knave
'A truly compelling real-life story.'

Synopsis
Donald MacNeil was a sailing instructor in the north of England when he was hired to skipper a yacht across the Mediterranean while teaching its owners to sail. The pay was good and the work sounded easy - or so he thought. But when the trip reached Malta, the true nature of the expedition was revealed: he had to sail the Atlantic to South America to collect one of the biggest shipments of cocaine ever bound for the UK. Realising he now knew too much about the dangerous gangsters who had hired him, he knew refusal wasn't an option. There followed a harrowing - and bizarre - journey via the West Indies to the coast of Venezuela, where hundreds of kilos of coke were loaded on board. Shortly afterwards, however, Donald and a fellow crewman were arrested by the Venezuelan National Guard, who had received a tipoff from the British police and had been watching the entire operation. Donald was found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to six and a half years in the notorious island prison of San Antonio. He soon discovered why Venezuela's prisons are reputed to be the most violent in the world.

Hundreds of people are killed and thousands maimed every year in riots, vendettas and petty disputes. Thrown into a filthy, over-crowded dormitory known as Pavilion 4, and surrounded by armed gangs, crack addicts, death and disease, he witnessed close-up the day-to-day fight for survival of those unfortunate enough to be sent there. Ferocious guards beat prisoners indiscriminately and many resorted to hunger strikes and even 'blood strikes' (deliberately cutting themselves) to protest against the scarce food, undrinkable water and lack of medical care. Finally a gang war broke out between the two prison compounds, involving guns, knives, machetes and even grenades, resulting in the brutal death of Donald's friend and mentor, compound leader "Mancho". Through it all MacNeil clung to the belief that one day he would be reunited with his family and friends. "Journey to Hell" is a harrowing but compelling account of the workings of the international drug trade and of one man's extraordinary endurance and will to survive.

Customer Reviews

Dull
Very, very dull and self-conceited. I agree totally with the reviews of Brian MCartney and Johnboy257. Im very close to the end and cant wait to get there. Each time I think ' This has got to get better', it unfortunately doesnt. Have a read of Warren Fellowes book or read about Steve Willcox who has been serving a 31 year sentence in Thailand's Bangkwang prison for having 25 grams of category 1 drug found in the house he was living. That is a Journey to Hell!

If you watch prison break season 3
This book goes into detail of the prison in prison break season 3 but with bells on.
If you thought the new sona prison was made up in someones mind for the show read this book and you will see there are real places like that out there.

DENIS'S THOUGHTS
After reading Brian's critical review of Journey to Hell, I thought that I ought to write and respond.

Donald has written a truly brilliant book. He writes about the 'offer' that was made to him in Malta and the horrors that he faced every day thereafter. He also writes about the letters he wrote, and the stance that he took against the brutal beatings dished out by the prison guards on a daily basis.

He lost a huge amount of weight, friends at home and in the prison, but always put others first. Brian writes that it is not as though the Mafia had pressed him into doing this; he also writes that compared to many other prison systems, Venezuela seemed relatively easy.

The Women's Institute or the local choir do not run £50 million worth of Cocaine from country to country; the death toll alone in the Venezuelan prison system makes it quite apparent that this is not an 'easy option', as Brian seems to suggest.

I suggest Brian should re-read Journey to Hell and, if after reading it, he still thinks Donald's sentence was easy, then he is clearly incapable of understanding what is made abundantly clear by the book; i.e. that it was a total nightmare from beginning to end.

I was with Donald from day one; I collected him from the airport in Crete in 1999. He did make a difference to the way that we were treated; and for sure, saved lives.