Product Description

An inside account of the workings of the international drugs trade and a terrifying journey through some of the world's most violent and notorious prisons. Donald MacNeil was hired to skipper a yacht across the Mediterranean - but, unbeknownst to him, he was caught up in a huge cocaine deal and at the mercy of dangerous gangsters. Arrested by the Venezualan National Guard, MacNeil was sent to the notorious island prison of San Antonio - one of the worst jails on Earth. Journey to Hell is a harrowing account of MacNeil's struggle to survive in a world gone mad.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107942 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Review
skipper a yacht across the Mediterranean - but, --unbeknownst to him, he was caught up in a huge

cocaine deal and at the mercy of dangerous --gangsters. Arrested by the Venezualan National

Guard, MacNeil was sent to the notorious island --prison of San Antonio - one of the worst jails on

Knave
'A truly compelling real-life story.'

About the Author
international drugs trade and a terrifying journey

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful, well-written and honest
Watching people have their lips sewn together as a prelude to execution, being caught in the middle of a prison gang war inolving guns, machetes and grenades, and trying to survive among murderous crack addicts and lunatic guards would be enough to send a man nuts, but Donald MacNeil kept a remarkable grip on his sanity in the madness of a Venezuelan prison. A yacht skipper who was hired in dubious cricumstances to "teach" a couple of shady blokes to sail in the Med, only to then be embroiled in a plot to cross the Atlantic and smuggle cocaine, MacNeil comes across as an intelligent, law-abiding man caught up in events that rapidly seemed to move beyond his control. There have been a glut of these "prison hell" memoirs recently and this is definitely one of the best: he doesn't sensationalise but his thoughtful detachment somehow makes the experiences more terrfying.

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.

Excellent book
Donald has written a brilliant book - he writes in a very descriptive and honest (and sometimes even entertaining) way. It is a book which is very difficult to put down. Even though he was involved in the drugs trade no-one deserves this sort of treatment. Donald certainly paid the price for his mistake, but I wish him every happiness for the future.

NB. I find Brian McCartney's review very suspicious - read his review history and this is the first review he has ever written and he only read HALF the book. Read my review history and I have always commented on biographies. One wonders if Mr McCartney knows Donald in some way and has a case of sour grapes. In addition I have read biographies about people who have been in jail in places like Thailand and Donald's account is as horrific in many respects.