Work on this book was aided by grants from the Logan Nonfiction Fellowship, based at the Carey Institute for the Global Good in upstate New York, as well as the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in Washington, D.C.
Thanks to my readers: Susanna Forrest, Stig Jarle Hansen, Rasha Elass, Taran Khan, Mark Kramer, and everyone in the winter 2017 class of the Logan Nonfiction Fellowship.
Thanks to my wonderful surfing editor, Karen Rinaldi, and my fabulous agent, Kathy Robbins.
Thanks to Hannah Robinson and Nate Knaebel for their close attention to the manuscript.
Thanks to Abdi Warsame’s entire family in Wiesbaden and Berlin for their moral support, and for Abdi’s Somali-language translations.
Thanks also to H., a Somali who worked on my behalf and corroborated some of the stories in this book.
And, of course, thanks to Anna Noryskiewicz for help with Chinese translations and pinyin spellings.
Glossary of Names
Abdi Warsame—a Somali court translator in Hamburg, Germany.
Abdi Yare—nickname for the top Somali boss in the author’s hostage case, used by more than one pirate.
Abdinasser—a blustery and good-natured pirate guard who declared himself the author’s “sahib.”
Abdinuur—a pirate machine gunner and nominal leader of the author’s guard group.
Abdirashid—the “Pirate Princeling,” a guard who claimed to be the son of the boss named Dhuxul, also known as “Rashid.”
Abduelle—unofficial mayor of Hobyo, living in Hobyo.
Abdul (guard)—a slight, effeminate-looking pirate guard.
Abdul (translator)—a Somali ransom negotiator aboard the Naham 3.
Abdurrahman—a Somali translator and assistant negotiator in Galkayo, also known as “Mustaf.”
Abduwali—an older pirate guard aboard the Naham 3, with good English: a de facto translator.
Ahmed Dirie—a pirate group leader with rotten teeth, unfriendly to the author, belonging to both kidnap and guard teams.
Aidid, Mohamed Farrah—a Somali ex-general and warlord who clashed with U.N. forces during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
Akes—a quiet Filipino crewman aboard the Naham 3.
Ali’s Brother—a pirate group leader prone to violence, brother of Ali Duulaay.
Alin, President Mohamed Ahmed—president of Galmudug state in Somalia, 2009–2012.
Anders—a Norwegian negotiator with good Somali skills. Name changed for this book.
Angelo—nickname for a pirate guard who treated Rolly well and loaned the author a leather coat.
Arnel Balbero—a Filipino crewman on the Naham 3, “promoted” because of his English skills.
Ashwin Raman—Indian-born documentary filmmaker in Germany, the author’s partner in Somalia.
Awale, Mohamud—official but nominal mayor of Hobyo, living in Galkayo and London.
Bakayle—nickname, meaning “Rabbit,” for a pirate leader with large ears. Also nicknamed “Fifty Million” by Rolly.
Bashko—diminutive for Bashir, a pirate guard who helped the author.
Big Jacket—nickname for a guard-team leader on the Naham 3.
Boodiin—a pirate translator in Hobyo.
Buchanan, Jessica—a U.S. aid worker kidnapped in Somalia and rescued by Navy SEALs.
Cao Yong—a wiry Chinese engineer on the Naham 3, often fixing the generator.
Chorr—a pirate friend of the boss called Bakayle. Chorr kicked Rolly’s Bible aboard the Naham 3.
Dag—a pirate guard in Ali Duulaay’s gang, often stoned on khat.
Derek—a bush pilot and contractor based in Kenya.
Dhuxul—a pirate boss in Galkayo with a wooden prosthetic leg.
Digsi—a respected Sa’ad clan elder in Galmudug.
Duulaay, Ali—a top-ranking pirate boss, leader of the group that captured and held both Rolly Tambara and the author.
Farhaan—nickname for a plump pirate guard who let the author watch Captain Phillips.
Farrah—nickname for a tall and shy-seeming pirate guard in Galkayo.
Fatxi—a pirate boss with a mansion in Hobyo.
Ferdinand Dalit—a Filipino crewman on the Naham 3.
Fuad—a Somali ransom negotiator in and around Galkayo.
Garfanji, Mohamed—a top pirate financier in the Hobyo-Harardhere pirate network.
Gerlach, Mohammed Sahal—Galkayo-born elder in Berlin who served as a fixer in Somalia.
Ha, Nguyen Van—a Vietnamese crewman on the Naham 3, a former rice farmer.
Hamid—fixer who assisted Mohammed Gerlach and the author in Galkayo.
Hanley, Gerald—author of Warriors, about Somalia during and after World War II.
Hashi—nickname for a kind pirate guard in Galkayo.
Hen, or “Hayle”—nickname for Kim Koem Hen, a Cambodian crewman on the Naham 3.
Hersi—a slightly comical young guard in Hobyo.
Issa—nickname for a tall, loping pirate guard who watched the author in Hobyo, on the Naham 3, and in Galkayo.
Jian Zui—nickname for a Chinese crewman on the Naham 3. Real name Leng Wenbing.
Jie—a young Chinese crewman aboard the Naham 3.
Joe—a U.S. military contractor based in Mogadishu. Name changed for this book.
K’naan—a Somali-Canadian rapper.
Kim Koem Hen—real name of Hen, or “Hayle,” a Cambodian crewman on the Naham 3.
Korn Vanthy—a Cambodian crewman on the Naham 3 who hooked his hand while line-fishing.
Li Bo Hai—the first engineer aboard the Naham 3, a senior leader of the crew.
Lyon, Denis, and Sylvia—friends of the author’s family.
Madobe—nickname for a pirate guard who disliked the author. Real name Abdisalaan Ma’alin Abdullahi.
Marc Songoire—a hostage fisherman from the Seychelles.
Mowliid—a machine gunner in the author’s security team during the trip to Hobyo.
Mustaf—a nickname for Abdurrahman, a Somali translator and assistant negotiator.
Mustaf Mohammed Sheikh—a false name for the pirate boss interviewed by the author in Hobyo.
Ngem Sosan—a sarcastic Cambodian crewman aboard the Naham 3.
Özyurt, Captain Hasan—captain of the Gediz, a Turkish counter-piracy frigate.
Phumanny, Em—a sweet-tempered Cambodian crewman on the Naham 3, with a back covered in Buddhist tattoos.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer—Indonesian novelist and political prisoner, interviewed by the author in 2004.
Qiong Kuan—Chinese first mate aboard the Naham 3.
Rashid—the “Pirate Princeling,” a guard who claimed to be the son of the boss named Dhuxul. Also “Abdirashid.”
Robert—a California negotiator who helped conclude the author’s case. Also “Bob.”
Rolly Tambara—a hostage fisherman from the Seychelles.
Romeo—pseudonym for a U.S.-based ransom negotiator.
Saunders, Marlis—the author’s mother.
Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan—a Sufi firebrand and revolutionary leader in British Somaliland, lived 1856–1920.
Sheikh Mohamud—nickname for a Somali elder who tried to intervene in ransom negotiations.
Siad Barre, Mohamed—Somalia’s last strongman president, deposed in 1991.
Steed, Colonel John—head of the Hostage Support Partnership in Nairobi.
Steve—a California-based FBI agent assigned to the author’s case.
Suzy—the author’s ex-girlfriend in Berlin; Susanna Forrest.
Tahliil, Mohammed—a mild-mannered pirate guard leader in Hobyo.
Taso—nickname for a Taiwanese engineer aboard the Naham 3. Real name Shen Jui-chang.
Thich Quang Duc—a Buddhist monk in Vietnam who immolated himself in 1963.
Thisted, Poul—a Danish aid worker kidnapped in Somalia, with Jessica Buchanan, rescued by Navy SEALs.
Tony Libres (Antonio)—a Filipino crewman on the Naham 3, also the ship’s cook.
/> Tuure, Ali—nickname for a Somali pirate leader on the Naham 3.
Xalane—a young pirate guard who tried to pass himself off as “Mohammed.”
Xuan, Nguyen Van—a Vietnamese crewman on the Naham 3, a career fisherman.
Yaşar—a naval officer aboard the Gediz, a Turkish counter-piracy frigate.
Yoonis—a pirate translator in Hobyo and Galkayo.
About the Author
michael scott moore is a literary journalist and novelist; the author of a comic novel about L.A., Too Much of Nothing; as well as a travel book about surfing, Sweetness and Blood, which was named a best book of 2010 by the Economist and PopMatters. He has worked as an editor for Spiegel Online International, and he’s written a column on transatlantic policy from Berlin for Pacific Standard. He’s received grants and fellowships from the Carey Institute’s Logan Nonfiction Program, the Fulbright Foundation, and from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Berlin.
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Sweetness and Blood
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* A nickname, pronounced TOO-ray.
* Also a nickname, pronounced Jyen-Tsway. Real name: Leng Wenbing.
* The Atlantic and Pacific Standard (called Miller-McCune at the time).
* “Hawala” is a Muslim wire-transfer network, cheaper than Western Union and used throughout the world.
* Clans in Somalia since the fall of President Siad Barre had reverted to violence along old contested frontiers, and the border between the Galmudug and Puntland states was also the border between two of Somalia’s most powerful clans, the Hawiye and the Darod. Sa’ads are a subclan of the Hawiye; the Omar Mahmoud belong to the Darod.
* “Hi.”
* Reconstructed in Mark Bowden’s book Black Hawk Down.
* As in put.
* The Sa’ad subclan is divided into a number of smaller subclans, or families. Digsi represented the Ali Nimaale. The Hobyo Sa’ads tended to be Ahmed Nimaale, who, according to Gerlach, had strong pirate affiliations.
* Pronounced e-DEN.
* Pronounced Ach-med Dir-i-ye.
* Sock juice.
* Pronounced Du-LYE.
* Angelo isn’t a Somali name, but Rolly called him that, and it seemed to work.
* Pronounced sheh.
* Caliphs had similar authority as territorial religious monarchs, but there were too many of them—and each had less influence than a single pope.
* Later I noticed that my pirates hated Shiites almost as much as they hated Jews, never having met members of either group.
* The Masnavi: Book Two, translated by Jawid Mojaddedi.
* “Pasta!”
* Built by Lockheed.
* Or a zombie.
* A stringed instrument common throughout the Middle East and Muslim Africa.
* Sometimes “Galka’yo” or “Sacad.”
* Spelled patwa in the Seychelles.
* Pronounced breece.
* The first Italian colonial district office in Hobyo went up at this location in 1909.
* The Sa’ad are a subclan of the Hawiye.
* Traditional dervishes are mendicant Sufis in distinctive robes who move door-to-door, offering chants or rituals in exchange for money. They still exist, and many regular Somalis—even if they themselves follow Sufi traditions—reserve the name “Sufi” for such men.
* According to I. M. Lewis, in Saints and Somalis.
* Pronounced Abdi Yeri. I never heard this name until late in my captivity.
* A Kalashnikov “PKM,” with its heavy ribbons of ammunition, is the machine gun commonly seen lugged across the shoulders in photos of Somali pirates. The rounds are 7.62 millimeters wide, equal to about .30 caliber.
* “Chi-fan, chi-fan!”—Chinese for “eat.”
* From panse de thon in French.
* “Tuure” is a Somali nickname for a hunchback.
* 110 to 180 pounds.
* A new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, finally did claim a Somali EEZ in 2014.
* We pronounced it hai-tau.
* I have no idea where they learned the Spanish word.
* Three times, it later turned out—they wanted equivalent sums from the shipowners.
* As with many Southeast Asians, his given name came last.
* Song of Solomon 2:10–12.
* Ruach in Hebrew.
* The watches signified a certain rank within the pirate gang.
* Plus one Taiwanese engineer, so eleven Chinese speakers. There were five men each from Indonesia and the Philippines, four from Cambodia, and three from Vietnam.
* But on the video they’re hard to miss.
* A blackout imposed by the FBI, or any government agency, would be immoral.
* A corruption of dàchē, a Chinese nautical word for “engineer.” His real name is Shen Jui-chang.
* Rolly went back and forth without a bed on his shoulders because we had somehow ended up with three foam mattresses. He left one in his cabin, and one outdoors.
* Abu Walad–brand “biskit” in Somali.
* I had never thought of my nose as pointy before.
* Reincarnation doesn’t count.
* A brand called Top-O-Mol.
* The Indian Ocean has two monsoon seasons, a strong and a weak. In the Seychelles, they’re called the southeast and the northwest. Somalis refer to the stronger monsoon, during their summer, as hagar.
* Matthew 18:34–35.
* British and Italian Somaliland had fused in 1960; the other three points of the star represented Somalis in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti (French Somaliland before 1977).
* Either Spanish or king mackerel.
* Pronounced Arkis.
* According to U.N. reports and Deadly Waters, b
y Jay Bahadur.
* The third time if you count notes in my backpack on the day of the kidnapping.
* Boswellia carterii and Commiphora myrrha, respectively.
* I don’t know what he meant by this.
* Real name: Abdisalaan Ma’alin Abdullahi.
* A Sumatran province, Aceh, had turned to piracy.
* Verse 9:5 is often called the Verse of the Sword, but the term can cover many verses invoked by imams in time of war.
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