Reviews

Not Child’s Play – A True Story of Survival in Mozambique

See what the readers had to say about the book

Redemption of hostages in the Mozambique civil war

A superb autobiographical telling of a family taken hostage after their boat runs aground. It brings to life the anguish and at times pleasure of living and surviving in a guerrilla camp. The story of their rescue by South African forces and the level of military intelligence behind it is compelling.

Paul Wickens - Amazon

How does one deal with a mixture of evil and good?

The book is so much more than a story about the capture of a family by terrorist group in Mozambique. In essence it deals with how one deals with life when it throws a mixture of evil and good at you.

Pete - Amazon

“Beautifully written and unforgettable”

This is a story of fear, uncertainty, and the resilience of a family caught in jungle warfare. You feel the destruction of war—and the kindness of people caught in it. A privilege to share this experience through the pages.

J. Barnard

“Poignant and unexpectedly humorous”

Gripping as any thriller, yet shot through with humour and a keen sense of the absurd. A sanity-threatening experience described with remarkable clarity. I recommend this story unreservedly.

Peter Earle – Goodreads

“A must-read for understanding war’s impact”

A riveting narrative of capture by child soldiers in Mozambique. Honest, raw, and emotionally wide-ranging—this book offers one of the closest glimpses I’ve ever seen into the psychological complexity of such a situation.

Kendra – Goodreads

“Compelling from start to finish”

A superb autobiographical telling of a family taken hostage after their boat runs aground. The military intelligence behind their rescue, and the raw humanity of life in the guerrilla camp, makes this a page-turner.

Paul Wickens – United Kingdom

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Not Child’s Play is available as an eBook and audiobook. Proceeds go to the charity Hostage International

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Frequently asked questions

Who captured you?

A group of child soldiers from the terrorist group called Renamo captured us.

At the time the socialist aligned Frelimo were fighting a civil war with the western supported Renamo. In effect, this was a proxy war between the east and the west. The war endured from 1977 till 1992. Our rescue required a cease-fire to come into effect. This was the first between the warring parties and provided sufficient trust between the parties to allow peace talks to commence two weeks after our release.

Where were you captured?

We were captured in central Mozambique, about 30km south of a group of islands called the Bazaruto Archipelago. We were then forced to walk south with our captors for about 70km to an area near Pomene.

Why were you there?

Other than, to gain sailing experience in preparation for a longer voyage, we were sailing to the Bazaruto Islands so that Sandy, my wife and a marine biologist, could investigate the possibility of undertaking future research work on molluscs near the islands. We ran aground in the middle of the night on a sand bar south of the islands and were waiting to refloat our yacht when we were captured by a group of boy soldiers from the Renamo terrorist group.