Andrew Hankinson

How much would your family stump up for your ransom?

Researching The Price of Life, Jenny Kleeman interviews Stephen Collet, who describes haggling for a year with the Somali pirates who kidnapped his sister in October 2009

Rachel Chandler with her husband Paul (right) after being freed from by Somali pirates. Jenny Kleeman describes Rachel’s brother’s protracted negotiations over the ransom. [Alamy] 
issue 16 March 2024
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  • The Price of Life: In Search of What We’re Worth and Who Decides

    Jenny Kleeman

    Picador, pp. 352, £16

‘I can’t quite believe I’m here, having a steak dinner with a killer,’ writes Jenny Kleeman, as she sits with a hitman for the big opening to her book about the price we put on life. Someone paid to take lives is about to spill the beans on his dark trade.

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