Held Captive: The Kidnapping and Rescue of Elizabeth Smart

by Maggie Haberman, Jeane Macintosh

The Kidnapping and Rescue of Elizabeth Smart In the dead of night in June, 2002, 14–year old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped at knifepoint from her devoutly Mormon household. Nine months later, she was discovered with her two abductors just miles from her home––and returned to her family as a dramatically different person. Her innocence was stolen and her identity stripped over months in the gnarled mountains overlooking her family home, by captors who wrapped themselves in a religion of their own invention and said they were serving a revelation from God. The angelic teenager's homecoming on March 12 captured headlines and magazine covers around the globe, the rare piece of good news in America's era of terror and uncertainty. Yet the joyous story turned shocking just days later, as the disturbing details of her emotional and physical torture at the hands of her captors, serial paedophile Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, began to emerge. This book–the first book on the dramatic kidnapping–is the story of two worlds colliding; the girl in the bubble, and the man from the wild.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

342 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, she was a very strong girl and probably lived through hell on earth, so glad she's back with her family, I'm sure they'll never let her leave their sight again.

[Darian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up from Goodwill over the summer and wanted a somewhat easy read about a case I was familiar with. Having grown up seeing all of the tv specials and remembering back to the interviews it was interesting to get a fuller picture of what was going on during the time of the kidnapping.

This book is an easy read and makes the account simple to digest. I’ve read quite a few mass market paperbacks and many tend to lean heavy on the gory, uncomfortable details. This one doesn’t and I am thankful for that. The ordeal that Elizabeth Smart and her family went through is distressing to say the least. The book puts the timeframe of her kidnapping into context with everything else that was happening in the United States (and worldwide) during this time. It gives perspectives from the family, the investigators and the community at large searching for answers. It does not harp on Brian David Mitchell, but does give some important information about his background and connections to the family and area. I feel that the book also does a good job of explaining what a different time this kidnapping was in... cell phones were new, AMBER alerts weren’t a thing, the misconception of runaway children existed very heavily.

If you’re wanting a quick and simple read about this case, I’d say this is a great book to do that with.

[Tony Zinno · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is basically a last minute cut and paste job stolen from various news articles, masquerading as a novel. Slow and confusing.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

In preparation for a trip to Utah I read, Held Captive by M. Haberman, an account of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping from Salt Lake City. In an odd sort of way, it is a perfect introduction to the people of the Salt Lake City area of Utah. Good people, leading respectable lives, contributing to the well being of their community, then disaster strikes, from within. The odd ball individual who kidnaps Elizabeth is reverting back to the multiple wife lifestyle that suits his grandiose ideas of his own power and godliness.

[Krysta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, strange, grisly reality and all. 3.5 stars
My boss bought this book for me knowing my interest in crime and psychology. The very matter of fact writing gave life to the real accounts and people involved. Obviously there are parts of this story that we can't really understand or feel but this does a good job for anyone interested in true crime.

[Abby Gasparotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because it was recommended by the Morbid Podcast girls - Alaina and Ash. This case was a hard one to listen to, but her story is so important and it's interesting to hear more details from the person who experienced it firsthand.

I highly recommend listening to MORBID PODCAST'S episode on Elizabeth Smart.

[Dawn Fortenberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

rather a perfunctory treatment of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. not sure if they were rushing to be first to get a book out or what but feel like it could have gone into more depth.

[Cathy Regular · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0/5.0

[Donna Humble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written with a lot of details and information.

[Caitlyn Unruh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more fact-based then story-based then what I normally read, but the facts were interesting enough that I read it pretty much without stopping. Fascinating true story with a happy ending.

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really like the writing style of this. It seemed as if sentences and paragraphs were simply pulled from other books. Disappointed.
2 stars

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this crime a high profile story, I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this book. While this story was dark and layered, it read as a popular magazine article. Given the subject matter, I can’t say this light coverage did justice to the story however I ended up enjoying the writing in general.

[Kim Van Sickler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read it for the scintillating prose--there isn't any. This book is written by journalists and the text is repetitive, choppy, and devoid of any novel niceties. What we're left with is a very matter-of-fact account chronicling Elizabeth's kidnapping, the investigation to find her kidnapper, and her kidnappers' capture. In an added bonus, the reporters delve into the earlier lives of Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, which goes a long way toward showing how these two spiraled into madness. What is fascinating is how they both fell apart in front of everyone's eyes and yet no one ever suspected them of being more than harmless crazies.

The book is pieced together accounts of eyewitness interviews, periperhal family interviews with the Smart family, interviews with members of the Mitchell and Barzee families, law enforcement interviews, court documents, and media accounts, which probably explains the choppy nature. But it's fun to go back over the investigation and see where Salt Lake police probably erred, how America's Most Wanted Host John Walsh saved the day, and speculate why Elizabeth Smart fought so hard against revealing who she was when the police finally found her.

[LeGrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was nothing more than a guilty pleasure for me.. i read it on the road on the way to Yellowstone. The best part(s) of this book are the interviews with Barzee and Mitchell's family. Clearly they were interested in distancing themselves from their respective parents and dished up some amusing and sad stories about them. These stories included Wanda Barzee toting around a doll in a baby carrier and talking to it as if it were real. It also includes Brian David Mitchell yelling at a funeral that the "Children of Israel" should repent. I know it is immature.. but i loved it for all the wrong reasons.

[Laura Debenham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting report on the events in Elizabeth Smart's life. It was touching and alarming. Having a daughter the same age made this experience very personal at our house. The responsibility of protecting children and the horrors of creepy people were well illustrated in this book. It was especially fascinating to see how the kidnapper evolved to be the kind of individual who could commit such a hideous crime. Even more interesting was the development of his wife into a person who could be part of the crime.

[Lennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently saw Elizabeth Smart being interviewed on tv when it was the five-year anniversary of her being found. To me, she seemed to have recovered from her ordeal and I was glad to see her healthy and happy. If you want to learn more about her kidnapping, you'll have to read this book--the author does a good job of providing details so you get a lot of information. I thought it was well written.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book because it focused almost solely on the investigation and the relationship between the Smart family and the authorities. It had almost no information about what happened to Elizabeth during the months she was held captive. It had some interesting parts, especially about the kidnappers and their lives, but not enough about Elizabeth.

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I basically skimmed through this one. I tried to read it all the way through. I was very interested to know about how Elizabeth felt during her captivity amd thought this book would be a tell all. I was wrong! This would be good for someone who is interested in reading about the psychos that kidnapped her.

[Jessica]

I don't know how you would rate a book like this. I bought it on the way home from Alabama so I'd have something to read. Once I got started I realized I'd read it before. O well, my memory is refreshed.

[Kacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, and have always been intrigued with the Elizabeth Smart story. Some of the author's references to the LDS church are slightly off.

[Robin Willis · Rating 1 out of 5]

It boggles my mind how such an interesting case could be transcribed into one of the most painfully boring books I have ever read. It was dreadful.

[Madeline Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept my interest pretty much the entire time.