Journey To Hell: Inside the World's Most Violent Prison System

by Donald MacNeil

Donald MacNeil was teaching sailing in the north of England when he was hired to skipper a yacht across the Mediterranean. The pay was good and the work was easy—or so he thought. But the truth was soon He had to sail the Atlantic to South America to collect one of the biggest hauls of cocaine ever bound for the United Kingdom. Realizing he knew too much about the gangsters who had hired him, he saw that refusal wasn’t an option. There followed a harrowing journey to Venezuela, where almost £50 million of coke was waiting. But before they could escape, MacNeil and his fellow crewman were arrested. They were found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to six years in the notorious island prison of San Antonio. MacNeil soon discovered why Venezuela’s prisons are the most violent in the world, with hundreds killed every year in riots, vendettas, and petty disputes. Thrown into a filthy, overcrowded dormitory and surrounded by armed gangs and crack addicts, he faced a daily fight to survive. Ferocious guards beat prisoners indiscriminately, and many cut themselves in “blood strikes” to protest against the scarce food, undrinkable water, and lack of medical care. Finally, a war broke out between the two prison compounds, involving guns, machetes, and even grenades. Through it all, MacNeil clung to the belief that one day he would be home. Journey To Hell is a harrowing but compelling account of one man’s extraordinary will to survive in a world gone mad. Donald MacNeil has worked as a sailing instructor and in mountain rescue. He is currently rebuilding his life in Scotland.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

Reviews

[Paul McBride · Rating 1 out of 5]

Journey To Hell, is a book about the deplorable conditions inside the Venezuela prison system, as experienced by the author, a British or Scottish citizen, for me it was unclear which country he was from. The two most amazing things about this book are:
1. The author appears to be the dumbest drug smuggler on the planet, having been given multiple opportunities to bail out or alert authorities to what he was being "forced" to do, he instead chose to go through with it.
2. The author writes in the most boring prose, that this book is actually very slow and quite boring. I have read numerous books written by or about foreigners in 3rd world prisons, and this is the first time I have found the story to be boring.
Lastly Donald, the author, is a died in the wool socialist, who hated Thatcher, and can not heap enough praise on what a wonderful man and politician Hugo Chavez, was, and all the great things he did for Venezuela, particularly being a thorn in America's side. Well Donald now that the citizens of the country can't buy toilet paper, and their currency is useless, how great were those social programs, if they can't be paid for.
Sadly this book turned out to be a very boring story about a very naive/stupid individual who got caught trying to smuggle £50million worth of cocaine, yet claims he had no idea how much it was worth.

[Erik Surewaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my review of this book, please read first my review of the following book:

In the Shadow of Papillon: Seven Years of Hell in Venezuela's Prison System

This book is namely authored by another writer that was also in the same prison at the same time. The author of the “Shadow of Papillon” even referred to this author “Donald MacNeil”. He described “Neil” as someone that was pretty withdrawn.

I would be easy to say that the “Shadow of Papillon” would be the better book of the two to read. But that is not true in my opinion. Yes, parts of the events described are similar between the books. The “Journey to Hell”-book also had a very interesting story on how the author ended up in prison. The crime he was involved was a very interesting read, which also carried over in the sentencing and prison part of the book.

So, after having read both books, I still think this book warrants a four star score. In my opinion, both this and the “Shadow of Papillon”-books are a must-read for someone having an interest in prison stories.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sounded promising after hearing about it on the TV show "Banged Up Abroad" but I just found this book quite boring and the author could do with an editor because he doesn't go to jail until 25% into the book and he said that he got bored of the everyday routine in prison but people don't go to prison to have fun.

[Tom mosedale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read

A very insightful book and hopefully a warning to anybody who is thinking of or been offered to do this.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacNeil was incredibly strong to pass thru the years in prison in Venezuela, ranked among the most violent and inhumane on this planet. Initially he was called for one month to cruise a boat from Crete to Gibraltar, but realized too late he was heading to South America to bring a huge shipment of cocaine. Things went wrong, and he ended up spending nearly five years in the prisons in Venezuela.

This reminds me of another book, written by an Australian, who was caught for drug smuggling and spent even longer time in prisons in Thailand - that was even more horrible read. This book is easier to read, and makes you glad for what you have. I enjoyed the book, but I can understand why it may take a while to read thru...

[Gloria Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed

I didn't. Enjoy this book like I thought I would. I found it boring. I just finished reading No half measure by Alan Jones which I found exciting and page turning. Maybe if I had read journey to hell first I might have liked it. Although the prison in this story was crazy. That's about the only bit I found interesting.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and easy to read

[Daniel Stefan Friend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell indeed..

A very sobering account of life in a Venezuelan prison, under circumstances that any of us could be victims of..