Invisible Chains

Invisible Chains

In January 2007, two boys were found in the home of Michael J. Devlin, a “nice enough guy” who managed a pizza parlor in Kirkwood, Missouri. One boy had been kidnapped four days earlier. The other, Shawn Hornbeck, had been missing for four years. How and why did this fifteen-year old, whose face appeared on thousands of milk cartons and “Have You Seen Me?” posters, stay with his abductor in plain view for four years, only an hour from his family home? From award-winning journalist Kristina Sauerwein comes this riveting story of the American kidnapping that startled the nation and catapulted the chilling reality of Stockholm Syndrome into the spotlight. Shawn had many opportunities to ask for help: he was left alone in his kidnapper’s apartment many times, and had phone and Internet access. But he never tried to escape. This is the first time the full story has been told, complete with interviews with law enforcement, and top psychological experts; and a real-life happy ending. “An impeccable, on-target true crime narration, this book of loss, perversity and redemption illuminates not only the desperate pangs of a predator’s sexual hunger but the steadfast love of two families for their missing children.” —Publishers Weekly   “No stone has been unturned.  This is a must read.” —Jerald Barnes, a lieutenant with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department     and one of the nation’s most respected hostage negotiators “Invisible Chains is a tribute to the courage, persistence, and resilience of these boys and their families.” —David L. Corwin, M.D., Medical Director at Primary Children’s Center for     Safe and Healthy Families and Professor and Chief of the Child Protection and     Family Health Pediatrics Department, University of Utah School of Medicine “…a deep psychological look at child predator Michael Devlin.” —Caitlin Rother, author of Poisoned Love, the authoritative account of the Kristin     Rossum murder case, and Twisted Triangle, a narrative of the Patricia Cornwell     love affair case In January 2007, two boys were found in the Kirkwood, Missouri, home of Michael Devlin, a 41-year-old pizza parlor manager who was described by those around him as a "nice enough" guy. One of the boys, Ben Ownby, had been kidnapped just four days earlier; the other was Shawn Hornbeck. At the age of eleven, Shawn Hornbeck abruptly vanished from his rural hometown in Richwoods, Missouri, while riding his mountain bike. For the next four years the young boy lived with his abductor in plain view of others and only an hour's drive from where he went missing. Shawn assumed his abductor's last name, made several friends, played video games, and used the Internet freely--yet he didn't attempt to escape. Invisible Chains explores the psychological factors involved in the kidnappings that startled a nation--from Michael Devlin's criminal profileto the reality behind Stockholm Syndrome--and recounts the riveting story of the abduction and miraculous rescue of Ben Ownby, who was held captive by Michael Devlin for four days, and Shawn Hornbeck, who was held captive by Michael Devlin for four years. Kristina Sauerwein is a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and for the Los Angeles Times , where she shared a 2004 Pulitzer prize for her reporting on California wildfires. She is now a freelance journalist who lives in Kirkwood, Missouri, the same town as the kidnap victims. Used Book in Good Condition