In October 1993, Maruja Pachón and her husband, Luberto Villamizar, suggested that I write a book about their experience during her six-month kidnapping and the arduous efforts her husband made to secure her release. I was well into the first draft when I realized that it was impossible to separate this kidnapping from the nine others that were taking place at the same time in the country. In fact, the ten kidnappings were not distinct—as we had initially thought—but rather a collective kidnapping of ten carefully selected individuals, carried out by the same group for the same sole purpose. This belated discovery forced us to start over with a different structure and psyche, so that all the characters would have their own clearly defined identities and personalities. What we did was an artistic (technical) solution to a complex narrative that, in its initial formulation, would have seemed overwhelming and incomplete. However, the work, which was thus intended to be completed in one year, extended to almost three years, always with the careful and appropriate assistance of Maruja and Alberto, whose personal narrative became the central axis and thread of this book.