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news of a kidnapping By GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ KNOPF 291 PAGES NONFICTION BY ROB SPILLMAN before he earned his international reputation as the master of magic realism and before he was crowned a Nobel Laureate, Gabriel García Márquez was a foreign correspondent for the Colombian newspaper El Espectador. After his good friend Maruja Pachon de Villamizar was kidnapped by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in 1990, García Márquez decided to return to his roots and write a straight book of journalism about the eight-month drama that captivated Colombia. At the time, Escobar and his associates were on the verge of surrendering, but refused to turn themselves in unless the government guaranteed that they would not be extradited to the United States. To increase their bargaining position "The Extraditables" abducted 10 prominent journalists, several of whom were related to government officials, including the wife and a daughter of two former presidents. Maruja was the head of the Colombian agency for film promotion, but more importantly to Escobar, she was the wife of Alberto Villamizar, a prominent politician and advisor to President Cesar Gaviria. García Márquez's narrative bounces back and forth between the cramped cells of the prisoners and the worried families as they negotiate with Escobar. Each night the television was filled with scenes of friends and family of the victims sending personal messages to the captives. The victims gathered around the TV with their captors and sometimes wagered on which celebrity would appear to beg for their release. This surreal drama would seem like perfect raw material for García Márquez's fantastical talent, yet "News of a Kidnapping" is surprisingly flat and unsuspenseful. In Colombia, the details of the negotiations and the day-to-day survival of the prisoners played well, but in translation the recounting of this strange incident reads like a dated, overlong magazine article. It lacks suspense because García Márquez reveals in the introduction which two of the hostages were killed, which were freed and how and why Escobar surrendered. With all the drama removed, the only motivation to read on is for the few surreal, emotional tidbits sprinkled throughout. Those looking for a grand parable or compelling historical account will be disappointed by what feels like a blown opportunity. July 2, 1997 Rob Spillman lives in New York. He is a regular contributor to Salon. BOOKMARK: http://www.salonmagazine.com/sneaks/sneak.html