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In Review

04 December 2008 02:55 BST

Zone 22 by Tig Hague

Published by Penguin, out now, hardback, 391 pages, £16.99.

In a nutshell…

Shocking, scary, compelling, addictive, thought-provoking

What's it all about?

In July 2003 City highflier Tig Hague flew to Moscow on yet another routine business trip, blissfully unaware of what was in store for him when he arrived at the airport.

Passing through customs with whisky and cigarettes for some of his clients, he misunderstood the security guard's request for a bribe - a seemingly common practice in Russia - and was pulled aside to have his bags searched, where officials found a tiny lump of cannabis, the remnants of a recent stag party, left forgotten in the pocket of a pair of jeans.

From here Hague was immediately thrust into the corrupt and bewildering depths of the Russian judicial system, helplessly unable to communicate and left frighteningly open to manipulation and misinterpretation.

After being driven from the airport to a police station and being forced to sit for hours in an empty cell feeling helpless and afraid, he was taken to an infamous Moscow prison, where he was housed with some of Russia's worst criminals and quickly had to adapt to a system unlike anything in the outside world.

After serving several months in Piet Central and awaiting his bail hearing full of hope of returning home, he was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment and transferred to Zone 22 - a prison camp in the depths of Mordovia, where he was to endure months of violence, harsh labour, sub-zero temperatures and utter isolation.

This book tells the story of Hague's astonishing journey through hell and back and his encounter with what is possibly one of the strictest and most corrupt prison regimes in the modern world.

Who's it by?

Tig Hague, now 35, works on the Russian desk of an international bank. He lives in London with his wife Lucy, who stuck by him throughout his ordeal and married him in a ceremony in Zone 22, and their young daughter.

His experience in Russia prompted him to write Zone 22, partly as a cathartic exercise, but mostly to warn others who may befall the same fate as a result of a similar careless slip-up.

"I was incredibly naive and I would hate for someone else to make the same mistake," he told the Daily Mirror. "Anyone travelling to Russia needs to be extremely careful."

As an example…

"The guard opened the rear door and pushed my head down as he bundled me on to the back seat. The door was slammed shut. The two men in the front seats turned around.
'Where am I going? Please tell me where I'm going?' I pleaded as I leant forward between the two of them.
The one with the perm, who was driving, half-turned his head and whispered: 'Smuggle drug Russia? You go prison seven year.'
I slumped back into the seat and my chest began to heave. I could barely breathe. I began to sob uncontrollably."

"A light bulb hung from the ceiling, casting a dim light over the filth on the floor and the walls. There was a pile of shit in one corner and what looked like an old half-eaten orange in the middle of the room. The walls were covered with graffiti and smeared with stains. I stood retching and swallowing back the bile from my cramping stomach. I was naked, quivering with cold and fear."

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

It's entirely possible that Zone 22 will stand out over other banged-up-abroad type memoirs and make the bestseller list, and if it does catch the eye of movie producers it would certainly make an interesting and controversial film, posing several questions about Russian relations and human rights.

What the others say

"Takes suffering to a new place entirely ... in the tradition of Midnight Express and Papillon ... you spend your time feeling thankful that, just for once, it's not all about you" - The Guardian

"The bestseller chart should be making space for the next sure thing - Tig's hellish encounter with Russian justice is the new Midnight Expresski" - The Daily Record

So is it any good?

Autobiographies and reports of tragic encounters litter the shelves of bookshops today and there have been several accounts of drug smuggling westerners who have endured similar experiences in countries such as Thailand and Bolivia.

But what makes Hague's story stand out is the fact that what happened to him could happen to anyone. Far from knowingly smuggling drugs into a notoriously hostile country, Hague was innocently making his way to Russia for a business meeting with clients he had met many times before, totally oblivious to the tiny speck of cannabis in his suitcase which in the UK would have warranted nothing more serious than a slap on the wrist.

Zone 22 therefore serves as a sharp reminder of how one careless mistake can have the most hellish consequences. Hague's naivety strikes a chord with the reader and highlights the cost of failing to learn about the customs and habits, however strange or wrong they may seem, of other countries. As he points out at regular intervals throughout the book, had he understood the guard's request for a backhander and surrendered a small amount of cash or some of the cigarettes he was carrying, his passage through customs would have been quick and painless.

Hague's account is also more human than previous reports of stays in foreign prisons. The compassion with which he speaks of his parents and his girlfriend Lucy, with whom he had been planning to buy a home before his arrest in Moscow, is touching and inspiring and makes this story as much about them and their suffering as it is about Hague.

The language is simple and straight to the point, which makes the book all the more powerful. Embellished sentences and wordy descriptions and are not needed to convey the true horror of Hague's situation. The author also manages to inject moments of humour and good spirit into the book, which serve to lighten the mood and bring the reader, as well as Hague, some light relief from the daily horrors of the prison camp.

The characters in Zone 22 also help the book to stand out over similar memoirs. Zubi, Hague's uncharacteristically exuberant cellmate in Piet Central, and Cosmos, the inmate driven mad by his treatment at the hands of the Zone 22 guards, bring the book to life and allow it to read more like a novel than an autobiographical account. The reader feels the pain of Tig's fellow prisoners, especially those who were not quite so 'lucky' as to enjoy the meagre food rations received by Hague from his family and the British Embassy and the cigarettes and chocolate with which he was able to bribe the guards and eventually secure his release after just under two years. These prisoners are left forgotten in Zone 22 at the end of the book and it is likely that many are still there now.

Indeed, it is not just the horrific conditions Hague was forced to endure that make Zone 22 such a compelling read, but the often unbelievable corruption within the Russian judicial system. From the border police who inflated the weight of the tiny cannabis lump found in Hague's jeans by wrapping it in multiple layers of plastic before weighing it, to the prison guards who would raid the food parcels lovingly sent by his family and friends before handing them over, the dishonesty and deceit within the system is a horrifying eye-opener.

Zone 22 reads like something from another era and you have to keep reminding yourself that what happened to Hague happened just a few years ago and is still happening now. In a country where the right to hold terrorist suspects for up to 42 days without charge has provoked one of the biggest debates in modern politics, Hague's ordeal is destined to come as a colossal shock to anyone who reads about it.

And the moral of the story? Always check your pockets thoroughly before travelling abroad.

9/10

Gemma Roskell

"I have just read this great book, your review is very accurate and reflects the true character and meaning behind the book. Let's hope that an accurate and non-glamourising film version will be made. This book reflects the horror and abuse of basic human rights still seen today is what are considered as "civilised" countries." - Les McLaren

"My eye fell on this book because I travel a lot to Moscow. I also go to parties or friends where sometimes a little pot is smoked. All very innocent.

Well, I thought that this could happen to me. That's why the story scared the hell out of me.
It's well-written, and keeps a high pace. Good book." - Marthus Barthus