Brett McGurk, a veteran U.S. Middle East negotiator, will publish Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages on Oct. 6 through Crown (Penguin Random House). The book recounts his leadership of frantic, around-the-world negotiations after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,000 people and left over 200 hostages. McGurk details a near-deal on Israel–Saudi normalization before Oct. 7 and an unlikely alliance with Steve Witkoff, and Crown says the remaining surviving hostages were freed in October 2025.
Inside 'Brink': Brett McGurk’s Account of the October 7 Hostage Crisis — Book Due Oct. 6
FILE - Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy for the global coalition against IS, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq, June 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Veteran U.S. Middle East negotiator Brett McGurk will publish a firsthand account of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and the ensuing hostage negotiations this fall. Penguin Random House's Crown imprint has scheduled Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages for release on Oct. 6.
McGurk, 53, a longtime Middle East adviser who served under multiple administrations, was tapped by President Joe Biden in 2023 to lead efforts to secure the release of people captured during the deadly siege that killed more than 1,000 people and left over 200 taken hostage. Crown says the book chronicles McGurk's global, around-the-clock diplomacy as he worked to reconcile the competing demands of Israel and Hamas.
This book cover image released by Crown shows "Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages" by Brett McGurk. (Crown via AP)(Crown via AP)
What the Book Promises
Crown's announcement says McGurk takes readers inside high-stakes moments — from the U.S. Situation Room during missile volleys to negotiation compounds across the region — and recounts close calls when diplomacy nearly collapsed. The publisher also says the book will reveal details of a near-deal struck before Oct. 7 that might have led to normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
'On October 7, Hamas unleashed a devastating war and the largest hostage crisis in modern history,' McGurk said in a statement released by Crown. 'I wrote Brink to bring readers inside the rooms as events unfolded in real time — from the Situation Room with hundreds of missiles in the air, to compounds across the Middle East where diplomacy teetered between breakthrough and collapse.'
The publisher notes McGurk recalls an unlikely working alliance with Steve Witkoff, described by Crown as a Donald Trump appointee, as they navigated sensitive talks during a transition between administrations. Crown also states that the remaining surviving hostages were freed in October 2025.
Brink aims to provide an inside look at the intense, bipartisan diplomacy that the publisher says ultimately secured a life-saving deal. The book will be of interest to readers following U.S. foreign policy, Middle East diplomacy, and contemporary accounts of crisis negotiation.
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