Rating: 4 stars (Spotlight Review)
Yale University students are being held hostage and killed on campus. Prominent students. The local police are lost and the hostage negotiations turn south from the beginning. The CIA and FBI are called in and find themselves faced with an unseen enemy; they abide by no known rules, refuse to deal with authorities and only negotiate with the families of the hostages. If the demands are met the student goes free; if not, the student is killed in front of the authorities and camera crews. Each time the door to the building opens, a new student is sent out to meet his preordained destiny...will he die or be set free?
Detective Sam Purdy has been suspended from the Boulder police department, finding himself in the unfamiliar territory of Florida with his pregnant girlfriend at an engagement party. Ann Calderon, the wealthy mother-of-the-groom to-be, confides in Sam that she is concerned about her daughter, Jane, not showing up at the party. Ann shows Sam a cryptic letter that she received earlier. Jane attends Yale and Sam soon finds himself on a plane to New Haven.
Paired with the unlikely partners of CIA analyst Deirdre Drake, and FBI Agent Christopher Poe, together they will attempt to resolve the situation before anymore students die. Will they figure out what the terrorists really want or will time run out on the students?
This book messes with your head right from the first page, beginning with a hostage situation with kidnappers who don't have any demands at all. When you think of a hostage situation, the first thing one may thing of is a crime gone awry or someone looking for a ransom. The fact that the terrorists in this story ask for nothing from the police -- and are in no hurry to leave their current accommodations -- is just ingenious. It leaves room for the author to keep the reader wondering what the killers are really up to...is this a terrorist plot, or just some sicko who wants to kill some kids for a thrill?
The recurring character of Sam Purdy, last seen in White's Dead Time, is not in his natural surroundings of Boulder. Sam has always been the go-to guy but in this story, he doesn't have the same connections. To have him out of his element in Florida mixing it up with the money crowd, and then off to yet more unfamiliar territory at Yale, was a refreshing twist.
Usually when I'm reading a book, I can stop at any time to grab a drink or a sandwich, but with this book, I found myself wanting...no, needing...to read on to see what was coming next. Unpredictable and unforgettable, The Siege starts fast and never lets up. The characters play amongst your feelings and leave you breathless with every page. Long after you've finished reading this one you'll still be having thoughts of this book. A definite must-read.
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Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: August 2009
ISBN-13: 9780525951223