HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Siege by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Loading...

The Siege (original 2010; edition 2014)

by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5512543,325 (3.64)16
Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION’S INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
For fans of Alan Furst and Carlos Ruiz Zafón comes a haunting and layered thriller filled with history, adventure, suspense, and an unforgettable love story—by the internationally bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

 
Cádiz, 1811: The Spanish port city has been surrounded by Napoleon’s army for a year. Their backs to the sea, its residents endure routine bombardments and live in constant fear of a French invasion. And now the bodies of random women have begun to turn up throughout the city—victims of a shadowy killer.
 
Police Comisario Rogelio Tizón has been assigned the case. Known for his razor-sharp investigation skills—as well as his brutal interrogation methods—Tizón has seen everything. Or so he thought. His inquiry into the murders reveals a surprising pattern: Each victim has been found where a French bomb exploded. Logic tells him to pass it off as coincidence; his instinct tells him otherwise, and he begins to view Cádiz as a living chessboard, with himself and the killer the main players.
 
In a city pushed to the brink, violence and desperation weave together the lives of a group of unlikely people: the Spanish taxidermist who doubles as a French spy; the young woman who uses her father’s mercantile business to run the enemy blockade; the rough-edged corsair who tries to resist her charms; and the brilliant academic furiously trying to perfect the French army’s artillery and bring Cádiz to its knees once and for all. And as Napoleon presses closer, Tizón must make his next move on the bomb-scarred chessboard before the killer claims another pawn.
 
Combining fast-paced narrative with scrupulous historical accuracy, this smart, suspenseful tale of human resilience is Arturo Pérez-Reverte at the height of his talents.
 
Praise for The Siege
 
“A genre-bending literary thriller . . . Pirates; serial killings; steamy, unrequited love: Pérez-Reverte imbues the sensational with significance. . . . His descriptions of the town and people of Cádiz capture colors, smells and personalities, making the page come to life, and he balances these sensory passages with dense observations about history, metaphysics, science, and human nature.”Kirkus Reviews
“Bold . . . [Pérez-Reverte’s] best yet . . . an ambitious intellectual thriller peopled with colorful rogues and antiheroes, meticulous in its historical detail, with a plot that rattles along to its unexpected finale. It’s hard to think of a contemporary author who so effortlessly marries popular and literary fiction as enjoyably as this.”The Observer
 
“Pérez-Reverte has long been Spain’s most popular, inventive writer of historical fiction. . . . This is a big and bold novel, rich in character and incident.”The Sunday Times
 
Acclaim for Arturo Pérez-Reverte
 
“John le Carré meets Gabriel García Márquez . . . Pérez-Reverte has a huge following . . . and it’s spreading.”The Wall Street Journal
 
The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four . . . pale in comparison with Pérez-Reverte’s novels.”Time Out New York
 
“It’s a rare novelist...
… (more)
Member:belgrade18
Title:The Siege
Authors:Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Author)
Info:Vintage (2014)
Collections:Your library
Rating:****1/2
Tags:fiction, historical fiction, mystery, Spain, 19th century

Work Information

The Siege by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (2010)

None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 16 mentions

English (13)  Spanish (10)  Dutch (1)  French (1)  All languages (25)
Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)
not my favorite of his books, but still the intricate weaving of multiple story lines until they collide. you could easily see a few of them coming, and dreaded it. ( )
  zizabeph | May 7, 2023 |
Perez-Reverte is well known as a writer of swashbuckling adventures and crime stories, but his novels are rarely mere plot-driven yarns. "The Siege" or, in its Italian translation, "Il Giocatore Occulto" is a case in point. It is ostensibly a historical crime novel about a serial killer on the loose in the Spanish port of Cadiz, during the French siege of 1810-12. The mysterious murderer tortures young women near sites where the French bombs fall, and at times seems to have the uncanny ability to actually predict which part of the city will be attacked.

To tell his story, Perez-Reverte assembles a cast worthy of grand opera. We get to meet a wealthy heiress of an importation firm and her circle of friends, servants and relatives; a corsair captain and his more aristocratic rival; a pro-French embalmer and spy; an inspector of dubious morals who is confronting his demons; a French army captain and his artillerymen ... and these are just the more important characters.

Similarly, the "crime story" is just one of the many narrative strands. Along the way we witness sea battles and skirmishes, we learn about the contemporary political situation in Europe and America and about military tactics, we get atmospheric evocations of Cadiz and its surroundings and spy on an unlikely romance between two of the protagonists. Perez-Reverte takes a 19th-century novelist's pleasure in leisurely descriptions of characters and settings.

This therefore, is a novel in which there is much to enjoy and which I was determined to like. The problem is that it becomes too much of a good thing. As the murders (and chapters) pile up, one starts to wish Perez-Reverte would wrap up the novel and reveal the identity of the murderer. When he does, the resolution seems unconvincing and contrived. Ultimately this is a cruel novel - cruel in the events it depicts, cruel with its protagonists, cruel with its readers' expectations. It is a pity as, despite my reservations, I feel that many of the characters and scenes will remain with me for a long time. ( )
  JosephCamilleri | Feb 21, 2023 |
Perez-Reverte is well known as a writer of swashbuckling adventures and crime stories, but his novels are rarely mere plot-driven yarns. "The Siege" or, in its Italian translation, "Il Giocatore Occulto" is a case in point. It is ostensibly a historical crime novel about a serial killer on the loose in the Spanish port of Cadiz, during the French siege of 1810-12. The mysterious murderer tortures young women near sites where the French bombs fall, and at times seems to have the uncanny ability to actually predict which part of the city will be attacked.

To tell his story, Perez-Reverte assembles a cast worthy of grand opera. We get to meet a wealthy heiress of an importation firm and her circle of friends, servants and relatives; a corsair captain and his more aristocratic rival; a pro-French embalmer and spy; an inspector of dubious morals who is confronting his demons; a French army captain and his artillerymen ... and these are just the more important characters.

Similarly, the "crime story" is just one of the many narrative strands. Along the way we witness sea battles and skirmishes, we learn about the contemporary political situation in Europe and America and about military tactics, we get atmospheric evocations of Cadiz and its surroundings and spy on an unlikely romance between two of the protagonists. Perez-Reverte takes a 19th-century novelist's pleasure in leisurely descriptions of characters and settings.

This therefore, is a novel in which there is much to enjoy and which I was determined to like. The problem is that it becomes too much of a good thing. As the murders (and chapters) pile up, one starts to wish Perez-Reverte would wrap up the novel and reveal the identity of the murderer. When he does, the resolution seems unconvincing and contrived. Ultimately this is a cruel novel - cruel in the events it depicts, cruel with its protagonists, cruel with its readers' expectations. It is a pity as, despite my reservations, I feel that many of the characters and scenes will remain with me for a long time. ( )
  JosephCamilleri | Jan 1, 2022 |
I received an ARC e-book copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Arturo Perez Reverte is one of my favorite historical novelists. I enjoyed The Club Dumas, The Fencing Master, The Flanders Panel, the Captain Alatriste series, The Seville Communion and his non-historical novel The Painter of Battles. The Seige, however, was not a favorite.
The history and narration are sound. We get a strong sense of the city of Cadiz, the tense atmosphere of the siege, the politics of the time, day to day life, the operation of pirates, and the limitations and proper usage of artillery. The story has battles, raids, romance, a murder mystery, and well drawn characters. What it doesn’t have, in my opinion, is pacing. The novel moves along at a leisurely pace, gradually advancing the various story lines in small increments, and overwhelms the reader with data. I was frustrated when at over 300 pages into the novel, nothing much had happened.

I found the extended sections on politics and culture to eventually be tedious. I remember a college professor that said when you are reading Don Quixote and he meets a peasant, merchant, or traveler and they start talking politics, then skip to the end of that chapter. I felt like that.

Also, in a book this length, I think that a writer should stage exciting events (mini-climaxes) along the way to keep the reader moving along.

One the other hand, if you are a history buff and know this period or want to learn about it, then you will most likely enjoy the novel. Mr. Reverte certainly knows what he is writing about and he is a very skilled writer. For me, I liked his other novels better.
( )
  ChrisMcCaffrey | Apr 6, 2021 |
Sprawling, epic novel about the siege of Cádiz, Spain, during the Napoleonic Wars. The story is told in various strands: The police commissioner attempts to solve a series of brutal murders of young women. A fiery independent woman successfully runs the family shipping business following the death of her father and brother. A French professor is frustrated by his inability to get French bombs into the heart of the city. A mysterious taxidermist in the city sends pigeons to the French outside. An adventuresome sea captain assembles a crew to raid area shipping in search of plunder. -- Well-written, with deep, well-rounded characters and gripping scenes of warfare at sea and at home. Excellent! ( )
  David_of_PA | Jul 14, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)
Cádiz, 1811. España lucha por su independencia mientras América lo hace por la suya. En las calles de la ciudad más liberal de Europa se libran batallas de otra índole. Mujeres jóvenes aparecen desolladas a latigazos. En cada lugar, antes del hallazgo del cadáver, ha caído una bomba francesa. Eso traza sobre la ciudad un mapa superpuesto y siniestro: un complejo tablero de ajedrez donde la mano de un jugador oculto - un asesino despiadado, el azar, las curvas de artillería, la dirección de los vientos, el cálculo de probabilidades- mueve piezas que deciden y entrelazan el destino de los protagonistas: un policía corrupto y brutal, la heredera de una importante casa comercial gaditana, un capitán corsario de pocos escrúpulos, un taxidermista misántropo y espía, un curtido guerrillero de las salinas y un excéntrico artillero francés a quien las guerras importan menos que resolver el problema técnico del corto alcance de sus obuses.
added by Pakoniet | editLecturalia
 

» Add other authors (7 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Arturo Pérez-Reverteprimary authorall editionscalculated
Wynne, FrankTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION’S INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
For fans of Alan Furst and Carlos Ruiz Zafón comes a haunting and layered thriller filled with history, adventure, suspense, and an unforgettable love story—by the internationally bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

 
Cádiz, 1811: The Spanish port city has been surrounded by Napoleon’s army for a year. Their backs to the sea, its residents endure routine bombardments and live in constant fear of a French invasion. And now the bodies of random women have begun to turn up throughout the city—victims of a shadowy killer.
 
Police Comisario Rogelio Tizón has been assigned the case. Known for his razor-sharp investigation skills—as well as his brutal interrogation methods—Tizón has seen everything. Or so he thought. His inquiry into the murders reveals a surprising pattern: Each victim has been found where a French bomb exploded. Logic tells him to pass it off as coincidence; his instinct tells him otherwise, and he begins to view Cádiz as a living chessboard, with himself and the killer the main players.
 
In a city pushed to the brink, violence and desperation weave together the lives of a group of unlikely people: the Spanish taxidermist who doubles as a French spy; the young woman who uses her father’s mercantile business to run the enemy blockade; the rough-edged corsair who tries to resist her charms; and the brilliant academic furiously trying to perfect the French army’s artillery and bring Cádiz to its knees once and for all. And as Napoleon presses closer, Tizón must make his next move on the bomb-scarred chessboard before the killer claims another pawn.
 
Combining fast-paced narrative with scrupulous historical accuracy, this smart, suspenseful tale of human resilience is Arturo Pérez-Reverte at the height of his talents.
 
Praise for The Siege
 
“A genre-bending literary thriller . . . Pirates; serial killings; steamy, unrequited love: Pérez-Reverte imbues the sensational with significance. . . . His descriptions of the town and people of Cádiz capture colors, smells and personalities, making the page come to life, and he balances these sensory passages with dense observations about history, metaphysics, science, and human nature.”Kirkus Reviews
“Bold . . . [Pérez-Reverte’s] best yet . . . an ambitious intellectual thriller peopled with colorful rogues and antiheroes, meticulous in its historical detail, with a plot that rattles along to its unexpected finale. It’s hard to think of a contemporary author who so effortlessly marries popular and literary fiction as enjoyably as this.”The Observer
 
“Pérez-Reverte has long been Spain’s most popular, inventive writer of historical fiction. . . . This is a big and bold novel, rich in character and incident.”The Sunday Times
 
Acclaim for Arturo Pérez-Reverte
 
“John le Carré meets Gabriel García Márquez . . . Pérez-Reverte has a huge following . . . and it’s spreading.”The Wall Street Journal
 
The Da Vinci Code and The Rule of Four . . . pale in comparison with Pérez-Reverte’s novels.”Time Out New York
 
“It’s a rare novelist...

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.64)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 6
2.5 1
3 20
3.5 9
4 33
4.5 4
5 9

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,232,453 books! | Top bar: Always visible