Siege

SIEGE: Who Will Survive by Simon Kernick

Thriller is an understatement for this fast paced, action-loaded novel with appealing characters and a tight plot. You learn enough about the main characters (Arley, Elena, Abby, Scope, Martin and bad guys, Fox, Wolf, Bear and Cat) to care about who survives and who doesn’t. The story is plausible and works on the several levels and plot lines while keeping you guessing until the very end. The chapters are very short and generally end with a cliffhanger so you keep reading long after you tell yourself “just one more chapter.”
Unusually well written for the genre, SIEGE is still filled with a high body count and numerous episodes of mayhem. Set in a posh London hotel, the book involves M15, a show more highly trained assault force, a police commander who has been coerced into aiding the enemy, a dying man and a killer along with the many civilians who are caught in the midst of a terrorist’s plot. show less

Short chapters, cliff-hangers, a large host of characters and non-stop action: it sounds like something James Patterson would be proud of but Siege is the latest offering from the formerly cutting-edge writer Simon Kernick who is probably the most talented of the darkly witty and altogether brilliant new wave of British crime writers.

A group of ruthless terrorists [are there any other kind] distract the police with a series of well-placed explosions, and then invade an upmarket London hotel taking staff and guests hostage. In standard airport thriller format we are introduced to a large number of people and given their back story prior to the attack, a common ploy to enable the reader to sympathise with the victims when the going gets show more tough and the shootings begin.

Scotland Yard eventually realises what's happening and is about to send in a SWAT team: the response is jeopardised though because the terrorists [vaguely Middle Eastern origins are postulated] have kidnapped the husband and children of Assistant Deputy Commissioner Arley Dale who is leading the team.

There's the diabetic who will go into a coma if she doesn't get her insulin, there's the man with inoperable cancer who checked in to kill himself, there's the young woman about to join her fiancé in Australia, not to mention Arley Dale, torn between compromising herself to save her family, and her duty to the hostages. The only familiar face is Detective Inspector Tina Boyd whom Kernick fans will recognise from many of his other [and infinitely superior] books.

If light-weight plot-driven page-turners are for you, Siege will fill a few hours very happily, but for those of us who have followed Kernick through from the start, this is a massive disappointment. show less

A group of terrorists execute multiple attacks in London with the main thrust being taking over an entire hotel and holding the guests as hostage.

Good plausible plot, plenty of action, well structured chapters that keeps the drama flowing at a good pace.

Thrilling, exciting and plenty of action with a well thought out plot and great characters. Gripped me from the start and didn't let up.

My only gripe was the slightly rushed ending and several loose ends which were left dangling, particularly two of the female characters. Otherwise a solid 5 star book.

The author really ramps up the tension as terrorists seize a luxury west end hotel and threaten to kill hostages. Clever plotting kept me going and I read it in a single day. Recommended.

A first rate story that moved at a tremendous pace and kept me on the edge of my seat all the time. The main character didn't appear as much as I expected but that left a lot of space to allow other characters and sub plots to develop. The story revolved around a terrorist cell who took siege of a London Hotel.

It was a quick listening. First I had that feeling that I won't like it because it was too violent but by the time I got to like it. There were different stories behind this story. A police officer's husband was murdered and her children were being taken hostage. An islamic terror group has taken a MP hostage and with him a lot of innocent people and a father and former soldier was looking for revenge.