This is a terrific thriller which unfortunately degenerates into making a political point I, for one, disagree with. However, I give the author credit for a lot of good research and cleverness. And for a distinctive style of presenting his characters. I'll read more of his books, and hope I don't have to have more political arguments with him.
For various reasons, The Siege by Stephen White is a disturbing book.
It's intelligently written and well-thought out. The basic situation is well set up. What if terrorists or somebody else managed to take over the Book and Snake Yale "secret society" tomb in New Haven Connecticut and hold a number of America's best and brightest -- sons and daughters of elite families -- hostage?
As portrayed, the building could be rigged so that, if breached by law enforcement, explosives would go off and kill the hostages.
What if some of the hostages are released at irregular intervals, then either killed in a manner calling to mine the war in Iraq or allowed to go free?
White shows how suspects could still communicate. At one point, they have a video uploaded to Youtube.
Unfortunately, White chooses to end this standoff with the suspects choosing to shut down their psycho-drama. He does such a good job of boxing in law enforcement so that it's helpless, that there's no legitimate way for law enforcement to save the lives of the hostages no matter how much high tech equipment they bring to bear.
(And this book is a virtual catalog of all the ways the FBI can obtain information from within buildings. The author seems to be up on his research into the latest FBI technologies and tactics.
His three protoganists are an unlikely trio. An FBI agent acting independently to track down terrorist threats -- driven by PTSD and grief from survived the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing which killed both his wife and baby daughter.
His married CIA analyst lover.
A suspended policeman whose girlfriend's daughter is about to marry the son of a wealthy family with a daughter held inside the tomb.
The author is a psychologist, and it shows. No other thriller author I know of, except Thomas Harris when trying to show how different Hannibal Lector is, concentrates on the inner lives of his characters, their psychologies and relationships.
In the end, all three play a vital role in bringing the kidnappers to justice, but it was the CIA analyst who understood the message of the kidnappers and managed to prevent the bloodshed they were hoping to cause.
Unfortunately, the whole point of the book is to condemn U.S. policy of making war in Afghanistan and Iraq. See, we carry arrogance with us.
As presented in this novel (although their history is based on a historical episode, I'm not as sure as the author is that the wedding was simply that.), the kidnappers have a legitimate grievance.
But the whole "blame the U.S. for everything" crowd conveniently ignores the responsibility of the fanatic Muslims.
It's sad that innocent people have died in Afghanistan, but would the author prefer the Taliban remain in charge? Even after Osama bin Laden and Al Quaida killed 3,000 innocent people on September 11? And now women in Afghanistan can work instead of starve at home. And little girls can go to school. Shouldn't that count for something?
It seems liberal apologists take for granted the evil of the jihadists, but are quick to judge people who fight back against the jihadists. When the jihadists kill innocent people on purpose, that's accepted with a "what can you expect?" attitude. When the US military kills innocents by accident, they're the evil -- or, in this book, arrogant.
And by giving weight to the Murrah Building bombing in this book, White is obviously pointing out that non-Muslims can do horrible things too.
True, and I'm not sorry that McVeigh was executed.
But White seems not to know there's evidence that McVeigh's co-conspirator Terry Nichols may have been trained by jihadists in Cebu The Philippines. If true, that would mean McVeigh was being used by Islamic terrorists. Even if not true, the jihadists have proven themselves capable -- in London, Spain, Mumbai, Bali etc -- of deliberately killing the innocent. Where is the author's outrage over that?
The U.S. did not start the war, despite what Mr. White seems to think. He comes across as having some elite arrogance of his own. It's time innocent Muslims blamed jihadists for their violence and hold them responsible for their actions. If the two brothers in this novel had devoted as much time and effort to organizing Afghanistan against the Taliban as they do in this book directing their efforts against the U.S., they'd be real heroes and would help prevent lots more violence. That's my take on it.
He's a good writer, and I hope his many other books are a lot less political in intent.
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