Siege by Simon Kernick

Yes, he's back, and this time with what is possibly his best and fastest-paced book to date.

Readers and friends will undoubtedly be aware that I am a huge fan of Simon Kernick meaning this review was, inevitably, going to be bubbling with positivity and optimism, but nevertheless, I'll write it anyway.

Siege is the story of a group of Arabic terrorists who, angry with Britain and its government for taking part in the war on terror, decide to hijack a prestigious hotel, take a large number of hostages and hold a Seige until their demands are met. However, as this is a crime and SK novel, things don't go as planned and people are hurt. Additionally, to add to the pace and (as Simon himself admitted) stop the book from being boring, there is a subplot which involves the return of one of my all-time favourite characters, Tina Boyd.

Inspired by the Mumbai hostage situation of 2008, Siege is also disturbing, exciting and sometimes confusing due to the large amount of characters who come in and out of the book. However, as one reads on, he (or she) can't help but mentally cheer the characters on or try and tell them not to do do that or go there.

Like all of his other novels, this one shows that Kernick researches everything thoroughly and likes to get every detail right before putting pen to paper, making this yet another realistic novel. Despite this, there is the odd cheesy moment in there and I noticed a small number of repititions, the latter being something I'm guilty of doing myself. Still, c'est la vie.

Managed in just 3 reading sessions, this is the fastest I've read in a long time and a book I had trouble putting down with each chapter finishing on a juicy cliffhanger. And to quote a recent Facebook status of mine: "Time flies when you've got no money and a good book".

Overall rating: 5/5