The Siege

The Siege
by Stephen White
Dutton, 2009. 394 pgs. Fiction

When several students from prominent families go missing towards the end of Yale University's pledge week for secret societies, the police are soon involved, but no one knows where the kids have gone until one appears on the steps of a society's "tomb" with a red rectangular box strapped to him that says "BOMB." When the authorities don't bring local cell phone towers up within five minutes of the young man's appearance, his kidnapper detonates the bomb and the young man dies. What follows is a hostage situation where the hostage taker runs almost totally counter to true--makes no public demands; kills some students and releases others apparently willy nilly, but always anticipating each move and response by law enforcement. Told from both first and third person perspectives, The Siege is a cerebral thriller both plot and character driven, with immensely likeable characters working (and thinking) frantically as they try to figure out how to save the remaining students. Boffo!

LW