Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76528 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

Walking the Tightrope to Honor and Safety
Eric Ambler is one of our greatest writers of action-based suspense thrillers. What distinguishes his stories are two elements that are often missing from today's thrillers. First, the protagonist is way over his head with little apparent chance to survive. Second, during the story's development, many moral choices need to be made.

In State of Siege, we meet Steve Fraser, an expatriate English engineer, as he finishes a highly paid three-year assignment to build a dam in an island nation near Indonesia. The local political situation is a little dicey after the revolutionary party finds itself having a hard time actually running the country. The dam project has been affected by the arrival of surplus military officer liaison. One was dependable, a Major Suparto, who plays a key role in the rest of the story.

Fraser then finishes up, and flies over rebel lines to the capital to wait for his flight back to England in three days. He borrows an apartment from a friend while he's away, arranges for a beautiful woman to accompany him for the three days, and settles down for a little rest and relaxation.

That seeming tranquility is shattered when the rebels take advantage of military maneuvers away from the capital to seize control of the radio station and key areas in the center city, just where Fraser is staying. He finds himself surrounded by rebels, who aren't sure whether to kill or ignore him. Then, his mere proximity to the rebel leaders draws him into the vortex of the conflict. Over 24 hours, he finds himself forced to make many difficult choices if he is to stay alive for another day . . . and protect the life of Rosalie Linden, who would not survive without him.

The story is a delight in character development. With all of the stress involved in a coup d'etat, we see people for who they really are . . . as the life and death challenges peel away their exterior masks. Fraser, Suparto, Rosalie, and Sanusi (the rebel leader) are especially well done and interesting.

The plot is a neat one, showing realistically the shadowy calculations required to seize and retain control of a newly independent country.

After you finish the book, think about what you would have done if you were Fraser in the same situation. Could you have made better choices than he did? If not, why not?

State of Siege / The Night-Comers - Intrigue & Romance!
Set in 1950's South East Asia, in a fictitious state (but I think most likely based upon Borneo / Indonesia) this Ambler adventure covers 24 critical hours in a military coup d'etat. Fraser, an oil technician on leave and caught up in this explosive whirlwind, tries to extricate himself and pursue his pleasure - namely an Eurasian beauty. But he becomes hopelessly entangled in the conspiracy and the final outbreak of violence which ends the day. All in all a very exciting and racey read with some wonderful character and regional geographical descriptions.