Book Review: The Siege by Scott- Clark and Levy

'The Siege' is a book on the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, focused almost entirely on the Taj Hotel, by career journalists Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark. The duo happen to be married and are co-authors of an impressive array of investigative journalism style books on terrorism.

While reading the book, it is easy to forget that the book is fact and not fiction. Told from the viewpoints of multiple survivors- all of whom have remarkable tales of bravery, sacrifice and/ or good fortune to recount- the book is simply un-put-down-able.

The book reminded me of Hussain Zaidi's extensive work on the underworld in its style and pace of storytelling. For the uninitiated, Zaidi is a renowned crime reporter- author of incredibly well written (and researched) books such as Black Friday and Mafia Queens of Mumbai. It came as a pleasant surprise to me that   the authors had actually taken Zaidi’s help to research the book (and he had taken theirs’ to finish up Headley & I.)

I must also admit that this book terrified me more than the actual moving images I saw on the news or in the multiple documentaries made on the 26/11 attacks. At every moment in the book, I felt that I was either the protagonist in a particular chapter or at the very least, sitting beside him or her- commiserating with the person in his or her terror.

Must read.