State of Siege

Rating:
Summary: Caught in a Civil War
Review: A "state of siege" (the equivalent of martial law) overrides control of normal government. This novel is set in a former colony of the Netherlands East Indies, and is from the viewpoint of a English engineer. Revolution was followed by loans to develop a dam for hydroelectricity. Comments about a new government in Chapter 1 are very wise, and can find parallel events in other countries. The new Government is threatened by some from the former united front; this is complicated by the hatred against the former colonial masters. The engineering company must hire "liaison managers" who were nominated by the government for these new jobs. Some people had friends among both the Government and the insurgents. In Chapter 4 Steve Frazer finds himself in the middle of a rebellion. His hotel is attacked by bombers from the air force, and flooding prevents the radio station from operating. Frazer uses his engineering background to fix the generator and makes himself useful. This is all part of a clever plot to eliminate the rebels by provoking an attack that leaves the attackers vulnerable to a counter-attack. An old, old trick that works again.

This is another story of an average person who is caught in the political conflict of his times. He survives in part because of his good manners, and the story requires it.



Rating:
Summary: Ambler on the Post Colonial World
Review: Eric Ambler became famous with the suspense novels he wrote in the late 1930's. He saw the evil of facism spreading throughout Europe and used contemporary events as the backdrops for his stories. His stories incorporate the struggle between the liberal values of the Western Democracies and the warped values of the facist police state. With perfect hind sight, we know that Eric Ambler got it right. He was no appeaser and had no problems in knowing and saying that Nazi Germany and Facist Italy were deeply evil states.

After the Second World War, Ambler's first books picked up many of the same themes he developed in his pre-war stories. The locale shifted from Western Europe to the newly Communist Eastern Europe and Balkans. Ambler knew evil when he saw facism and he recognized it again in the newly totalitarian Communist police states. Ambler was no fellow traveler and once again history showed that he was right in his assesment.

State of Seige was written in 1956 and takes place in a newly independent Southeast Asian nation. An Islamic Fundamentalist military coup is taking place, and an English engineer gets front row seats to the proceedings.

This book was published two years after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and during the middle of Britain's sucessful anti-communist struggle in Malaysia. With his usual nose for being in the right place at the right time, Ambler gives us his take on the newly indpendent nations of Southeast Asia. Without giving too much away, Ambler once again got it right in his assesment of history.

As usual, Ambler's writing is elegant. State of Seige is a straight forward story and lacks the usual Ambler twists and turns. It is both a great suspense story and an opportunity to see how an English writer viewed the end of colonialism. It is an interesting take on the post colonial world worthy of Graham Greene or Jean Larteguy.

Rating:
Summary: Ambler on the Post Colonial World
Review: Eric Ambler became famous with the suspense novels he wrote in the late 1930's. He saw the evil of facism spreading throughout Europe and used contemporary events as the backdrops for his stories. His stories incorporate the struggle between the liberal values of the Western Democracies and the warped values of the facist police state. With perfect hind sight, we know that Eric Ambler got it right. He was no appeaser and had no problems in knowing and saying that Nazi Germany and Facist Italy were deeply evil states.

After the Second World War, Ambler's first books picked up many of the same themes he developed in his pre-war stories. The locale shifted from Western Europe to the newly Communist Eastern Europe and Balkans. Ambler knew evil when he saw facism and he recognized it again in the newly totalitarian Communist police states. Ambler was no fellow traveler and once again history showed that he was right in his assesment.

State of Seige was written in 1956 and takes place in a newly independent Southeast Asian nation. An Islamic Fundamentalist military coup is taking place, and an English engineer gets front row seats to the proceedings.

This book was published two years after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and during the middle of Britain's sucessful anti-communist struggle in Malaysia. With his usual nose for being in the right place at the right time, Ambler gives us his take on the newly indpendent nations of Southeast Asia. Without giving too much away, Ambler once again got it right in his assesment of history.

As usual, Ambler's writing is elegant. State of Seige is a straight forward story and lacks the usual Ambler twists and turns. It is both a great suspense story and an opportunity to see how an English writer viewed the end of colonialism. It is an interesting take on the post colonial world worthy of Graham Greene or Jean Larteguy.

Rating:
Summary: Walking the Tightrope to Honor and Safety
Review: 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?

Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Rating:
Summary: Walking the Tightrope to Honor and Safety
Review: 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?

Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Rating:
Summary: Very good novel of suspense and intrigue.
Review: Eric Ambler may not have invented the novel of suspense and intrigue but he certainly perfected it. Ambler's novels are analogous to Hitchcock's movies in that they present a sustained atmosphere of suspense, tension, and even fear with little explicit violence. Like Hitchcock, Ambler was quite simply the best there was in his genre and no one currently on the scene can seriously compete with either of these two masters.

State of Siege is not one of Ambler's best book, but it is quite good nevertheless. If you're looking for a good suspense novel and you don't require that it be drenched in gore, give this one a try. I think you'll come back to Ambler again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Very good novel of suspense and intrigue.
Review: Eric Ambler may not have invented the novel of suspense and intrigue but he certainly perfected it. Ambler's novels are analogous to Hitchcock's movies in that they present a sustained atmosphere of suspense, tension, and even fear with little explicit violence. Like Hitchcock, Ambler was quite simply the best there was in his genre and no one currently on the scene can seriously compete with either of these two masters.

State of Siege is not one of Ambler's best book, but it is quite good nevertheless. If you're looking for a good suspense novel and you don't require that it be drenched in gore, give this one a try. I think you'll come back to Ambler again and again.