The Siege – The attack on the Taj, by Adrian Levy & Cathy Scott-Clark

Book Review

Rating: 7/10

India recently observed 6^th anniversary of the unfortunate event of 26^th November, 2008 when just 10 terrorists from across the border had held the world’s fourth largest city to ransom. We looked back at the incident when innocent families at CST were shot dead by Ajmal Kasab, who somehow became the face of those attacks – the attacks on India. However, the most shocking picture from that attack was the one with the dome of the Taj Mahal Hotel set on fire.

The Seige, written by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, takes back its readers to those unfortunate 68 hours starting from the evening of 26^th November, 2008. Every incident explained in this book is a real incident from those 68 hours, and that is what gave me goose bumps. The narrative of the story is based on the multiple interviews with the survivors, policemen and journalists, complemented by investigation reports and site visits. So, this is as real as it can get.

While I am not a great fan of the writing style of the authors who have jumped between multiple characters, incidents and places in just a few pages creating confusion, I liked the details that they went into. The book starts with the David Headley story, leading up to Lashkar-e-Toiba and finally to the Taj. For me, there were times when I felt angry about the incompetence of the Indian security forces to manage just ten rats. There were other times when I put down the book to do my google search and reconfirm if all what I’m reading is actually true, because it seemed to be fiction.

Overall, I liked the storyline, I liked the research and I liked the detail. But I think it could’ve been a little less confusing at times, and that it would have gone a little beyond just stating the facts and incidents.

-Arun Sharma

Originally published at http://whynothavefun.wordpress.com/

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