The Siege by John Sutherland #TheSiege @policecommander @orionbooks @johnsutherland.bsky.social #BookReview

 

Nine hostages. Ten hours. One chance to save them all.

Lee James Connor has found his purpose in life: to follow the teachings of far-right extremist leader, Nicholas Farmer. So when his idol is jailed, he comes up with the perfect plan: take a local immigrant support group hostage until Farmer is released.

Grace Wheatley is no stranger to loneliness having weathered the passing of her husband, whilst being left to raise her son alone. The local support group is her only source of comfort. Until the day Lee James Connor walks in and threatens the existence of everything she's ever known.

Superintendent Alex Lewis may be one of the most experienced hostage negotiators on the force, but there's no such thing as a perfect record. Still haunted by his last case, can he connect with Connor - and save his nine hostages - before it's too late?

The Siege by John Sutherland was published in February 2023 by Orion. I bought my copy at Bay Tales earlier this year and had it signed by the author. 

I listened to author John Sutherland on a panel at Bay Tales Crime Festival earlier this year and was fascinated by his story. I had no idea that police negotiators did that part of their job on a purely voluntary basis, with no pay. It's an incredible thing to have to do, so dangerous and so much depends on you.

I decided that I must read the books and started at the beginning with The Siege, which I bought at Bay Tales and the author signed for me.  I read it whilst on holiday in Corfu last month and was glued to it, it's brilliant read. 

From the first few pages I knew that  The Siege was going to take me somewhere uncomfortable but important. The premise is gripping: nine hostages; ten hours; and a demand that sees ideology, desperation and grief up against the mechanisms of policing and community.  The author's own experiences add such authenticity to the story too.

Told in three voices; the hostage taker Lee James Connor; one of the hostages Grace Wheatley and the negotiator Alex Lewis. These characters have real depth, and I was especially fond of Grace. She's an ordinary person, she has her own grief and for me, she really carries the story.

I found the whole hostage situation really frightening, that realisation that actually, this could and does happen to ordinary people. It's really well handled, with gradual suspense built through short chapters.

Lee James Connor is a fascinating character, it would be so easy to paint him as just evil, but the author does a great job in the portrayal of a man who is angry and feels isolated, despite his horrific views and what he is doing, we are led to think about he got to the position that he's in today which is totally relevant to the times that we are living through now. 

I really liked The Siege. It’s a thriller with heart-felt emotion and is tense, disturbing, but also human. It’s not just about the physical hostage crisis, but the emotional, ideological one. 

If you like thrillers to make you think after, to care about more than just “will they survive?”, then this one is for you. It's a powerful read. Recommended by me. 

John Sutherland joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1992, serving for more than 25 years,
until his early retirement on medical grounds in 2018. 

Having started out as a uniformed PC, responding to emergencies on the streets of inner London, he rose through the ranks to become a highly respected senior officer. His last operational posting was as the Borough Commander for Southwark. He is an experienced Hostage & Crisis Negotiator, having served on both the national and international cadres.

Since leaving the Met, John has become an established author. His first book,'Blue: A Memoir’, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller and his second, ‘Crossing the Line’ was selected as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. His first novel, ‘The Siege’ - which introduced readers to the worlds of police negotiators Alex Lewis and Pip Williams - was published by Orion Fiction in June 2022 and shortlisted for the Specsavers Debut Come Novel of the Year. Its sequel, The Fallen, was published in 2023 to significant critical acclaim and the third book in the series, The Stalking Season, will be released in 2025.