THE SIEGE

You may be tempted to ignore these words. Do not. You were not chosen to receive this at random.
Do not discard this note. At some point in the near future, you will be desperate to reach me.
Do not share the contents of this message with anyone. I commit to you that the consequences of breaching my trust will be more severe than you wish to endure.
Blue will indicate that I am content. Orange will show my disappointment.
What do I want? I cannot answer that.
What do you have to offer? Give that question some thought.
When the time comes, we will reach an understanding. Despite all appearances, I am a reasonable man.
The Siege
Stephen White

I'm a huge Stephen White fan, and also a fan of Alan Gregory. The Siege is a compelling read--a great storyline. That being said, I found White's writing to be stilted more than a few times in this book.

And, I have some questions for him...

1.) This question is answered in the last few pages of the book:
How did the terrorists get just the kids they wanted into Book and Snake? The answer is that they used the kids that were there to the most useful end. However, I'm more than a bit perplexed as to how they could analyze their victims and maximize the potential in just a few hours. Everything else was planned to perfection; why leave the leverage to chance?

2.) Why would Purdy's connection to the captives be difficult to discover? Tracing Purdy to the Calderon's would be a no brainer for the Feds. There was a high profile engagement party happening in Miami and Purdy had no motivation to cover his tracks prior to the trip to New Haven.

3.) How was it possible that Carmen didn't get suspicious? There was lots of partying going down in Miami and she had nothing more to do than to keep in contact with Sam as to the details. She's a detective and the mother-of-the-bride for goodness sakes! It's not like she wouldn't have a clue.