A single shot was followed by a shrill scream. A door was kicked open. Then another shot. Along the corridor they were executing people. Should they hide or try to get out? 'We're going to die,' Will whispered to Kelly, surprised that he had said it out loud. Neither of them wanted to seem weak. He leapt up. 'Get behind the door!'' 'Amit Peshave stood frozen in the centre of his ground floor restaurant, having just spotted a gunman hovering outside. The man looked no older than him. Amit knew that if he ran, he would draw the gunman's attention, but if he stayed put, he would certainly die. Behind him, more than fifty diners sat waiting for him to make the call . . . ' 'Compulsive and brilliantly researched. Reads like a fast-paced thriller.' William Dalrymple 'Totally unputdownable, utterly absorbing - a minute-by-minute account of a hotel under onslaught. Here we have hostages, police and terrorists; their every fateful action and decision; the moments of sheer chaos and the crucial seconds of clarity.' Paul French, author of the Dagger and Edgar Award-winning Midnight in Peking 'Meticulously researched, beautifully written: an unstoppable read. This is not your ordinary thriller.' Ahmed Rashid, author of Descent into Chaos 'A heart-pounding read and an investigative tour de force, The Siege is an essential primer on terror in the 21st Century. It shows where mass-murderers come from, how they think and what it is like to be caught in the cross-hairs of their madness.' Blaine Harden, author of Escape from Camp 14