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Siege
Hurtling towards its inevitable and tragic conclusion, Deborah Snow draws us into a vortex of police missteps, extraordinary bravery and profound grief to reveal what happened during that awful day.
'I'm sure you [will be] as shocked and bewildered by what you've learnt, as I was.' 'Afterword', Louisa Hope, Lindt Cafe hostage
On 15 December 2014, just ten days before Christmas, the unthinkable happened. A terrorist attack on Australian soil. For seventeen hours Islamic State-inspired gunman Man Haron Monis held his captives in a terrifying drama that paralysed Sydney and kept a nation glued to its television screens. Two hostages were killed and three seriously wounded. The others would have their lives changed for ever.
Despite the police leadership declaring it was well prepared for a terrorist attack, many shortcomings on the night revealed a response that fell seriously short of that promise. Deborah Snow lays bare what happened behind the scenes in the cafe as the hostages tried to keep themselves alive while waiting for a police response that didn't come. She also takes us into the police command posts as communications, equipment and decision-making structures broke down.
Hurtling towards its inevitable and tragic conclusion, Siege draws us into a vortex of police missteps, extraordinary bravery and profound grief to reveal what happened during that awful day. Shocking, compelling and revealing Siege will take its place as the classic account of these events.
'I'm sure you [will be] as shocked and bewildered by what you've learnt, as I was.' 'Afterword', Louisa Hope, Lindt Cafe hostage
On 15 December 2014, just ten days before Christmas, the unthinkable happened. A terrorist attack on Australian soil. For seventeen hours Islamic State-inspired gunman Man Haron Monis held his captives in a terrifying drama that paralysed Sydney and kept a nation glued to its television screens. Two hostages were killed and three seriously wounded. The others would have their lives changed for ever.
Despite the police leadership declaring it was well prepared for a terrorist attack, many shortcomings on the night revealed a response that fell seriously short of that promise. Deborah Snow lays bare what happened behind the scenes in the cafe as the hostages tried to keep themselves alive while waiting for a police response that didn't come. She also takes us into the police command posts as communications, equipment and decision-making structures broke down.
Hurtling towards its inevitable and tragic conclusion, Siege draws us into a vortex of police missteps, extraordinary bravery and profound grief to reveal what happened during that awful day. Shocking, compelling and revealing Siege will take its place as the classic account of these events.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 27, 2018
36 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 6, 2018
Like many Australians, I watched with horror as the Lindt Cafe seige was broadcast, waiting and hoping everyone would make it out alive. I watched until around ten that night, couldn't sleep and got up and actually switched on just before the siege reached its end. I was horrified by the events of that day, but never got the full details. This book provides that.
With this book you get personal statements as well as insight into the inquest. The author is particular about putting their own opinions in, and it shows. You're left to draw your own conclusions, which I appreciated. The writing is clear and concise and very little is repeated unless needed.
If you too wished for answers into what happened that day, you may just find them here. Five stars.
With this book you get personal statements as well as insight into the inquest. The author is particular about putting their own opinions in, and it shows. You're left to draw your own conclusions, which I appreciated. The writing is clear and concise and very little is repeated unless needed.
If you too wished for answers into what happened that day, you may just find them here. Five stars.
July 1, 2019
As with most Australians, especially those from Sydney I vividly remember this insane act unfolding on television. Snow has done an admirable job putting this horrendous story together.
She has written a powerful narrative, while respecting the rights and dignity of those directly involved and their families. The book is a forensic analysis of that terrible event on Monday 15 December 2014. The book takes you on a journey through the seventeen hours that the siege lasted. The narrative spends some time in the café itself. There are detailed recounts of things that happened and what the perpetrator, Man Monis said and did.
Deborah Snow gives extensive coverage to the coronial enquiry and the recommendations that the coroner made.
Who was to blame? There were many failures; equipment, technical, intelligence, command and communication failures. Like army generals always fight the present war with last war’s techniques, the NSW police policy of ‘contain and negotiate’ was inappropriate for this siege.
This siege was different to any other siege, they were dealing with a terrorist. He was a gutless, narcissist, evil individual. Snow tells us a great deal about Monis. His Iranian background, his many and varied incarnations, his letter writing to the spouses and families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The fact that he was out on bail on both sex charges and accessory to murder. This situation was probably the most shocking. Bail laws were changed after the siege.
Both the Dawson and Johnson families were unhappy with the outcomes of the enquiry. They wanted people to be held accountable for Katrina and Tori’s deaths. One response was that the police could have gone in earlier. The police response was that then, there could have been other deaths. At the back of the mind of the officers in charge was the belief that Monis could have a bomb in his backpack. It was a speaker.
Police Commissioner Fuller stated, “We wont wait seventeen hours again.”
Like thousands of other Sydneysiders I went to Martin Place and laid a wreath with the thousands of others. I am sure many of us identified with the hostages. There was a huge public demonstration of people coming together to share the sadness of the deaths of two wonderful people, Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson.
If you have an interest in this event I highly recommend Deborah Snow’s powerful and moving book.
She has written a powerful narrative, while respecting the rights and dignity of those directly involved and their families. The book is a forensic analysis of that terrible event on Monday 15 December 2014. The book takes you on a journey through the seventeen hours that the siege lasted. The narrative spends some time in the café itself. There are detailed recounts of things that happened and what the perpetrator, Man Monis said and did.
Deborah Snow gives extensive coverage to the coronial enquiry and the recommendations that the coroner made.
Who was to blame? There were many failures; equipment, technical, intelligence, command and communication failures. Like army generals always fight the present war with last war’s techniques, the NSW police policy of ‘contain and negotiate’ was inappropriate for this siege.
This siege was different to any other siege, they were dealing with a terrorist. He was a gutless, narcissist, evil individual. Snow tells us a great deal about Monis. His Iranian background, his many and varied incarnations, his letter writing to the spouses and families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The fact that he was out on bail on both sex charges and accessory to murder. This situation was probably the most shocking. Bail laws were changed after the siege.
Both the Dawson and Johnson families were unhappy with the outcomes of the enquiry. They wanted people to be held accountable for Katrina and Tori’s deaths. One response was that the police could have gone in earlier. The police response was that then, there could have been other deaths. At the back of the mind of the officers in charge was the belief that Monis could have a bomb in his backpack. It was a speaker.
Police Commissioner Fuller stated, “We wont wait seventeen hours again.”
Like thousands of other Sydneysiders I went to Martin Place and laid a wreath with the thousands of others. I am sure many of us identified with the hostages. There was a huge public demonstration of people coming together to share the sadness of the deaths of two wonderful people, Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson.
If you have an interest in this event I highly recommend Deborah Snow’s powerful and moving book.
August 5, 2018
This was so well written and gave a great insight into how this horror unfolded throughout the 17 hours the cafe was under siege.
All the hostages were extremely courageous and did their best in the difficult situation they found themselves in.
There were a lot of ‘if only’ moments which the police failed to act upon, sadly the length of time that the siege went on, and the loss of life.
If only some of the opportunities had been acted upon, could there have been a outcome?
All the hostages were extremely courageous and did their best in the difficult situation they found themselves in.
There were a lot of ‘if only’ moments which the police failed to act upon, sadly the length of time that the siege went on, and the loss of life.
If only some of the opportunities had been acted upon, could there have been a outcome?
November 9, 2018
Wow just wow. Very interesting and emotional read. Hoping Australia and the world has learnt from this. RIP Tori and Katrina. Thinking of the hostages
July 24, 2021
This is an exceptionally well-written account of the Lindt Café siege. It provokes disbelief and frustration at the numerous opportunities missed by an inept NSW police force to bring the situation to an end in a more controlled way, and sooner. The author conveys the drama without being emotional, and her analysis is always balanced. A must-read for anyone wanting to understand this event within the context of the threat posed by Islamic State at that time. Respect to the hostages and families for sharing their story to help us all understand what happened and to honour the memories of those who died.
August 17, 2018
Very gripping account of the Lindt siege. The incompetence of the police, the Department of Public Prosecutions and ASIO are mind boggling.
September 6, 2018
Ok book; however very frustrating to read.
October 28, 2018
This book has been written in such detail that you can really start to feel a sense of how deeply panic-stricken the hostages must have been. Things went wrong at the fundamental levels of our protection agencies and it is my hope that many of those wrongs have now been fixed. Two members of my family were in that cafe, I am thankful everyday that they both survived even with shrapnel throughout them. Whilst every day I am so impressed with the strength that Tori Johnson held within himself. Katrina was such a terrible circumstance, she did not just walk out when she had the chance, she wanted their third friend to go with them. This would cause a horrifying ripple effect and possibly a life long "What If" for her family.
Jarrod, a 19 year old boy/man. His quick thinking along with his willingness to help all who needed it, including Monis himself. So many things he did could have put his own life in danger and he did them anyway.
If you are looking for an amazing factual and at times psychological read of true events. This is your book, I am of the belief we are all able to gain from reading this book. Thank you to Deborah Snow for following the painstakingly and assumedly riddle potholes path in order to give us, the public a real inner knowledge of more than just the images of hostages in the window.
Jarrod, a 19 year old boy/man. His quick thinking along with his willingness to help all who needed it, including Monis himself. So many things he did could have put his own life in danger and he did them anyway.
If you are looking for an amazing factual and at times psychological read of true events. This is your book, I am of the belief we are all able to gain from reading this book. Thank you to Deborah Snow for following the painstakingly and assumedly riddle potholes path in order to give us, the public a real inner knowledge of more than just the images of hostages in the window.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2019
SIEGE is a book written about the infamous Lindt Cafe siege which happened in Sydney in the December of 2014. It was written by a journalist so is appropriately based on the actual facts, interspersed with witness testimony and various background information. The story that develops is both powerful and suspenseful, with Snow drawing in various strands to cover every aspect of the story: the backgrounds of the hostage-taker and hostages, an exploration of the emergency services and their involvement, the criticism levelled at them, as well as a tense handling of the events themselves within the cafe. Given that the whole thing was over with 24 hours this is quite succinct, but that doesn't make it any the less affecting.
October 14, 2018
Compelling no-nonsense very journalistic retelling of the tragic siege, highlighting the failures made in the police response and giving a very detailed account of the whole story.
In some sense it did read like a very long newspaper article, and removed sensationalism and unneeded emotion, letting the story convey the emotions rather than forcing them on the reader. It was very unsentimental, but stirred within deep feelings.
There are no answers ultimately for many of the questions we have, but the fact that there were so many errors made will hopefully see a better response if something like this ever occurs again, we can only hope it does not.
In some sense it did read like a very long newspaper article, and removed sensationalism and unneeded emotion, letting the story convey the emotions rather than forcing them on the reader. It was very unsentimental, but stirred within deep feelings.
There are no answers ultimately for many of the questions we have, but the fact that there were so many errors made will hopefully see a better response if something like this ever occurs again, we can only hope it does not.
May 31, 2020
Horrific story of the events of the Lindt Cafe. So many questions about how and why it unfolded the way it did won’t bring back those two innocent heroic lives and everyone can be an expert when given the time and information AFTER the event to say what should’ve happened.
One thing is for certain, those who suffered through this ordeal were all extremely brave and how they worked together through such traumatic circumstances to protect each other was truly amazing. We need to hold this as a positive that has come out of this.
One thing is for certain, those who suffered through this ordeal were all extremely brave and how they worked together through such traumatic circumstances to protect each other was truly amazing. We need to hold this as a positive that has come out of this.
January 19, 2025
Thoroughly researched, engaging, and respectively written given the event.
Like many other Sydney-siders we all “felt” this in some way. This book covers many aspects of what influenced the siege in 2014, and while I believe everyone did the best they could with the resources/training/information they had available to them at the time, a lot of things went wrong and there was a lot of room for improvement.
10 years on I hope the people impacted are able to move on, and that the improvements highlighted in the coroner’s report help to avoid something similar from happening again.
Like many other Sydney-siders we all “felt” this in some way. This book covers many aspects of what influenced the siege in 2014, and while I believe everyone did the best they could with the resources/training/information they had available to them at the time, a lot of things went wrong and there was a lot of room for improvement.
10 years on I hope the people impacted are able to move on, and that the improvements highlighted in the coroner’s report help to avoid something similar from happening again.
August 19, 2018
A well written book that had to pull a lot of pieces together in order to tell the story. There were a lot of people involved; a lot of action, inaction; decisions made and not. And a hell of a lot of communication problems. This would have been quite a complex book to write. The fact that it wasn’t confusing to read is testament to the author’s skill.
August 28, 2018
As most of Australia, I watched the siege unfold on national television and at the time couldn't imagine what was happening to the hostages within the cafe. This book was very well written, informative and scaringly shares how unprepared the police force were for a terrorist attack when it occured. Hopefully that will be rectified.
January 30, 2019
Well written & throughly researched. So devastatingly tragic, much more so than, I (the general public) ever thought possible. My heart breaks for the Johnson & Dawson families, I am so sorry. To the survivors of the siege, thank you for having the courage to tell your story. Even though the pain is still so raw, I truly hope that you all are able to find some peace 💜
August 22, 2021
Terrorism in Australia
I gave it a 5 star rating
It was a sad story of terrorism in Australia in Sydney
It was a mess up with the police not getting the military involved too late
Two woman were killed as well as one man
I was sad what happened with the inquest into what happened at the Lindt Cafe by a Muslim.
I gave it a 5 star rating
It was a sad story of terrorism in Australia in Sydney
It was a mess up with the police not getting the military involved too late
Two woman were killed as well as one man
I was sad what happened with the inquest into what happened at the Lindt Cafe by a Muslim.
October 1, 2023
a terrifying ordeal and well told story of the heroes involved
Deborah Snow gets everything right here, making sure no stone is unturned whilst upholding the dignity of all involved in procuring safety both inside and outside the Lindt cafe.
Deborah Snow gets everything right here, making sure no stone is unturned whilst upholding the dignity of all involved in procuring safety both inside and outside the Lindt cafe.
August 25, 2018
Shocking, tragic, disturbing, fascinating. What a dreadful mess... police soooo arrogant. Very sad
January 23, 2019
Absolutely heart wrenching. I couldn’t put this down. So many lessons learned and so much unnecessary tragedy. #hopematters
November 24, 2019
Fascinating read. I couldn't put it down. Some of the police and inquest parts are a bit dry and the writing is average but it is still a thought-provoking page-turner.
September 3, 2021
Great insight into what happened on the day of the siege.
April 7, 2023
This was absolutely well worth the read. Although I found myself wanting to slap my head over the many mishandlings of information, poor communication, and the lack of any level of positive action right up to the moment the hostage taker used his weapon.
The hostage taking at gunpoint in the Lindt Cafe was, thankfully, in Australia, a singular event. It was also a cluster f**k of epic proportions.
Deborah Snow writes clearly, without hyperbole, and describes the events leading up to, throughout, and after the siege in a way that cannot be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
She is very respectful of the people held in the cafe and their families, and (unlike some armchair critics after the events) makes no judgement on the actions of the hostages, or the individuals who were able to escape prior to Monis killing Tori Johnson.
The hostage taking at gunpoint in the Lindt Cafe was, thankfully, in Australia, a singular event. It was also a cluster f**k of epic proportions.
Deborah Snow writes clearly, without hyperbole, and describes the events leading up to, throughout, and after the siege in a way that cannot be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
She is very respectful of the people held in the cafe and their families, and (unlike some armchair critics after the events) makes no judgement on the actions of the hostages, or the individuals who were able to escape prior to Monis killing Tori Johnson.
September 26, 2023
The detail and research into what actually occurred and what should have occurred that day was compelling .
I was thoroughly invested from beginning to end .
I was thoroughly invested from beginning to end .
December 16, 2023
A factual and well rounded account
A tragic event given a non sensational well round review. A read from start to end that keeps your attention.
A tragic event given a non sensational well round review. A read from start to end that keeps your attention.
August 30, 2020
Emotional rollacaoster. Very well written, engaging and a book that cannot be put down.
A heartbreaking true story with even more heartbreaking behind the scenes information.
A heartbreaking true story with even more heartbreaking behind the scenes information.
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January 13, 2019Page 270
"Against what standard does one judge a man demanded to stare down death to save strangers?Who would dare say they could’ve done better?” These lines, eloquently pinned by Barnes on the third page of his report, followed an admission by him that the closer he came to an analysing the climax of the siege “the more difficult it became to remain clinical“.
"Against what standard does one judge a man demanded to stare down death to save strangers?Who would dare say they could’ve done better?” These lines, eloquently pinned by Barnes on the third page of his report, followed an admission by him that the closer he came to an analysing the climax of the siege “the more difficult it became to remain clinical“.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews