The Siege, or Chess with Death

1811–1812. Cadiz, the last stronghold of the Spaniards fighting for their independence, is besieged by the French. Joseph Bonaparte’s troops methodically bombard the city—and strange as it may seem, it is precisely in those places where shells land that a series of brutal murders of young women occurs. Roheliо Tison, the local police commissioner with a hard character, together with Ippolito Barrule, the commissioner’s chess partner, searches for a mysterious killer… Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel is sharp, on the edge of life and death—an intense, at times insane multi-move chess game, where the pieces are unpredictable, and the outcome of the “game” can change not only the heroes’ fate, but also the course of world history. As the author himself—creator of such international bestsellers as “The Flanders Panel,” “The Club Dumas” (the literary basis of Polanski’s “The Ninth Gate” with Johnny Depp), the cycle of novels about the adventures of Captain Alatriste (filmed with Viggo Mortensen)—and many others—puts it about the book: “Technically, it is my most complex novel, with the most branched structure… After twenty years, I feel as if I’ve returned to my old novels. There’s political intrigue with espionage, there’s an investigation, a love line, sea battles, and adventures.”