The clock is ticking toward an inexorable deadline... Three years after 9/11, terrorists have hidden an atomic bomb in the heart of New York. If the President of the United States does not force his Israeli allies to abandon all the land they have occupied in the aftermath of the 1967 War, New York will be wiped off the face of the earth. Will he give in to this blackmail? Could a terrorist group have really gotten access to an atomic bomb and smuggled it into the United States? Can't the forces of the most powerful nation on the planet find the hidden bomb and defuse it before it can explode? Could they, if necessary, evacuate New York? Researched for two years, the authors studied reams of documents and interviewed scores of people from the most secret centers in the war on terrorism.
Born in West Hartford, Connecticut, he was educated at the Loomis Chaffee Institute in Windsor, Connecticut, and graduated from Yale as a BA in 1951. He worked in the advertising department of Procter and Gamble, in Cincinnati, Ohio, before being conscripted into the US Army. While serving in the public affairs office of the Allied Headquarters in Paris, from 1953-1955, he met Dominique Lapierre with whom he would write several best-sellers over 43 years.
He went back to Procter and Gamble and became the products manager of the new foods division in 1955. Disillusioned with commerce, he took to journalism and joined the Paris bureau of United Press International in 1956, and became the news editor in Rome in the following year, and later the MidEast bureau chief in Beirut.
In 1959, he joined Newsweek as Middle East editor, based in New York. He became the Paris bureau chief in 1961, where he would work until 1964, until he switched to writing books.
In 1965, Collins and Lapierre published their first joint work, Is Paris Burning? (in French Paris brûle-t-il?), a tale of Nazi occupation of the French capital during World War II and Hitler's plans to destroy Paris should it fall into the hands of the Allies. The book was an instant success and was made into a movie in 1966 by director René Clément, starring Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford and Alain Delon.
In 1967, they co-authored Or I'll Dress you in Mourning about the Spanish bullfighter Manuel Benítez El Cordobés.
In 1972, after five years' research and interviews, they published O Jerusalem! about the birth of Israel in 1948, turned into a movie by Elie Chouraqui.
In 1975, they published Freedom at Midnight, a story of the Indian Independence in 1947, and the subsequent assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. It is said they spent $300,000 researching and still emerged wealthy.
The duo published their first fictional work, The Fifth Horseman, in 1980. It describes a terrorist attack on New York masterminded by Libya's Colonel Gaddafi. The book had such a shocking effect that the French President cancelled the sale of nuclear reactors to Libya, even though it was meant for peaceful purposes. Paramount Pictures, which was planning a film based on the book, dropped the idea in fear that fanatics would emulate the scenario in real life.
In 1985, Collins authored Fall From Grace (without Lapierre) about a woman agent sent into occupied France who realizes she may be betrayed by her British masters if necessary. He also wrote Maze: A Novel (1989), Black Eagles (1995), Le Jour Du Miracle: D-Day Paris (1994) and Tomorrow Belongs To Us (1998). Shortly before his death, he collaborated with Lapierre on Is New York Burning? (2005), a novel mixing fictional characters and real-life figures that speculates about a terrorist attack on New York City.
In 2005, while working from his home in the south of France on a book on the Middle East, Collins died of a sudden cerebral haemorrhage.
Entretenida en plan telefilm de sobremesa. Demasiado inverosímil en algunos sentidos. Demasiadas casualidades que llevan a la resolución final. Sé que le novela tiene apenas algo más de una década, pero también es increíble lo mal que ha envejecido, especialmente en cuanto a la caracterización de los personajes femeninos, algunas de cuyas intervenciones me han dado vergüenza ajena. Se deja leer, pero esperaba otra cosa.
I was waiting at a friend's apartment before we could go out together. As usually happens in such appointments the person got delayed and I spotted this book lying on a table. By the time we were all set to go, I had finished a good three chapters of the book. The most famous boogeyman of the west : Bin Laden had come in as a character and an attack plan was being hatched against the US. I forgot all about it this book after that and it was only later in the library that I picked it up. Very ordinary fare is what I felt about the whole thing.
The plot is rather straightforward : Arab terrorists smuggle a nuclear bomb into NY and make an outrageous demand of America. A lot of investigation and high profile meetings later, America ends up saving itself and the world. Everyone lives happily thereafter ! This book features an ensemble cast : George W, Condolezza Rice, Pervez Musharraf, Ariel Sharon, Osama Bin Laden and a cameo by Saddam Hussein. The kind of story where a fictional plot is placed on real characters. The strength of the story is in the amount of research that the authors have done. It is fiction that works on a frighteningly possible scenario and the authors have ensured that they detail out the nightmare that will ensue if such a case came to life in reality.
The weakside however is that while the authors are brilliant writers of non-fiction, their fiction leaves a lot to be desired. Some of the dialog breaks down to worn down cliches and cyclostyled words which kills off a lot of joy. Comparing authors and their writing style is sacrilegious but this is terrain where Fredrick Forsyth or Robert Ludlum would have been surefooted. Colins and Lapierre make their prose work but not with the glitz and glamor that thriller writers usually bring to the table.
An absolutely average thriller.
Tail-end : Ace actor from India - Kamal Hassan came out with a movie named Vishwaroopam in early 2013 which told of the exploits of an Indian intelligence agent in NY. I remember seeing the movie and thinking that the ideas this man had in terms of the plot are quite unique. Now that I have been through this book, I know where his ideas stemmed from ! Oh no, I did not use the word plagiarism anywhere did I ?
Novela sobre un ataque terrorista. Me ha gustado que mezcla realidad y ficción. Habla también del conflicto Israel-Palestina. No sé si cuando los autores escribieron el libro en 2004 se podrían imaginar hasta dónde ha llegado la situación ahora. Es heavy. Tiene algún toque machista en los personajes femeninos, pero tampoco le voy a pedir peras al olmo.
Mi aspettavo di meglio ma comunque é un libro che mi ha appassionata.
Nonostante sia stato scritto 20anni fa, le problematiche non sono cambiate. La questione israelo palestinese è sempre li, presente e senza modifiche. Forse peggiorata.
Una cosa si evince dalle pagine di questo libro ed è un’idea che io ho da sempre ed avrò per sempre: la religione é la rovina dei popoli.
El genial dúo de escritores Dominique Lapierre y Larry Collins ha vuelto a unirse tras más de 20 años de separación creativa. En su nuevo libro, “¿Arde Nueva York?”, relatan la última e inquietante amenaza que se cierne sobre Estados Unidos: una potente bomba atómica va a explotar en Nueva York llevándose consigo millones de vidas. ¿Imaginan quiénes son los malos? Bin Laden, Sadam Husein, el terrorista libanés Imad Mugnieh... Los autores del “thriller”, que han dado a la literatura universal títulos como “¿Arde París?”, “Esta noche, la libertad” o “El quinto jinete”, han creado una historia cargada del realismo que siempre ha caracterizado sus trabajos. Magazine adelanta extractos de la obra, que han sido hilados por los propios autores, por medio de textos explicativos. ¿Llegará Osama Bin Laden a apretar el botón para destruir al “Gran Satán” americano? Estaba muy entusiasmada con los autores, pero parece una pura novela policiaca, bastante deficiente.
I remember watching an interview of a very famous method actor, where the interviewer asked him that even if he had so many cult and arthouse movies to his credit, why he sometimes chose substandard movies that had no intention to do any sort of justice to his talent and capabilities. To that he smiled and answered, "Sometimes, I need money too, you see. And if it comes easy but honest, then why not? So once in a while, I do stuff that doesn't require me to apply an ounce of my brain."
I tend to put this book by Dominique Lapierre, Larry Collins in to that easy-money-no-brain category that some great artists/authors get themselves linked to. Cause, I refuse to believe the creators of "Freedom at Midnight" and "O Jerusalem" would write such ho hum thriller involving Osama, Saddam, Bush et al.
Though this book didn't have the usual volume of a Dominique lapierrie Larry Collins novel it definitely did have the quality of theirs.
Its not the same as a rob ludlum or Fred Forsyth novel's where research and attention to the minutest details will be extraordinary, this still was a fast pacy and fun read.
It clearly shows that both these authors were out of their genre and didn't dwell too deep into building a personality of the protagonist, it was more a matter of fact statement about them.
This was not a well written novel. There were several grammatical errors and not enough back story for the characters. And to top it all off there were instances where there was head hopping. The idea of the story is not bad and that is why I am giving it three stars instead of one. The dialogue seemed force and was not organic to the situation. The ending was not very suspenseful and if I were the authors I would have wanted to at least rewrite the ending.
Ce qui était intéressant dans ce livre c’est les recherches historiques derrière. La situation États Unis Moyen Orient décrite, nous rappelle à quel point les guerres de religion ont été et sont profondément dévastatrices.
Una novel·la molt similar al cinquè genet de l'apocalipsis. En aquest cas els que posen la bomba atòmica són Bin Laden i companyia. Un llibre sense xispa, massa igual a l'anterior. Regalat per la meva germana el Sant Jordi del 2004. Acabat el 29-01-2005
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Mi nota es un 4/10. ¿Arde Nueva York? es una novela escrita por Dominique Lapierre y Larry Collins que se centra en un escenario de terrorismo en la ciudad de Nueva York. La trama se desarrolla en septiembre de 2004, cuando un grupo de extremistas, liderados por Bin Laden, logra introducir una bomba nuclear de veinticinco kilotones en Manhattan. La historia comienza con la introducción de la bomba nuclear en Nueva York por parte de un grupo de extremistas. La demanda de los terroristas es clara: exigen la retirada de Israel de los territorios ocupados desde 1967. La amenaza de una explosión nuclear en una de las ciudades más importantes del mundo pone a prueba la capacidad de respuesta del gobierno estadounidense y de las autoridades locales. El presidente George W. Bush se encuentra en una situación extremadamente delicada, ya que cualquier decisión que tome podría tener consecuencias catastróficas. Mientras tanto, el alcalde Michael Bloomberg enfrenta desafíos logísticos enormes para intentar evacuar la ciudad y proteger a sus ciudadanos. John Barron, un periodista decidido, se embarca en una misión para descubrir la verdad detrás del complot terrorista. Su investigación lo lleva a desentrañar una red de conspiraciones y a enfrentarse a peligros constantes. En resumen, "¿Arde Nueva York?" es una novela que combina elementos de suspense, política y drama humano para ofrecer una visión de un posible escenario de crisis en una de las ciudades más emblemáticas del mundo. Si no has leído el libro no lo leas ya que es un libro que no te aporta absolutamente nada, sola la sensación de haber perdido el tiempo.
It is an exciting account of the post 9/11 America, when some terrorists attempt to nuclear bomb New York. The scientific and technological weapons, systems, used by Americans to thwart the terrorists' bomb is very fascinating. These guys have written an excellent book on India's freedom struggle "Freedom at Midnight". Also individually, Dominique has written "The City of Joy", which got converted into a movie.
The one star was simply for the fact that is a rehash of their earlier book- The Fifth Horseman.
This book feels like a cheap and abridged version of the older book, with names and places tweaked a bit. The only objective seems to cash in on the comparatively recent notoriety gained by Bin-Laden, specially following the 9/11 attacks. The older book was far more detailed, with proper dialogues and a smooth narrative.
Idea non proprio originalissima, sviluppata pero' in un bel racconto scorrevole, anche se mai veramente coinvolgente. Poco approfondimento sui personaggi, Bush e compari che fanno la classica figura dei peracottari. Imperdibile il finale, con Bush che afferma che, nella questione palestinese, bisogna proseguire la politica iniziata da Clinton. Ma quando mai?!?!?
Not my kind of book. I bought this book at the Dollar Tree for $1. It was worth the price. My mind kept wandering and I would have to continually re-read parts I had read. I know this isn't "politically correct" but this book reminds me of a "Guy's Book". War on terror, etc.
Triste copia di Il quinto cavaliere. Ci sono parti totalmente identiche, prese pari pari... una grandissima delusione perchè amo moltissimo Dominique Lapierre!