Empire State [Hardcover]

Henry Porter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2003

The head of the US National Security Agency is assassinated in a spectactular set-piece killing at Heathrow. A Pakistani employee at the airport and his family are found murdered in their council house in Uxbridge. In New York, a fashionable Upper East Side osteopath, who's treating Robert Harland, receives two postcards of the Empire State Building from someone called Karim Khan, one posted in Turkey, the other Iran. A group of migrant workers, including Khan, en route from Afghanistan to the EU, is brutally gunned down in Macedonia. Khan escapes death, but is captured to endure worse - terrible torture. The quest to find the link between these apparently random events is pursued by Harland, with the help of Isis Hernick, a young female officer of MI6, in a remarkable thriller that explores our frightening post 9/11 world. It is a world that inspires paranoia on a grand scale, where international agencies give no quarter and show no scruple in hunting down supposed terrorists, and where torture is used by democratic societies who cite defence as the justification for their acts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

REVIEWS '...a powerful, propulsive piece of thriller writing... Porter has consolidated his reputation for writing some of the best espionage thrillers around.' THE OBSERVER 7/9/03 'his landscapes, language and action are intriguing. Here is a spy writer whose work is becoming increasingly unbeatable.' Bill Greenwell, THE INDEPENDENT 13/9/03 'Like the best espionage writers, Porter is an expert at spinning plates. We are flashed all over the world.' William Leith, DAILY TELEGRAPH 13/9/03 'Porter is certainly filling the gap left by Len Deighton and John Le Carre...' EVENING STANDARD '... a tour-de-force, which is stunning in its execution and masterful in its attention to detail... The future of the spy novel is in safe hands. The man writes like a dream. Challenging, ambitious, thoughtful, authoritative, he's a le Carre for this century.' GLASGOW HERALD "A revelation and the best book of the year by far." THE HERALD (GLASGOW) '...demonstrates a vast knowledge of security systems and a deep appreciation of the changing state of world safety.' www tangledweb.co.uk 'Buttock-clenching suspense as secret agent Robert Harland returns to sniff out some murky political goings on.' TATLER 01-10-2003 'This is a gift from one of the key espionage writers of the 21st century' GOOD BOOK GUIDE 01-10-03 'Henry Porter is the writer of espionage thriller for the new millenium. In his new, remarkably timely novel, Empire State, porter once again proves he is at the cuting edge of international political espionage' EYE SPY October 2003 'Empire State is tightly written, well-paced and cleverly constructed. The backgrounds are well done, be they seedy Islamic bookshops on Westbourne Grove or Cairene cafes, and the action sequences are all that they should be. Porter definitely knows what he's doing and he does it very well. More, please' THE SPECTATOR, 25-10-03 'Empire State is plausible, scary and exciting with unstressed know-how and espionage tatics that sound authentic ... In more ways than one, Porter's excellent novel extends our education' LITERARY REVIEW, 01-10-03

About the Author

Henry Porter has written for most national broadsheet newspapers. He was editor of the Atticus column on the Sunday Times, moving to set up the Sunday Correspondent magazine in 1988. He contributes commentary and reportage to the Guardian, Observer, Evening Standard and Sunday Telegraph. He is the British editor of Vanity Fair, and lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (September 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752856839
• ISBN-13: 978-0752856834
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,703,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not in the Same League, December 10, 2003

By 

Michael Olson (Victoria, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sophia - Living and Loving - Her Own Story (Paperback)

Empire State is a dreadful book - devoid of suspense, with a muddled plot and a cast of cardboard characters who communicate chiefly via cell-phones and laptop computers. Instead of compelling action, we are subjected to endless exposition describing foreign intrigues, whose significance the reader can only guess at. Even the connection between the opening attack and the events that follow is unclear. What did it accomplish? Was it a diversion? Who done it? You got me.

According to the cover blurb, Robert Harland, the hero of A Spy's Life, returns in Empire State, assisted by female MI6 officer, Isis Herrick. In fact, Herrick is clearly the center of this novel, whereas Harland, relegated to infrequent walk-on's, is hobbled throughout by indecision and chronic back pain. As for the book's sole romantic encounter, it is a tepid interlude, over before it begins. I guess even spies grow old.

If Empire State is "an espionage thriller for the new millennium", then give me back the cold war. In Mr. Porter's brave new world, the Americans and the Brits are ever at each other's throats, the bad guys' intentions are murky at best and the confusing array of British Intelligence Services (SIS, MI5, MI6, etc.) persist in wasting their time in-fighting.

I recently reread Porter's first book, Remembrance Day. Now there was a real thriller: suspense and action galore, good locales, minimal gadgetry, believable protagonists and very nasty villains. A Spy's Life was a notable come-down from that book, and Empire State is not in the same league at all.

3.0 out of 5 stars Blah, May 29, 2009

By 

Craobh Rua "Craobh Rua" (N. Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empire State (Paperback)

"Empire State" opens with Vice Admiral Ralph Norquist, the head of the American NSA, landing at London Heathrow under the name "Larry Catuzo". Norquist is apparently travelling on a secret mission, with his schedule so classified that even his wife doesn't know where he is or who he'll be meeting. Unfortunately, despite the secrecy, the `bad guys' are onto him...Norquist is plucked out of his line on arrival by Peter Chambers, an agent from MI5, who informs him his security has been compromised. Despite their best efforts, however, Norquist doesn't survive too much further...while he makes it out of the airport by a secret escape route, an ambush on the motorway ensures he doesn't see it through the night. Naturally, this is big news - and the obvious assumption is that Norquist was the target of an extremely well-informed terrorist cell. One line of enquiry will look at a woman who'd been ahead of Norquist in the queue coming through immigration. Something about her had made Norquist suspicious and, after she'd dropped the contents of her bag, he had managed to swipe the SIM card from her phone.

One of the book's two lead characters in working at Heathrow at the time - though she's not part of the Norquist operation. Isis Herrick - an Arabic speaking MI5 officer - was working with several MI5 and Special Branch officers, observing Youssef Rahe, an Arab bookseller. (However, before long, all but Isis have been removed from the operation - the Norquist situation and the mysterious woman who "lost" her SIM card needed numbers quickly). Rahe, who was heading to Kuwait, isn't seen as a significant player. In all honesty, the security forces didn't even know if he was an insignificant player...all they know is that a suspect once bought a book from him. Alone, Isis keeps following the Rahe case and, on the CCTV footage, notices that someone else takes Rahe's place on the plane. (It was someone wearing Rahe's jacket, with Rahe's passport and boarding card...but it wasn't Rahe. Somehow or other, the switch had been made where the security cameras couldn't see). A little more poking about, and Herrick soon realises that something very big has happened at the airport that day....something that could easily have been missed due to a high profile murder. (The book's other lead character arrives late at the party. Robert Harland, who is currently working with the United Nations in New York, has a bad back. Thankfully, the Secretary General has managed to get him an appointment with a very highly-regarded doctor called Sammi Loz...)

Meanwhile, in Macedonia about 10 miles from the Albanian border, a group of travellers are breaking camp breaking up after a night's rest. There's little doubt that a number of the travellers have a shady past...Karim Khan, for example, has spent several years fighting as a Mujahad in Afghanistan. However, while his belief in Allah remains strong, his belief in sacrifice has waned. He now hopes to make his way to Greece and return to the life he once led. Unfortunately, the group of travellers run into a border control...and only Khan makes it out of the encounter alive.

An easily read book overall, and one that doesn't avoid dealing with extraordinary rendition and torture. (Those who argued in favour this approach included a couple of goons - officially guardians of freedom, truth and justice, no less - who seemed to take great pleasure in that line of work; Herrick, it seems, was there to provide the counter-argument). Khan, I'd imagine, wasn't quite the monster some would have preferred...though, having said that, he wasn't an entirely believable character. Isis proved to be a likeable character - more so than Harland, I thought, and proved to be someone that you couldn't help rooting for. However, I do think both she and the book were badly let down by the climax and the closing scene - Porter would have done better to have come up with a significantly different ending.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Confusing and Awkward, May 25, 2004

By 

Robert J. Lusk (Moncton, New Brunswick) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sophia - Living and Loving - Her Own Story (Paperback)

I am almost finished reading Empire State and it has really been a struggle to get this far. I am still waiting for some type of connection between the opening attack and the subsequent events. But having just read another review of this book, I am not sure I will find one.

The maze of British intelligence services and their various personnel is confusing and quite difficult to follow. And the heroine Isis Herrick, who is suppose to be the "best of best", continually screws up at almost every step along the way.

But what I find most annoying is the author's apparent ignorance of how North Americans speak. The phraseology used by American characters just doesn't cut it. When one American puts some money in another's pocket to pay him off, he says "Here is a little something to be going on". Maybe in England but on this side of the pond it would be something like "Here is a little something for your efforts". There are many other such instances which make the characters seem artificial.

But I will perserve to the end and just maybe by then it will all make sense.