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adrianjd's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A quick, adventurous read. Not overly complicated and if it’s time but nonetheless enjoyable enough to have another go at the next one in the series.
rosseroo's review
4.0
I recently reread, and rather surprisingly enjoyed Higgins' classic WWII thriller The Eagle Has Landed -- and that led me to seek this out. One of the most engaging elements of that book was the Irish-terrorist-turned-German-agent Liam Devlin, and this book visits him some thirty or so years later, in the midst of the Cold War. After a rather strange Vietnam War-set prologue involving the rescue of a lovely French photographer by an immensely skilled special forces solider, the story shifts to the sometime around 1980 or so. We meet a freelance terrorist who has been paid to assassinate the British Foreign Secretary during a visit to France. This opening is the kind of procedural operation that Higgins excels at, as the master-terrorist Frank Barry puts together a plan and lays his trap. However, there's a British secret agent in on the plot, and the story takes a twist that leads Prime Minister Thatcher to authorize Barry's execution.
This task falls to the Brigadier in charge of such black ops, who, in delving into Barry's past, discovers connections to Liam Devlin, and the Irish-American special forces fella' from the prologue (Martin Brosnan, who apparently appears in some other Higgins' books). The good old "set a thief to catch a thief" plot is brought forth, and the Brigadier coerces Devlin and Brosnan to take out Barry. This sets the stage for two other lovely set pieces: an SAS-ssnatch team renditioning Devlin to England, and an good old-fashioned prison break to spring Brosnan from an island prison off the coast of France. This involves fun stuff like the Corsican mafia, and much more. Meanwhile, Barry has been hired by the KGB to steal a revolutionary new anti-tank rocket weapon that the West Germans have developed and represents a severe blow to Soviet tank supremacy in the European Theater. So, that's yet another fun procedural set piece, as Barry works on that heist while Devlin, Brosnan, and the British try to track him down.
As with "The Eagle Has Landed", Higgins does not plumb particularly deeply into any of the character's psyches. Their motivations are pretty linear and there's nothing unexpected along the way -- however, that's not really much of a concern in a thriller like this. The set pieces are all pretty fun, and the Cold War setting is kind of interesting in its own retro way. The book concludes with another fun set piece, that, while predictable, puts just the right cap on things. All in all, if you like Higgins, you'll probably like this.
This task falls to the Brigadier in charge of such black ops, who, in delving into Barry's past, discovers connections to Liam Devlin, and the Irish-American special forces fella' from the prologue (Martin Brosnan, who apparently appears in some other Higgins' books). The good old "set a thief to catch a thief" plot is brought forth, and the Brigadier coerces Devlin and Brosnan to take out Barry. This sets the stage for two other lovely set pieces: an SAS-ssnatch team renditioning Devlin to England, and an good old-fashioned prison break to spring Brosnan from an island prison off the coast of France. This involves fun stuff like the Corsican mafia, and much more. Meanwhile, Barry has been hired by the KGB to steal a revolutionary new anti-tank rocket weapon that the West Germans have developed and represents a severe blow to Soviet tank supremacy in the European Theater. So, that's yet another fun procedural set piece, as Barry works on that heist while Devlin, Brosnan, and the British try to track him down.
As with "The Eagle Has Landed", Higgins does not plumb particularly deeply into any of the character's psyches. Their motivations are pretty linear and there's nothing unexpected along the way -- however, that's not really much of a concern in a thriller like this. The set pieces are all pretty fun, and the Cold War setting is kind of interesting in its own retro way. The book concludes with another fun set piece, that, while predictable, puts just the right cap on things. All in all, if you like Higgins, you'll probably like this.
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