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Sean Dillon #19
A Devil is Waiting
A devil is indeed waiting . . .
The President is coming to London, but not to an entirely warm welcome. A fanatical mullah is offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate the President, and though most London Muslims think the mullah has crossed the line, a few think otherwise.
Urgently, Sean Dillon, General Charles Ferguson, and the rest of the small band known as the "Prime Minister's private army" are called in, augmented by an extraordinary new recruit, an intelligence captain and Afghan war hero named Sara Gideon. She has her own deep contacts, but the more she investigates, the more she discovers herself in a very dark place indeed.
For the assassination plan is only the beginning. . . .
The President is coming to London, but not to an entirely warm welcome. A fanatical mullah is offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate the President, and though most London Muslims think the mullah has crossed the line, a few think otherwise.
Urgently, Sean Dillon, General Charles Ferguson, and the rest of the small band known as the "Prime Minister's private army" are called in, augmented by an extraordinary new recruit, an intelligence captain and Afghan war hero named Sara Gideon. She has her own deep contacts, but the more she investigates, the more she discovers herself in a very dark place indeed.
For the assassination plan is only the beginning. . . .
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 3, 2012
179 people are currently reading
1043 people want to read
About the author
Jack Higgins
483 books1,281 followersThere is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Jack Higgins was best known of the many pseudonyms of Henry Patterson. (See also Martin Fallon, Harry Patterson, Hugh Marlowe and James Graham.)
He was the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including The Eagle Has Landed and The Wolf at the Door. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter.
Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster The Eagle Has Landed, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures—such as John Dillinger—and often center around significant events from such conflicts as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Patterson lived in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.
Jack Higgins was best known of the many pseudonyms of Henry Patterson. (See also Martin Fallon, Harry Patterson, Hugh Marlowe and James Graham.)
He was the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including The Eagle Has Landed and The Wolf at the Door. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter.
Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster The Eagle Has Landed, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures—such as John Dillinger—and often center around significant events from such conflicts as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Patterson lived in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
February 21, 2012
Better then some of the more recent Dillon books, and I think it's the second half of the book that really helps it along. Sara Gideon's a more interesting new character, which is good. The bad though: Sean Dillon, who's such a compelling character, continues to be marginalized, disappearing for good parts of the book (this has been happening quite a bit in recent Higgins books, and it's a pain to see it happen). Instead, Daniel Holley, a relatively recent addition to the books, gets the lion's share of the attention, and frankly, the character is a mediocre, pale shadow compared to Dillon. I'm getting to really dislike the character. Add to this the fact that the Salters have been completely marginalized into seeming irrelevance, and I'm less then impressed. Billy Salter, who's much more of a compelling partner to Dillon then Holley could ever be, barely rates a mention. And then there are characters Higgins could just kill off. The Harry Miller character doesn't really do much of anything, and could be bumped off. By the same token, Harry Salter, who hasn't had much of a role in recent books and yet still is a good character, could easily be killed off as a bit of a shock to the system. Ultimately, though, I think Higgins needs to retire from the game. He doesn't need to write, and the quality of his work has been sliding as of late, really, since The Killing Ground, which marked the beginning of the Marginalize Sean Dillon phase of his novels.
October 9, 2016
I thought this book was mediocre at best. Although this is the first Jack Higgins novel I've read, I have seen movies made from his books.
In considering the high praise this author has received, I was disappointed with this book. I thought the action was a bit lackluster, or maybe too predictable.
Are other readers tiring, as I am, of characters who are independently wealthy, but choose to be superheros for something to do?
Honestly, I expected more.
In considering the high praise this author has received, I was disappointed with this book. I thought the action was a bit lackluster, or maybe too predictable.
Are other readers tiring, as I am, of characters who are independently wealthy, but choose to be superheros for something to do?
Honestly, I expected more.
January 27, 2020
Full of misinformation and prejudice against Muslims. Shame on the author.
May 4, 2012
Review
It seems very easy these days to call an author a master of a genre or style, but in the case of Jack Higgins its very much a real title, he has led the way with thriller writing for many many years, and yes the books have got a little formulaic in the Sean Dillon era, but they are still exciting, explosive, fun filled and action packed. Sean Dillon is like the Ex IRA Bond and his best attribute will be to lead readers to the older Higgins titles that are really his best work.
The product Description tells you all about the plot, all i can add is that you can read the book as stand alone, but my preference is to know the back ground to plot and characters, its a perfect filler title, or take on holiday book.
Do i recommend? Yes as with any Jack Higgins, they are just to addictive to miss.
(Parm)
Product Description (from back of book)
THE NEW HIGGINS HAS LANDED! The mesmerizing new Sean Dillon thriller of murder, terrorism and revenge from the Sunday Times bestselling author.Fresh from his mission in THE JUDAS GATE to seek out and eliminate one of al Qaeda's most valued agents, a traitor responsible for countless soldiers' deaths in Afghanistan, Sean Dillon is back in a blistering new adventure.The American President, on a planned visit to Europe, is entertained by the British Prime Minister on the terrace of the House of Commons. On the same day, London born Mullah Ali Salim makes an impassioned speech at Hyde Park Corner accusing the President of war crimes, objecting to his presence and offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate him.Dillon, Major Ferguson and Daniel Holley are called into action, helped by a new recruit, Intelligence Corp Captain Sara Gideon, a war hero in the Afghan conflict, whose speciality is Pashta and Iranian. They quickly find themselves trying to handle a massive upsurge in terrorism from enemies near and far, all with links to al Qaeda.As a Sephardic Jew from a wealthy and ancient English family, Sara will find herself at the heart of the firestorm when she is swept into the heart of the terror organisation. Though their leader may be gone the threat remains as terrible as ever, and though Dillon and company may have won the first battle with al Qaeda, they will learn the war is far from over. A devil is indeed waiting and the assassination plan is only the beginning...
It seems very easy these days to call an author a master of a genre or style, but in the case of Jack Higgins its very much a real title, he has led the way with thriller writing for many many years, and yes the books have got a little formulaic in the Sean Dillon era, but they are still exciting, explosive, fun filled and action packed. Sean Dillon is like the Ex IRA Bond and his best attribute will be to lead readers to the older Higgins titles that are really his best work.
The product Description tells you all about the plot, all i can add is that you can read the book as stand alone, but my preference is to know the back ground to plot and characters, its a perfect filler title, or take on holiday book.
Do i recommend? Yes as with any Jack Higgins, they are just to addictive to miss.
(Parm)
Product Description (from back of book)
THE NEW HIGGINS HAS LANDED! The mesmerizing new Sean Dillon thriller of murder, terrorism and revenge from the Sunday Times bestselling author.Fresh from his mission in THE JUDAS GATE to seek out and eliminate one of al Qaeda's most valued agents, a traitor responsible for countless soldiers' deaths in Afghanistan, Sean Dillon is back in a blistering new adventure.The American President, on a planned visit to Europe, is entertained by the British Prime Minister on the terrace of the House of Commons. On the same day, London born Mullah Ali Salim makes an impassioned speech at Hyde Park Corner accusing the President of war crimes, objecting to his presence and offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate him.Dillon, Major Ferguson and Daniel Holley are called into action, helped by a new recruit, Intelligence Corp Captain Sara Gideon, a war hero in the Afghan conflict, whose speciality is Pashta and Iranian. They quickly find themselves trying to handle a massive upsurge in terrorism from enemies near and far, all with links to al Qaeda.As a Sephardic Jew from a wealthy and ancient English family, Sara will find herself at the heart of the firestorm when she is swept into the heart of the terror organisation. Though their leader may be gone the threat remains as terrible as ever, and though Dillon and company may have won the first battle with al Qaeda, they will learn the war is far from over. A devil is indeed waiting and the assassination plan is only the beginning...
June 13, 2021
Not a good book to read. Prejudiced and terrible plots. The only good thing is that it is a quick read, so didn't have to bear it for long.
July 29, 2021
Just okay. Light on substance.
November 13, 2023
In the beginning, the Sean Dillon novels featured Dillon, his boss/handler Ferguson, Ferguson’s right-hand woman Hannah Bernstein, and Ferguson’s Stateside oppo Blake Johnson. To this roster of protagonists were gradually added gangland boss Harry Salter and his philosophically-oriented nephew Billy, IT guru Roper, politician/special ops badass Harry Miller and antagonist turned good guy Daniel Holley, who shares Dillon’s Provo background. The net result is that the latter Dillon novels become increasingly overpopulated and Dillon-lite. This, the nineteenth instalment, adds yet another new recruit: American war hero Sara Gideon. It also adds that rarest of things in the saga: a romantic subplot as Sara and Holley are immediately taken by each other. Will they won’t they shenanigans hold up the narrative in the first half. Things shift up a notch in the last 150 pages or so, even if this late-arrived-at propulsiveness *does* coke at the cost of Higgins recycling plot lines and set pieces from at least four previous books. Still, Dillon doesn’t just disappear for hundreds of pages at a time as per the last couple of outings, so I’ll take what I can get in the diminishing final exegeses of the saga.
July 13, 2024
Same stuff with a new character. Still a fast read.
April 17, 2019
I know that there's a sizeable contingent of Jack Higgins fans out there but until I picked up this book, I had never so much as read a single one of his works.
And while there's nothing particularly bad about this story, 'A Devil Is Waiting' is not a book that I would say turned me into a fan of the author either.
The book is another in the Sean Dillon series as he an Daniel Holley are on the tracks of various offshoots of terror group operating in part out of New York. But when they close out that part of the operation and return home to Britain, they learn there is a new member of their clandestine team.
Captain Sara Gideon is an intelligence agent and hero from the Afghan War. She's been brought in to the team to help with their potential operations in Afghanistan. Holley is smitten with her immediately. Meanwhile, the story moves briskly from one static set up after another.
Whether planning for a mission, learning more about the Muslim leader behind the latest plot or another burst of deadly action, the story doesn't leave you wanting for thrills and chills.
But what I found is that none of it really gave me the least little inkling that anyone was in any real literary danger. It may seem strange to read that given the notion that this is a book in a series, but the best stories at least jack up the intensity to make you think there's a chance our heroes can get hurt or even killed. Suspension of disbelief is important.
But in this book, it was almost as if everyone in the story was in on the book's plot and knew that they'd eventually come out on top in a battle of wills.
It's not that the book wasn't both decently and economically written but without that necessary ability to see the chance for real consequences, the devil wasn't the only one waiting...in my case, it was waiting for something to happen that didn't feel as if it was part of a paint by numbers script.
And while there's nothing particularly bad about this story, 'A Devil Is Waiting' is not a book that I would say turned me into a fan of the author either.
The book is another in the Sean Dillon series as he an Daniel Holley are on the tracks of various offshoots of terror group operating in part out of New York. But when they close out that part of the operation and return home to Britain, they learn there is a new member of their clandestine team.
Captain Sara Gideon is an intelligence agent and hero from the Afghan War. She's been brought in to the team to help with their potential operations in Afghanistan. Holley is smitten with her immediately. Meanwhile, the story moves briskly from one static set up after another.
Whether planning for a mission, learning more about the Muslim leader behind the latest plot or another burst of deadly action, the story doesn't leave you wanting for thrills and chills.
But what I found is that none of it really gave me the least little inkling that anyone was in any real literary danger. It may seem strange to read that given the notion that this is a book in a series, but the best stories at least jack up the intensity to make you think there's a chance our heroes can get hurt or even killed. Suspension of disbelief is important.
But in this book, it was almost as if everyone in the story was in on the book's plot and knew that they'd eventually come out on top in a battle of wills.
It's not that the book wasn't both decently and economically written but without that necessary ability to see the chance for real consequences, the devil wasn't the only one waiting...in my case, it was waiting for something to happen that didn't feel as if it was part of a paint by numbers script.
March 20, 2012
Long in the tooth. Recently we wrote of Vince Flynn's "re-booting" of his Mitch Rapp character. After 19 installments of his Sean Dillon series, perhaps Jack Higgins is closer to "booting" the whole thing. In "Devil" the formula is showing. Though Higgins has been frantically adding new characters and / or re-imagining older characters (here, most notably and to the detriment -- Charles Ferguson) over the past several installments, much of the suspense has been dissipated from an engaging entourage.
I've lost faith in Higgins in the past only to be reassured -- Daniel Holley's introduction several installments ago in "The Wolf at the Door" (reviewed here) was the most recent re-engagement. Here's hoping for another better future. For as the Irish saying goes: to the sinner, a devil is waiting.
I've lost faith in Higgins in the past only to be reassured -- Daniel Holley's introduction several installments ago in "The Wolf at the Door" (reviewed here) was the most recent re-engagement. Here's hoping for another better future. For as the Irish saying goes: to the sinner, a devil is waiting.
November 4, 2024
As this series continues, Sean Dillon often plays a smaller role in the stories. The ensemble cast are familiar, like old friends, and the stories follow an increasingly repetitive pattern.
This particular entry scores a little higher because it leaves no loose ends. Too often, the more recent Dillon stories leave at least one villain behind for future use. This particular volume cleaned all of that up, allowed me to turn my brain off, and had a satisfactory resolution. There is nothing special here, but it is a slightly above average entry in the series. It would be nice to see Higgins step into new ground, but that is highly unlikely considering how often he reuses locations and plot devices. Still, I liked it.
This particular entry scores a little higher because it leaves no loose ends. Too often, the more recent Dillon stories leave at least one villain behind for future use. This particular volume cleaned all of that up, allowed me to turn my brain off, and had a satisfactory resolution. There is nothing special here, but it is a slightly above average entry in the series. It would be nice to see Higgins step into new ground, but that is highly unlikely considering how often he reuses locations and plot devices. Still, I liked it.
August 7, 2012
#19 in the Sean Dillon series. Perhaps the series should be re-named The Prime Minister's Secret Army, as the books really have an ensemble cast. Quick read.
Sean Dillon series - Capt. Sara Gideon, "a brilliant linguist" just home from a rough tour in Afghanistan, joins the can-do ranks of Great Britain's anti-terrorism squad, the so-called "Prime Minister's private army". Dillon and his team get on the trail of a terrorist, Ali Selim, who's offering a blessing to anyone who assassinates leaders of the Western world, including the U.S. president, who's soon due to arrive in London. Violence flares as the search extends from London to Pakistan and into the Persian Gulf, where the bad guys kidnap Gideon, heir to a banking fortune, and hold her for ransom.
Sean Dillon series - Capt. Sara Gideon, "a brilliant linguist" just home from a rough tour in Afghanistan, joins the can-do ranks of Great Britain's anti-terrorism squad, the so-called "Prime Minister's private army". Dillon and his team get on the trail of a terrorist, Ali Selim, who's offering a blessing to anyone who assassinates leaders of the Western world, including the U.S. president, who's soon due to arrive in London. Violence flares as the search extends from London to Pakistan and into the Persian Gulf, where the bad guys kidnap Gideon, heir to a banking fortune, and hold her for ransom.
April 20, 2012
These are the sorts of books that are still brilliant reading while drinking wine on a long flight. Its not high art, has no literary pretentious, but what all of these adventures Sean Dillon and the team give you is fast paced exciting escapism. You simply cant wait to find out what happens next (even tho its nearly always exactly what you expect to happen). Its reading as pure entertainment, and thats no bad thing
February 23, 2012
A book that I never would have picked to read. It was very good, fast reading.
Read
November 26, 2012I read this in 2012
June 1, 2017
This is now is his previous two published novels that i just couldn't be bothered to properly finished. I skipped great chunks of writing to just to find out what happened at the end. It didn't particularly matter that i skipped over paragraphs, and sometimes pages, because nothing very much happened before i started doing that, so there's nothing to suggest that anything happened after.
The story was supposed to involve a terrorist plot to kill the American President. What actually happened was a bomb being detonated in a car park underneath the Houses of Parliament, where the President was visiting with the Prime Minister. It took half the book to get to that. Before that, it was endless amounts of a terrorist associate causing "mischief" by cutting the brakes of Daniel Holley's car (a member of the Prime Minister's Private Army) or setting a couple of thugs on to a new recruit, Sara Gideon. There are contrived scenes to show how apparently dangerous certain members of the team are: this involved one scene where Holley and Gideon beating seven bells out of a couple of drunken men who got a bit heavy-handed in their advances towards Gideon.
At one time, a very long time ago, as a reader i felt i got to know, at least to a certain extent, the characters Higgins was writing. Not any more. In this book, as with most of his output over the last few years, it's like reading a brief biography of someone on Wikipedia and the characters are empty because there's no sense of characterisation. Names and descriptions are just there solely to people the drivel written on the pages.
The writing itself just reads and feels like the motions have been gone through. I've read it so many times before. It's almost impossible to distinguish a Jack Higgins book from any other over the last few years.
I just don't know what's happened to the Jack Higgins of old. Ironically, i'm still persevering with his books. I've started reading his new book, 'The Midnight Bell.' Hope springs eternal ...
The story was supposed to involve a terrorist plot to kill the American President. What actually happened was a bomb being detonated in a car park underneath the Houses of Parliament, where the President was visiting with the Prime Minister. It took half the book to get to that. Before that, it was endless amounts of a terrorist associate causing "mischief" by cutting the brakes of Daniel Holley's car (a member of the Prime Minister's Private Army) or setting a couple of thugs on to a new recruit, Sara Gideon. There are contrived scenes to show how apparently dangerous certain members of the team are: this involved one scene where Holley and Gideon beating seven bells out of a couple of drunken men who got a bit heavy-handed in their advances towards Gideon.
At one time, a very long time ago, as a reader i felt i got to know, at least to a certain extent, the characters Higgins was writing. Not any more. In this book, as with most of his output over the last few years, it's like reading a brief biography of someone on Wikipedia and the characters are empty because there's no sense of characterisation. Names and descriptions are just there solely to people the drivel written on the pages.
The writing itself just reads and feels like the motions have been gone through. I've read it so many times before. It's almost impossible to distinguish a Jack Higgins book from any other over the last few years.
I just don't know what's happened to the Jack Higgins of old. Ironically, i'm still persevering with his books. I've started reading his new book, 'The Midnight Bell.' Hope springs eternal ...
April 10, 2020
Although this story is fast-paced, taking place over just a short period of time, and might make a decent film, it's not one of Higgins' better stories. The language used seems dated, his persistent use of gun types (eg Walter PPK with Carswell silencer) and plane types (eg Gulfstream) grated, especially as the characters themselves are not as fleshed out as they could have been. Other labels are equally annoying - newcomer Sarah Gideon is referred to in several instances as 'Jewish', although this has no bearing on the story and doesn't seem plausible when one of the minor villains, Wali Hussain refers to her as 'a Jewish whore', even though he only knew she was an English member of the team, possibly thinking of her as a' woman', or even a 'redhead'. Labels like this just promote biased reactions. Another pointless label was to refer to Sergent Tony Dolye as 'the black guy'. There is relatively little character-building involved for any of the characters, and other than the basic Anglo-Irish recap for Dillon and Holley, very little background on the others, making the 'Jewish/black' labels uncalled for and demeaning, setting Sara and Tony apart from the others, as if they were different, instead of ordinary English citizens. Higgins should update his vocabulary a bit and enter the 21st century. The plot itself was fairly formulaic and ok as these kinds of story go, but not one I want to read again, I'm afraid.
November 30, 2015
Jack Higgins has written some of the best thrillers out there (Eagle has Landed, Night of the Fox, etc). This newest work is not one of them. In fact it is downright awful. I would have given it one star but I reserve that for books so putrid that I did not finish. I did slog my way through this mating of military/intelligence imbecility with hollywood style action/plot holes. What can I say? To start with there are so many cliches and tropes that it made me almost not finish the book and then it truly would have gotten one star. I'll give you some spoilers since it would be hard to spoil this book. First off is the character of Capt. Sara Gideon- who is this great combat soldier but is also..wait for it...beautiful (of course) and wait for it....filthy rich (of course). Then she has an annoying habit of constantly saying things like "since Im a soldier...blah blah" *sigh* As a military veteran myself with a decade of actual combat experience it is grating to read a book where some character seems like a made for tv stereotype of what someone thinks a real combat veteran is like. A few examples- During a firefight in Afghanistan, in which 3 British Special Forces are wasted..she manages to man a machine gun (the same one two were killed manning) and suffers a grazing wound on her head which she finds "very painful"..ok I can understand that..but then a leg wound to her thigh from an AK-47 (a 7.62 mm round mind you) is just "numb..but will hurt later"..er..um..no...it will be numb for a few seconds but then as soon as the shock wears off...wellllll let's say you are on your ass (if your thigh bone is not already shattered)..but all right...let that one pass...then we get to the the American airline stewardess whose brother is a US Marine in Sangin province in Afghanistan and somehow knows that the British were in Sangin, but seems oblivious as to how dangerous it is. Hmmmm. There are also numerous idiotic scenes and prose such as where Capt Sara goes to a UN party and is nearly sexually assaulted by two random males (errr um yeah happens ALL the time at a high profile UN dinner in the UN headquarters..sure) and she (being a black belt in aikido..of course) and her 55 yr old paramour to be Holley manage to fight them off and disarm one of them who is carrying a .25 caliber Colt (get to know this weapon it appears everywhere in this story a LOT..seems it's the gun of choice..who knew?) and then...wait for it..after disarming them..they are allowed to scurry off with a stern British rejoinder such as "The NYPD would hate to see you with this gun"..um okkkayyyy...sooo uhhh since it is a UN function..aren't they diplomats? Don't they have diplomatic immunity? So uh that means no matter what the NYPD thinks...they have no jurisdiction and will be immediately remanded to their nations mission (Embassy/consulate..what have you)..oh and then there is the scene where Capt Sara the badass but beautiful combat vet recounts fighting in Iraq where she fought the Taliban....ummmm what? I must have missed them in my 6 years in Iraq..as did anyone else who was in Iraq in the real world..maybe she meant Fedayeen or Sadr forces..who knows...anyways she now has a permanent limp thanks to the ak-47 wound...so because she is the only person in England to speak pashtu and farsi she is a ideal choice to join a field operations direct action unit...uh ok...where within 20 mins of meeting the other two operators Mr Dillion and Mr Holley (both recurring characters in many of his books..thats cool..i liked them both..but um this is in like 2012...so they are like 60 some years old..but okaayyyy)..she and Mr Holley are "in love"...*sigh* oh and um wait for this one..she was awarded the British version of the silver star for valor for wasting the 20+ taliban with a machine gun but the award must remain secret according to the Commanding Officer ..which is fine...until as soon as she runs into her rich banker grandpa and the house maid..she and the love of her life Mr Holley blab out about the award and then say "I'm in a top secret intelligence unit..but don't tell anyone"...*sighs deeply* I mean seriously? Seriously Mr Higgins?..then the rest of the farce continues with this 5'6" hot chick with a limp and her two geriatric partners going through all sorts of stupid crap against hordes of enemies because I guess that what the British do...oh and while she has been the target of multiple Al Queda assassination attempts at one point she wakes up in the middle of the night to knocking on her door..admits two men and promptly gets drugged and kidnapped...this is after THREE FREAKING ATTEMPTS on her life already...she is a bright one this Capt Gideon of the British Military Intelligence Corps...but enough about her..I won't even touch her geriatric partners.....the rest of the plot is equally dumb...a cleric calls for the US President to be blown up..naturally Capt Gideon and her AARP card carrying crew use their stupid .25 caliber colts (its like Bond and his walther PPK..) and wreck the plans...oh and before I forget, the characters (meaning Mr. Higgins) LOVE the Browning hi-power...um great gun..except it was fielded in 1937 and while a great weapon...and still kinda around in third world countries and collectors displays...you'd think that by 2012 the Brits would have found something better..oh and the scene where the terrorist (ex-French Foreign Legion type..helping Al-Queda who useshim and ex-IRA types *sigh* I know its a mish-mash of religions) opens his weapons stash and..he has two Lee Enfield rifles *lol* LEE freaking Enfields? Again great weapon...but its 2012....this damn rifle was primarily used in WORLD WAR 2..dear god...no wonder these idiot terrorists lost...anyways..there is so much more...but I'm wasting time...I going to go read a good book...please DO NOT judge Mr. Higgins by this work of crap..his WW2 based stories and the stories of Mr. Dillon set in the 50's and 60's are superb and great reading..but this modern stuff is not his forte..if this is what I am going to have to expect from Mr Higgins I'm going to pass and just read his old books.
December 8, 2016
Good read, good plot, same good characters + one new one and she's great. For something that starts out based on the US president visiting London and a plot to assassinate him, we see surprisingly little of the president or London. Most of it happens elsewhere and to other people. I guess that's the story of our team's success--the Pres. never had to worry. Liked Sara for the new guy. Holley did too.
April 3, 2022
This is the first book I ever read by Jack Higgins, not familiar with these characters who are apparently in many of his books. A little difficult to get into, for the first half, trying to remember who the bad guys are versus who the good guys are! The last half of the book was very suspenseful and action packed. Not really my cup of tea…terrorists, spys, military scenarios…but it kept my interest and I finished it. Learned more than I need to know about weaponry, and covert missions.
June 6, 2022
This book finishes faster than it starts. It’s somewhat typical of the Sean Dillon series. Everything ties up neatly, with the right information coming forward at just the right time. My criticism is that Higgins uses characters named Hakim, Hamza, and Hamid, all in the area of Hazar. These names are so similar I had to go back and confirm for myself who they each were. Imagine solving Wordle with H,A, and M! Anyway, a good read for my week at the beach!
March 1, 2019
This book felt like it was trying too hard to be a romantic book instead of an action one. The characters weren’t that great but weren’t that bad either but I felt no connection with them at all. Although the idea seemed pretty cool, I feel like they could have executed it much better in many ways. The few action scenes it had were fairly good. The whole book just felt too slow to me.
January 2, 2018
It's a good story with a reasonably fast tempo, so it matched with the story itself about secret agent and the war. This is my first time reading Jack Higgins novel and I think I will try to read more. It's good for your relax time!
September 8, 2021
Another in the Sean Dillon series. Some old characters some new. There are some new. Fast paced as usual with the group on the trail of Al-Qaddafi bad guys. I like this type of story, where the bad actors get what they deserve
September 27, 2022
Never thought I’d be giving a Higgins book three stars! I’ve been reading the Dillion series for a lotta years. This one just seemed to lack joie de vivre. Sean had a minor roll. It clipped along almost by rote from one scene to the next.
September 11, 2023
The Devil is Waiting
If a reader hasn’t read books 15-18 of the zillion books they would have no background on several major characters. The book was a good follow up the other books.
If a reader hasn’t read books 15-18 of the zillion books they would have no background on several major characters. The book was a good follow up the other books.
May 17, 2017
not one of his best but love this reader for his audio books
June 6, 2017
Everything just happened. No suspense
January 1, 2018
I guess I expected more. The plot moves along but it seems too formulaic to me. I would need to read more from this author before I write a better review.
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