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Exocet
In the hotly contested Falkland Islands, an underground struggle rages between Argentinean agents seeking to buy black-market Exocet missiles and the British officials who will do anything to stop them. British intelligence dispatches two operatives to prevent the spread of the state-of-the-art weapons, and the odds are stacked against them. Tony Villiers and Gabrielle Legrand must overcome their complicated past and take down the international arms dealer at the center of the conflict before two nations are brought to their knees.
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First published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Jack Higgins
480 books1,278 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 49 reviews
July 31, 2019
My first book by the prolific author Jack Higgins. I enjoyed this military/espionage book set at the time of the Falklands Invasion. Lots of interesting plot twists, all having to do with Argentina's attempts to get more Exocet anti-ship missles from the French via every possible back door channel, along with the Russians trying to facilitate this for their own duplicitous motives, and the Brits trying to prevent it from happening. I enjoyed the characters, the plot and the writing!
December 22, 2012
Rating: 3.2 /10
The Falklands War is an interesting case of war roulette. Britain vs. Argentina. Next up: Australia vs. Guatemala; then: Nigeria vs. Laos. Here, Jack Higgins has written a spy thriller surrounding the Falklands War a year after the war's conclusion. The novel surrounds not the war itself, but the Soviet-Argentine plot to buy black market exocet missiles which could be used to bring down a British aircraft carrier and potentially turn the tide of the war.
In the Foreword of the novel (I believe my edition is a newer release with an updated Foreword), Higgins explains how whilst the war was going on, he was at a cocktail party in Paris where someone in the know (CIA, MI6 or some such) happened to mention to him about this exocet plot and an arms embargo against France to prevent further sales. This later turned out to be true. This is perhaps the least plausible thing in this novel; that a spy – in wartime – would happen to mention to a spy thriller author about a classified plot.
Then again, I can think of one less plausible aspect of this novel. Also in the Foreword, Higgins mentions how this was his most successful novel yet, probably because he for once included a love affair. The love affair most certainly reads like it's his first. Furthermore, it reads like he's an asexual virgin who's never been in love before, and was quite possibly raised by wolves.
There's no real protagonist to the story. It begins with Tony Villiers, a major in the SAS on some absurd mission to intro the character. Then it digresses greatly towards his ex-wife, Gabrielle Legrand. The director of that particular branch of the SAS, Ferguson (for some reason) recruits Gabrielle to spy on an Argentinian despite the fact that she's not on SAS payroll. She's recruited merely to fuck this Argentinian in the hopes that he might blurb something about a Falklands invasion during pillow talk. Gabrielle is supposedly the most beautiful woman ever to have lived, so this should be no problem for her. The Argentinian is an Air Force pilot named Raoul Montero, twice her age and a mercenary for countless conflicts in Africa (because Argentina hasn't been to war in over a generation). The two of them fall head over heals madly in love with each other from first glance (she doesn't make the best spy, methinks) as though neither one has ever been in love before, despite the fact that they have both been previously married. She (a self-described feminist with money whom lives a posh somewhat artsy life in Europe) subsequently struggles between her loyalty to her country and her brother (serving in the Falklands) and the love of her life, an Argentinian mercenary fascist with a ten-year-old daughter (he openly admits he's a bad father) who's twice her age. This is the most preposterous love story I've ever read – and I've read Fifty Shades.
The next major character is one Felix Donner, a Ukrainian Soviet operative undercover as an Australian war hero from Korea who's become a business mogul in London. He's the arms dealer looking to supply the Argentinians with new exocets. I actually liked his character. He had that type of confident swagger needed for a long term deep cover sleeper in high society. He also disavowed his Soviet idealism in favour of of winning for winning's sake (though he was quick to plot a course for Mother Russia as soon as the shit started hitting the fan). The Soviets ultimately take the role as the bad guys in this story. Their goal is to ultimately incriminate the Argentinians in an attack on France for more exocets, embarrassing them on the world stage and causing not only the Galtieri junta to fall, but for it to fall with such ferocity that the people of the Argentine swing the whole other way into a Red Argentina.
Although this is a good angle to the story, and one I wouldn't have considered about the Falklands War prior to this novel, it sets the climate for a serious lapse of judgement concerning the war itself. Gabrielle's and Montero's absurd love remains undying throughout the story and Montero winds up becoming one of the protagonists along the way. He is flying Skyhawk attacks against the British to the very end of the book. In that instance, the tone of the novel is one of “Here's a truly objective, neutral view of the war.” Consider it like this: In 1969, El Salvador and Honduras went to war for a period of 4 days in what is called the Football War or the Soccer War. Tensions were high between the two countries mostly concerning immigration, and soccer overenthusiasm spawned a 100-hour long war which ultimately produced no results. Does anyone care about the outcome of this war? If El Salvador held onto the land it seized would it make much of a difference? Maybe on a localised level, but this is ultimately a war of no ardour. The Falklands War (pardon my defiantly pro-British outlook) is not like that.
The Falklands were discovered most likely by the Portuguese as early as the sixteenth century. It is unlikely the Spanish (Magellan or Estavao Gomes) ever discovered them. The British made landfall in 1592, and again in 1594, naming them Davis' Land and Hawkins' Maidenland, respectively. Next came the Dutch, naming them the Sebald Islands. The British sailed Falkland Sound in 1690. France established the first colony in 1764. In 1765, the British claimed sovereignty over the islands on grounds of discovery. Soon, they established a colony. This created the initial dispute between Spain and Britain. In 1770, the islands were seized by Spain from their colony in Argentina. Britain quickly re-established control. In 1780, the Spanish were at it again. Britain was forced to withdraw, but left a plaque proclaiming sovereignty for Britain. Spain ruled from Buenos Aires until 1811 when the Peninsular War in Spain forced withdrawal. They, too, left a plaque. Argentina declared independence from Spain in 1816, claiming (on the basis of a dubious discovery claim and a plaque whose presence seems to overrule the earlier British plaque) sovereignty of the islands. The British re-establish control over the islands in 1833, where they have ruled continuously until the present day with a brief interruption during the 1982 Argentinian invasion. Democratically, the government of the Falklands has initiated a referendum to determine sovereignty disputes, which they hope will act as a declaration to Buenos Aires of their proud British citizenship, to be voted on in 2013. Argentina has launched a campaign to preemptively undermine this referendum, because they know the forthcoming results as much as I do. I think I can safely write my own outlook on this issue prior to said referendum.
Argentina has no claim. Argentina has probably less of a claim on the Falklands than Denmark has on Canada via the Vikings. The only reason Argentina initiated their 1982 invasion was to unify the country to prevent insurrection. This was the glorious age of South American military dictatorships. Leopold Galtieri loosely held the government with his junta, and to distract the mutinous public, allied them behind them with the one thing they all agreed on. Argentina is also the most infamous example of an ex-Nazi safe haven. It's not leftwing melodrama to use the word 'fascist' to describe much of South America during the Cold War, and (bringing it back to the novel), Higgins goes to that word more than once himself.
My long and rambling point is that the Falklands, for as much of a comical war as it was, was not a soccer riot turned war that yielded no results. The Falklands was a dispute between Britain, who'd fairly and democratically governed the islands of an almost exclusive British demography for a century and a half and the first landfall claim (and the plaque), vs. a quasi-fascist military junta trying to distract a rightly disgruntled public by launching an illegal invasion of a peaceable territory.
In the novel, this is not presented as such. The Argentinians are not depicted in any way as the bad guys. For God's sake, Galtieri gets a viewpoint chapter in here, and not a negative turn of phrase is used against him. Meanwhile, the British (at least through Ferguson) are presented as conniving, ruthless, deceitful jackasses who are justified through the notion of “mite makes right”. Collectively, more than 900 people were killed in the fight for these islands and that blood lies entirely on Argentine hands. I apologise for the longwinded history lesson, but fuck, has there ever been a better example of one country in the wrong and one in the right? Do I need to mention Hitler and Poland?
I could ramble on about the coldness of omniscient third person narration, the poor anticlimactic in medias res structure or the pacing, but I've rambled enough. The one bit of praise I'll give this novel is that I was never bored with it, not once (although the denouement went on too long). If you're looking for a British vs. Soviet game of spies surrounding real events, it's not bad.
The Falklands War is an interesting case of war roulette. Britain vs. Argentina. Next up: Australia vs. Guatemala; then: Nigeria vs. Laos. Here, Jack Higgins has written a spy thriller surrounding the Falklands War a year after the war's conclusion. The novel surrounds not the war itself, but the Soviet-Argentine plot to buy black market exocet missiles which could be used to bring down a British aircraft carrier and potentially turn the tide of the war.
In the Foreword of the novel (I believe my edition is a newer release with an updated Foreword), Higgins explains how whilst the war was going on, he was at a cocktail party in Paris where someone in the know (CIA, MI6 or some such) happened to mention to him about this exocet plot and an arms embargo against France to prevent further sales. This later turned out to be true. This is perhaps the least plausible thing in this novel; that a spy – in wartime – would happen to mention to a spy thriller author about a classified plot.
Then again, I can think of one less plausible aspect of this novel. Also in the Foreword, Higgins mentions how this was his most successful novel yet, probably because he for once included a love affair. The love affair most certainly reads like it's his first. Furthermore, it reads like he's an asexual virgin who's never been in love before, and was quite possibly raised by wolves.
There's no real protagonist to the story. It begins with Tony Villiers, a major in the SAS on some absurd mission to intro the character. Then it digresses greatly towards his ex-wife, Gabrielle Legrand. The director of that particular branch of the SAS, Ferguson (for some reason) recruits Gabrielle to spy on an Argentinian despite the fact that she's not on SAS payroll. She's recruited merely to fuck this Argentinian in the hopes that he might blurb something about a Falklands invasion during pillow talk. Gabrielle is supposedly the most beautiful woman ever to have lived, so this should be no problem for her. The Argentinian is an Air Force pilot named Raoul Montero, twice her age and a mercenary for countless conflicts in Africa (because Argentina hasn't been to war in over a generation). The two of them fall head over heals madly in love with each other from first glance (she doesn't make the best spy, methinks) as though neither one has ever been in love before, despite the fact that they have both been previously married. She (a self-described feminist with money whom lives a posh somewhat artsy life in Europe) subsequently struggles between her loyalty to her country and her brother (serving in the Falklands) and the love of her life, an Argentinian mercenary fascist with a ten-year-old daughter (he openly admits he's a bad father) who's twice her age. This is the most preposterous love story I've ever read – and I've read Fifty Shades.
The next major character is one Felix Donner, a Ukrainian Soviet operative undercover as an Australian war hero from Korea who's become a business mogul in London. He's the arms dealer looking to supply the Argentinians with new exocets. I actually liked his character. He had that type of confident swagger needed for a long term deep cover sleeper in high society. He also disavowed his Soviet idealism in favour of of winning for winning's sake (though he was quick to plot a course for Mother Russia as soon as the shit started hitting the fan). The Soviets ultimately take the role as the bad guys in this story. Their goal is to ultimately incriminate the Argentinians in an attack on France for more exocets, embarrassing them on the world stage and causing not only the Galtieri junta to fall, but for it to fall with such ferocity that the people of the Argentine swing the whole other way into a Red Argentina.
Although this is a good angle to the story, and one I wouldn't have considered about the Falklands War prior to this novel, it sets the climate for a serious lapse of judgement concerning the war itself. Gabrielle's and Montero's absurd love remains undying throughout the story and Montero winds up becoming one of the protagonists along the way. He is flying Skyhawk attacks against the British to the very end of the book. In that instance, the tone of the novel is one of “Here's a truly objective, neutral view of the war.” Consider it like this: In 1969, El Salvador and Honduras went to war for a period of 4 days in what is called the Football War or the Soccer War. Tensions were high between the two countries mostly concerning immigration, and soccer overenthusiasm spawned a 100-hour long war which ultimately produced no results. Does anyone care about the outcome of this war? If El Salvador held onto the land it seized would it make much of a difference? Maybe on a localised level, but this is ultimately a war of no ardour. The Falklands War (pardon my defiantly pro-British outlook) is not like that.
The Falklands were discovered most likely by the Portuguese as early as the sixteenth century. It is unlikely the Spanish (Magellan or Estavao Gomes) ever discovered them. The British made landfall in 1592, and again in 1594, naming them Davis' Land and Hawkins' Maidenland, respectively. Next came the Dutch, naming them the Sebald Islands. The British sailed Falkland Sound in 1690. France established the first colony in 1764. In 1765, the British claimed sovereignty over the islands on grounds of discovery. Soon, they established a colony. This created the initial dispute between Spain and Britain. In 1770, the islands were seized by Spain from their colony in Argentina. Britain quickly re-established control. In 1780, the Spanish were at it again. Britain was forced to withdraw, but left a plaque proclaiming sovereignty for Britain. Spain ruled from Buenos Aires until 1811 when the Peninsular War in Spain forced withdrawal. They, too, left a plaque. Argentina declared independence from Spain in 1816, claiming (on the basis of a dubious discovery claim and a plaque whose presence seems to overrule the earlier British plaque) sovereignty of the islands. The British re-establish control over the islands in 1833, where they have ruled continuously until the present day with a brief interruption during the 1982 Argentinian invasion. Democratically, the government of the Falklands has initiated a referendum to determine sovereignty disputes, which they hope will act as a declaration to Buenos Aires of their proud British citizenship, to be voted on in 2013. Argentina has launched a campaign to preemptively undermine this referendum, because they know the forthcoming results as much as I do. I think I can safely write my own outlook on this issue prior to said referendum.
Argentina has no claim. Argentina has probably less of a claim on the Falklands than Denmark has on Canada via the Vikings. The only reason Argentina initiated their 1982 invasion was to unify the country to prevent insurrection. This was the glorious age of South American military dictatorships. Leopold Galtieri loosely held the government with his junta, and to distract the mutinous public, allied them behind them with the one thing they all agreed on. Argentina is also the most infamous example of an ex-Nazi safe haven. It's not leftwing melodrama to use the word 'fascist' to describe much of South America during the Cold War, and (bringing it back to the novel), Higgins goes to that word more than once himself.
My long and rambling point is that the Falklands, for as much of a comical war as it was, was not a soccer riot turned war that yielded no results. The Falklands was a dispute between Britain, who'd fairly and democratically governed the islands of an almost exclusive British demography for a century and a half and the first landfall claim (and the plaque), vs. a quasi-fascist military junta trying to distract a rightly disgruntled public by launching an illegal invasion of a peaceable territory.
In the novel, this is not presented as such. The Argentinians are not depicted in any way as the bad guys. For God's sake, Galtieri gets a viewpoint chapter in here, and not a negative turn of phrase is used against him. Meanwhile, the British (at least through Ferguson) are presented as conniving, ruthless, deceitful jackasses who are justified through the notion of “mite makes right”. Collectively, more than 900 people were killed in the fight for these islands and that blood lies entirely on Argentine hands. I apologise for the longwinded history lesson, but fuck, has there ever been a better example of one country in the wrong and one in the right? Do I need to mention Hitler and Poland?
I could ramble on about the coldness of omniscient third person narration, the poor anticlimactic in medias res structure or the pacing, but I've rambled enough. The one bit of praise I'll give this novel is that I was never bored with it, not once (although the denouement went on too long). If you're looking for a British vs. Soviet game of spies surrounding real events, it's not bad.
June 9, 2013
Ingredients: The Task Force, British Intelligence, the Argentinian fighters, the KGB and the man who could get the Exocet. Result: An explosive, brilliant thriller, I thoroughly enjoyed some years ago.
June 15, 2017
Jack Higgins does it again in this modern thriller set during the Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina.
British military learns Argentina plans on purchasing the highly effective French-made 'Exocet' missiles capable of taking out an entire warship with a single hit. Tony Villiers is a top MI6 agent selected personally by the British top military brass to prevent this exchange from happening. They team him with Gabrielle Legrand, a beautiful woman once romantically connected with Villiers, and later with a handsome Argentinian military officer who happens to be part of the plan to obtain the Exocet missiles. The British Navy cannot allow the weapons to fall in the hands of the Argentinian military, for if they obtain the weapons the war in the Falklands would be greatly tipped in Argentinia's favor. Set in the beautiful Falkland Islands with the war in the background, Villiers and Gabrielle must come to terms with their relationship or risk failure, which is not an option.
I've kept this book in my personal collection for many years and plan on reading again. It's suspenseful and the characters are original. It's the sort of book Jack Higgins fans will love, and I particularly enjoy the fact that the characters are not recurring ones the author uses in many of his other books. I mention this because to many authors writing a series of books with familiar characters appear to be redundant, and even boring. This book is anything but boring. It's a short book (less than 300 pages), and a fast read. Highly recommended!
British military learns Argentina plans on purchasing the highly effective French-made 'Exocet' missiles capable of taking out an entire warship with a single hit. Tony Villiers is a top MI6 agent selected personally by the British top military brass to prevent this exchange from happening. They team him with Gabrielle Legrand, a beautiful woman once romantically connected with Villiers, and later with a handsome Argentinian military officer who happens to be part of the plan to obtain the Exocet missiles. The British Navy cannot allow the weapons to fall in the hands of the Argentinian military, for if they obtain the weapons the war in the Falklands would be greatly tipped in Argentinia's favor. Set in the beautiful Falkland Islands with the war in the background, Villiers and Gabrielle must come to terms with their relationship or risk failure, which is not an option.
I've kept this book in my personal collection for many years and plan on reading again. It's suspenseful and the characters are original. It's the sort of book Jack Higgins fans will love, and I particularly enjoy the fact that the characters are not recurring ones the author uses in many of his other books. I mention this because to many authors writing a series of books with familiar characters appear to be redundant, and even boring. This book is anything but boring. It's a short book (less than 300 pages), and a fast read. Highly recommended!
March 24, 2009
Wow, this was pretty bad, even by genre standards. I was curious about it because it came out less than a year after the Falklands War - looks like it was typed up for a quick buck and even at 260 pages it feels heavily padded. My favorite passage: an Egyptian-piloted Nigerian MiG pursuing a C-47 Dakota at night...in a thunderstorm! I read this so you don't have to.
August 15, 2019
Another vintage, top-notch thriller from Jack Higgins, set in the historical backdrop of the Falkland Islands War (or La Guerra de las Islas Malvinas, if you're Argentinian) and involving a fictitious KGB plot to meddle in the affair, and recurring Higgins hero Major Tony Villiers of the SAS attempt to foil that plot. Full of action, intrigue, and a compelling love story (both Mademoiselle Gabrielle LeGrand, Tony's ex-wife, and Argentine Air Force Colonel Raul Montera are particularly interesting characters). Besides Tony Villiers, other returning characters who will be familiar to longtime readrs of Higgins include Brigadier Charles Ferguson (with his ever-present Guards necktie) and Captain Harry Fox.
RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS:
—p. 8 (Foreword) But didn’t the Argentine Air Force indeed successfully wield Exocet missiles against the Royal Navy during the Falklands War?
—p. 10: It is damn near impossible to effectively silence a revolver, especially in a Magnum calibre.
Aw shucks, an Alsatian (AKA German Shepherd)! Aw shucks (again), his name is Rex too!
—p. 13: “D15” for British SIS, not MI6?
Aahh yes, good ol’ Brigadier Charles Ferguson with the Guards tie....
—p. 14: Aahh yes, good ol’ Brigadier Charles Ferguson with the Guards tie....
—p. 15: Ah yes, modified grooming standards for field work, just like our own SpecOps types (especially SEAL Team 6 back in the day).
—p. 29: *Which* Hilton Hotel? The Greater London Metropolitan area has so many of them nowadays.
—p. 55: Wouldn’t the Argentines be using kilometres instead of “miles?”
—p. 83: Dang, SAS weapons not allowed slings?!?! This is the first I’ve ever heard of this!
—p. 87: Um, SAS troopers carried Browning Hi-Power 9mm autopistols back then, not Smith & Wesson Magnum revolvers.
—p. 96: ““(T)he French connection?” A deliberate allusion on the author’s part, or mere coincidence?
—p. 98: ““‘A very civilized habit, tea drinking. We Russians have existed on the stuff for years.’” Ochin kulturny, da?
—p. 112: “Put your glad rags on,” an intentional reference to Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock?”
—p. 148: Um, shouldn’t a captain be saluting a major and addressing him as “sir?”
General observation: the characters in this novel smoke so many cigarettes everywhere, this book having been written in the pre-PC, pre-tobacco Nazi days.
CENTRAL CASTING: The actor who played Mr. Braithwaite in “Enter the Dragon” as Superintendent Carver? Antonio Banderas or Armand Assante as Colonel Raul Montera? Jack Watson as Sergeant Major Harvey Jackson? Pierce Brosnan as Major Tony Villiers?
RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS:
—p. 8 (Foreword) But didn’t the Argentine Air Force indeed successfully wield Exocet missiles against the Royal Navy during the Falklands War?
—p. 10: It is damn near impossible to effectively silence a revolver, especially in a Magnum calibre.
Aw shucks, an Alsatian (AKA German Shepherd)! Aw shucks (again), his name is Rex too!
—p. 13: “D15” for British SIS, not MI6?
Aahh yes, good ol’ Brigadier Charles Ferguson with the Guards tie....
—p. 14: Aahh yes, good ol’ Brigadier Charles Ferguson with the Guards tie....
—p. 15: Ah yes, modified grooming standards for field work, just like our own SpecOps types (especially SEAL Team 6 back in the day).
—p. 29: *Which* Hilton Hotel? The Greater London Metropolitan area has so many of them nowadays.
—p. 55: Wouldn’t the Argentines be using kilometres instead of “miles?”
—p. 83: Dang, SAS weapons not allowed slings?!?! This is the first I’ve ever heard of this!
—p. 87: Um, SAS troopers carried Browning Hi-Power 9mm autopistols back then, not Smith & Wesson Magnum revolvers.
—p. 96: ““(T)he French connection?” A deliberate allusion on the author’s part, or mere coincidence?
—p. 98: ““‘A very civilized habit, tea drinking. We Russians have existed on the stuff for years.’” Ochin kulturny, da?
—p. 112: “Put your glad rags on,” an intentional reference to Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock?”
—p. 148: Um, shouldn’t a captain be saluting a major and addressing him as “sir?”
General observation: the characters in this novel smoke so many cigarettes everywhere, this book having been written in the pre-PC, pre-tobacco Nazi days.
CENTRAL CASTING: The actor who played Mr. Braithwaite in “Enter the Dragon” as Superintendent Carver? Antonio Banderas or Armand Assante as Colonel Raul Montera? Jack Watson as Sergeant Major Harvey Jackson? Pierce Brosnan as Major Tony Villiers?
October 2, 2024
Definitely the fast food of novels. Luckily I used to have takeaways every Friday night.
It is interesting to see elements repeating themselves after reading only two Higgins books. There are set-up assaults against women where the flunkies go too far, thus justifying their punishment by our antiheroes. A major female character that reinforces all necessary stereotypes (funnily enough the secondary female character is much stronger and more interesting). Our antagonists imprison rather than the protagonists, twirl their moustaches, and mutter “How ever will you get out this one and foil my plan that I have just explained to you in detail”... ...and so on, as to overbearing henchmen, Channel islands, and desperate dashes.
Higgins’s control of the plot means it all remains fun and one excellent element of Exocet is the ticking clock from running the story parallel to the progress of the Falklands War. The first advantage is that it creates tension. The second advantage is that it allows us to forgive the lack of scepticism and preparation of the main characters while they try to complete their goals as urgently as possible.
It's not a memorable story, despite Higgins trying to claim credit for imagining barely connected real efforts by the UK to clamp down on the export of Exocets to Argentina. However, it is not a burdensome one either.
It is interesting to see elements repeating themselves after reading only two Higgins books. There are set-up assaults against women where the flunkies go too far, thus justifying their punishment by our antiheroes. A major female character that reinforces all necessary stereotypes (funnily enough the secondary female character is much stronger and more interesting). Our antagonists imprison rather than the protagonists, twirl their moustaches, and mutter “How ever will you get out this one and foil my plan that I have just explained to you in detail”... ...and so on, as to overbearing henchmen, Channel islands, and desperate dashes.
Higgins’s control of the plot means it all remains fun and one excellent element of Exocet is the ticking clock from running the story parallel to the progress of the Falklands War. The first advantage is that it creates tension. The second advantage is that it allows us to forgive the lack of scepticism and preparation of the main characters while they try to complete their goals as urgently as possible.
It's not a memorable story, despite Higgins trying to claim credit for imagining barely connected real efforts by the UK to clamp down on the export of Exocets to Argentina. However, it is not a burdensome one either.
January 20, 2020
An easy train read to London and back - it’s entertaining and could be considered a page turner but it does lack dept. If Clancy has written this there would have been a film about it! Not to take anything from Higgins as this is exciting and has a great plot, it a just missing something that probably couldn’t have been included into a shortish book such as this. Add 150 pages and this would have been cracking!
September 29, 2018
Sept 2018. Another early "stand alone" Higgins. Once again, I like his protagonists and his "bad guys".
January 26, 2012
It has some interesting aspects about the British vs. Argentina over the Falkland islands. In the story the French were going to supply some exocet rockets to Argentina. As the British foil this up there is an interesting love affair in the story.
February 10, 2013
Loved it though in prefer the Sean Dillon books.
May 8, 2015
Really enjoyed a story that centred around the short war that happened in recent history and which the world watched on televison.
Read
December 28, 2015I enjoyed it. I liked the ending. Higgins has a way of making me like the anti-hero.
January 14, 2019
I didn't follow this story well as to who was on which side of the war.
Parts of the book were okay but all in all, I didn't care for it much.
Parts of the book were okay but all in all, I didn't care for it much.
February 15, 2024
Jack Higgins’s 1983 thriller Exocet was fresh off the press roughly a year after the Falklands War and presciently deals with Argentina’s search for additional Exocet missiles, as at the outset of hostilities Argentina only possessed five.
Brigadier Charles Ferguson is head of an adjunct to the British Secret Intelligence Service, Group Four, directly responsible to the PM. Ferguson’s top man is Major Tony Villiers in the Grenadier Guards, attached to the SAS.
Villiers is divorced; his wife was Gabrielle Legrand. They used to work together undercover. She is tasked by Ferguson with getting to know Colonel Raul Carlos Montera, Special Air Attaché at the Argentinian Embassy in London. She must find out what the Argentine intentions were regarding the Falkland Islands.
Galtieri and Dozo figure in the story, as you’d expect.
Businessman Felix Donner is successful – and an illegal arms dealer. He has links with Russia. And he is hired by the Argentinians to obtain a ship-load of Exocets, weapons that could win the war. As the weapons are manufactured in France, that seems a likely place to make a deal...
Villiers is pulled out of the Falklands – he’s part of a four-man reconnaissance team and sent to France to thwart Donner.
The story is non-stop, switching scenes and countries at a fair lick, and never lets up, in the usual Higgins manner. The relationship between the pilot Raul and Gabrielle is handled well and creates tension. Of course history tells us that the additional Exocets were never obtained.
The manipulative General Ferguson appears in other books by Higgins. Interestingly, in Port Stanley, FI, there’s a Villiers Street. Having recently read The Falklands War by the Sunday Times Insight Team (1982), it is quite evident that Higgins read this account for background verisimilitude, and uses the facts convincingly.
Brigadier Charles Ferguson is head of an adjunct to the British Secret Intelligence Service, Group Four, directly responsible to the PM. Ferguson’s top man is Major Tony Villiers in the Grenadier Guards, attached to the SAS.
Villiers is divorced; his wife was Gabrielle Legrand. They used to work together undercover. She is tasked by Ferguson with getting to know Colonel Raul Carlos Montera, Special Air Attaché at the Argentinian Embassy in London. She must find out what the Argentine intentions were regarding the Falkland Islands.
Galtieri and Dozo figure in the story, as you’d expect.
Businessman Felix Donner is successful – and an illegal arms dealer. He has links with Russia. And he is hired by the Argentinians to obtain a ship-load of Exocets, weapons that could win the war. As the weapons are manufactured in France, that seems a likely place to make a deal...
Villiers is pulled out of the Falklands – he’s part of a four-man reconnaissance team and sent to France to thwart Donner.
The story is non-stop, switching scenes and countries at a fair lick, and never lets up, in the usual Higgins manner. The relationship between the pilot Raul and Gabrielle is handled well and creates tension. Of course history tells us that the additional Exocets were never obtained.
The manipulative General Ferguson appears in other books by Higgins. Interestingly, in Port Stanley, FI, there’s a Villiers Street. Having recently read The Falklands War by the Sunday Times Insight Team (1982), it is quite evident that Higgins read this account for background verisimilitude, and uses the facts convincingly.
March 31, 2025
Tony Villiers yardımcısı Harvey Jackson ile beraber Kraliçe Elizabeth'in odasına kadar girerler güvenlik zaafiyeti olduğunu göstermek için. Ama sonrasında onları bir görev bekler. Arjantin, Falkland adalarına saldıracaktır ve onlara orada ihtiyaç vardır. Tony eşi Gabrielle'den ayrılmıştır. Arjantin'in kahramanlarından Raul Montana da Londra'dadır. General Ferguson'un isteği ile Raul'e yanaşıp ondan bilgi almaya çalışan Gabrielle ona aşık olur. Ama savaş başlamadan önce çağrılır ve onu yitirir. Savaş hızlı devam eder ama Arjantin'in Exocet füzelerine ihtiyacı vardır. Paris'teki KGB ajanı Belov, bir diğer gizli ajan Felix Donner ile beraber bir plan kurar. Donner Exocet füzesi sağlayacaktır ama meşhur bir pilotun Paris'e gelmesini ister. Arjantin gizli yazışmaları bir kadın sayesinde Ferguson'un eline geçer ve hala uçak uçuran Raul'un bu işe atandığını öğrenir. Gabrielle'i kardeşi de Falkland adalarında savaştığı için ikna edip Paris'e gönderir. Donner, yardımcısı Stavrou ve sevgilisi Wanda ile gelir. Gabrielle'den çok etkilenir. Tony de Paris'e gelip olayları takip etmeye başlamıştır. Bir gizli yerde buluşurlar Donner ve diğerleri. Gabrielle ve Raul de beraberdir. İşi bırakmak ister ama Ferguson ona kardeşinin öldüğünü söyler. Ona saldıran bir çocuğu Tony tesadüf eseri engeller ama Donner şüphelenmiştir. Stavrou Harvey'i öldürür. Hepsi esir düşer. Donner'In planı Fransız askeri üssünden Exocet çalmaya çalışırken Raul'un ölü bulunması ve büyük bir kargaşa çıkmasıdır. Ama Wanda, Villiers ve diğerlerini serbest bırakır. Tony, öcünü alarak Stavrou'yu öldürür. Donner da aynı sonu tadar. Raul ülkesine savaşmaya geri döner. Ama Gabrielle kardeşinin ölmediğini öğrenince onun peşinden gider. Tony ne yapacaktır? Gabrielle Raul ile evlenecek midir? Savaş nasıl devam edecektir? Soluksuz okunan bir roman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 28, 2023The forty-third #jackhiggins #martinfallon #hughmarlowe #harrypatterson #henrypatterson #jamesgraham novel #exocet published in 1983. Featuring #tonyvilliers as well as brigadier Ferguson again. The Higgins shared universe continues to expand.
The opening chapter involves a fun little subversion. The novel is set during the falklands war, it’s a little bit like a Tom Clancy novel, international, geo-political, plenty of characters with different motivations, spies, military. The love at first meeting based entirely on looks is an old trope Higgins hasn’t used in a while but he puts a little twist on it this time, the intentionally placed honeytrap operative falls equally in love with her subject. Will she be honest? Will she betray her lover or her country? Fast paced. Not bogged down in lots of detail or description. Very economical but still effective. the nuance is there but it is brief and easily missed. The third act action set piece is slightly larger in scale than Higgins has used in a while.
The opening chapter involves a fun little subversion. The novel is set during the falklands war, it’s a little bit like a Tom Clancy novel, international, geo-political, plenty of characters with different motivations, spies, military. The love at first meeting based entirely on looks is an old trope Higgins hasn’t used in a while but he puts a little twist on it this time, the intentionally placed honeytrap operative falls equally in love with her subject. Will she be honest? Will she betray her lover or her country? Fast paced. Not bogged down in lots of detail or description. Very economical but still effective. the nuance is there but it is brief and easily missed. The third act action set piece is slightly larger in scale than Higgins has used in a while.
July 8, 2020
Argentina has set in motion an invasion of the Falkland Islands, and the British fleet is poised to meet and repulse the attack. The wild card is the Exocet -- Argentina (with the help of the Soviets), close to acquiring the deadly French missile, will soon be capable of smashing British defenses -- and throwing the global balance of power into chaos.
I have mainly read all the books by this author with Liam Devlin and Dougal Munro and and am working through Sean Dillion series. I have read serveral stand alone novels but never this one that has been on my shelf for a long time. It was interesting to see characters repeated in the other novels. I thought this had a good story line and enjoyed it.
I have mainly read all the books by this author with Liam Devlin and Dougal Munro and and am working through Sean Dillion series. I have read serveral stand alone novels but never this one that has been on my shelf for a long time. It was interesting to see characters repeated in the other novels. I thought this had a good story line and enjoyed it.
June 6, 2022
You can’t fault Higgins’s topicality: ‘Exocet’ was written and published within a year of the Falklands conflict. Nor can you fault his contrariness: an Argentinian fighter pilot emerges as the closest the novel has to a romantic hero. For all that, though, it’s a big old mess, obviously written at speed and without much thought given to character development or plausibility. Interestingly, Higgins would repurpose* the entire plot about a decade later for the first Sean Dillon novel, ‘Eye of the Storm’, and make a better fist of it that time around. Still, it’s a fast, easy read and the sustained action scene which brings things to a denouement is decently handled.
March 10, 2025
The story of Tony Villiers, a British Special Forces officer and sometimes spy and Raul Montera, an older Argentine fighter pilot. They love the same woman and are on opposite sides of the Falkland Island war; you’d expect significant fireworks and the usual protagonist and antagonist conflict to drive the book as they work their intrigue and spycraft to move—or prevent the movement—of additional Exocet missiles to the Argentine Air Force.
But, it’s a Jack Higgins story, so both men are steeped in the cynicism of old warriors. How do they (slight spoiler to follow) end up cooperating? Well, you’ll just have to read the book. It’s worth it.
But, it’s a Jack Higgins story, so both men are steeped in the cynicism of old warriors. How do they (slight spoiler to follow) end up cooperating? Well, you’ll just have to read the book. It’s worth it.
April 15, 2021
Formulaic. Throwback stark cookie cutter characters from 1960s. Yes the book was published in 1983. But we know who the good guys are, we know who the bad guys are from the get-go. And the women, even the supposedly espionage experienced one, are mostly weak sobbing emotional wrecks. And of course they are all exceptionally beautiful people. The Argentine pilot comes across as perhaps the best/strongest character. The backdrop the the Falklands war is a bit different but does little to lift the whole out of blandness. Still a quick easy linear read.
September 3, 2020
Purchase Exocet here for just $3!
Another great work of fiction by Jack Higgins. Great characters, plenty of action and a love story to boot. Very enjoyable.
Alicia - The Book Grocer
Another great work of fiction by Jack Higgins. Great characters, plenty of action and a love story to boot. Very enjoyable.
Alicia - The Book Grocer
January 12, 2021
Set during the Falkland Islands War, the book was written shortly afterwards. A bit slow at the start while establishing characters and motives, it picks up pace quickly and is over before you know it.
Interestingly, this edition has some personal pictures of the author as a youth and with his family towards the end of the book.
Interestingly, this edition has some personal pictures of the author as a youth and with his family towards the end of the book.
April 5, 2025
Pretty much a paint-by-the-numbers thriller. Has a nice early 1980's feel to it but the plot is actually rather limited when you get down to it. I guess the book passes the time nicely during a flight, so maybe 2 stars is too miserly. But the scoring system is one dimensional, so don't feel like I can so to 3 stars for something that largely forgettable.
April 6, 2024
very good book
Jack Higgins is very good at creating a story, then luring us in and setting the hook. Hard to put this one down. Great story with action, intrigue, romance and a satisfying ending. Don’t miss this one!
Jack Higgins is very good at creating a story, then luring us in and setting the hook. Hard to put this one down. Great story with action, intrigue, romance and a satisfying ending. Don’t miss this one!
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April 11, 2024This was a fun, historical, fiction story that I really enjoyed. Spies, intrigue, romance, a love triangle and battles are all included in this tale about the Falkland Islands War. Jack Higgins at his best.
March 15, 2018
Different to the Sean Dillon series, but features the enimitable Charles Ferguson (brigadier) anyway.
September 18, 2020
Read in 1985. Adventure and action in the Falkland Islands.
November 1, 2020
Resulta de rápida lectura y muy entretenido pero te olvidas fácilmente de él. Me gusto leerlo
December 9, 2021
Wry fast easy to read. It’s about love,war, heroes and villains. Very interesting and enjoyed the personalities. Easy to visualize. Well written
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