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A Prayer for the Dying
No one becomes a contract killer and expects to collect their pension. Sooner or later, even the best make mistakes. Even Martin Fallon, the most ruthless of them all, when he crosses powerful crime boss Jack Meehan.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
244 people are currently reading
602 people want to read
About the author
Jack Higgins
480 books1,279 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 75 reviews
January 26, 2024
RATING: 3.5 stars
The last book in the Martin Fallon series, A PRAYER FOR THE DYING is a very dark read. This book was published in 1973 - 13 years after the book introducing Fallon.
The last book in the Martin Fallon series, A PRAYER FOR THE DYING is a very dark read. This book was published in 1973 - 13 years after the book introducing Fallon.
May 2, 2024
The prayer for the dying, in Catholic ritual, is associated with the Sacrament of the Sick (Extreme Unction), and it goes back to Chapter 5 of the Epistle of Saint James – “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:14-15). Accordingly, A Prayer for the Dying is suitable as a title for a suspense novel that is deeply infused with Catholic sensibilities regarding themes of guilt and redemption.
The novel’s English-born author, Jack Higgins (not his real name), was raised by his Irish mother in Belfast – and therefore it makes sense that the Northern Ireland conflict, a central aspect of this novel, would come to be of interest for him. A prolific author of thrillers that bring together politics and espionage, Higgins is probably best known for The Eagle Has Landed (1975), a brisk, best-selling page-turner about a Nazi commando plot to try to change the course of the Second World War by kidnapping British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In a telling indicator of how strongly Higgins’s Northern Ireland upbringing influenced him, The Eagle Has Landed includes as a focal character an Irish Republican Army agent working with the Nazi commandos.
A Prayer for the Dying was published years before The Eagle Has Landed, in 1972, a particularly difficult period of the Northern Ireland conflict that is usually referred to as “the Troubles.” It was the year of “Bloody Sunday,” the incident in which British Army paratroopers fatally shot thirteen unarmed demonstrators in Derry/Londonderry, and therefore it was a time in which Northern Ireland was very much on the minds of people around the world.
The protagonist of A Prayer for the Dying is one Martin Fallon, an IRA hitman who was the lead character of a previous Higgins novel, Cry of the Hunter (1960). As the novel begins, Fallon has left his Irish homeland and taken refuge in England, conscience-stricken as the result of civilian casualties that resulted from a bungled IRA attack on a British Army convoy. On the run from British military and intelligence operatives, ordinary police officers, and his former IRA comrades, Fallon is sought out by a British gangster, Jack Meehan, who hides his criminal enterprises behind his “legitimate” business as a mortician – a business that, with a crematorium on premises, makes the disposal of bodies an easy thing.
Meehan’s offer to Fallon is a simple one – money, a passport, and a boat passage to America, in return for Fallon carrying out one last hit on a mob rival of Meehan’s. Fallon, after some arm-twisting, agrees; but when he commits the murder in a church cemetery, he is seen by the parish priest, Father Michael da Costa. A compassionate priest who serves as a kind guardian for his blind niece Anna, Father da Costa has some pretty tough history of his own, as a former partisan in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during the Second World War and a survivor of North Korean torture during the Korean War.
Anyone who has seen the Alfred Hitchcock film I Confess (1953) can anticipate Fallon’s next move: he goes to Father Da Costa and confesses his crime, placing his act of murder under the seal of the confessional. Father Da Costa’s anger at this stratagem by the ex-IRA man is understandable, but he is a true priest, an educator in the sinful ways of the fallen human soul. And he rocks Fallon’s stated confidence in being able to walk away from this murder, board his boat, and start over in America:
[Fallon said,] “Don’t worry, I’ll put something in the poor box on the way out. I can afford it.” He flicked his cigarette out into space. “I’ll be going now.”
He turned, and Father da Costa grabbed him by the sleeve, pulling him round. “You’re making a mistake, Fallon. I think you’ll find that God won’t let you have it your way.”
Fallon said coldly, “Don’t be stupid, Father.”
“In fact, He’s already taken a hand,” Father da Costa continued. “Do you think I was there in that cemetery at that particular moment by accident?” He shook his head. “Oh, no, Fallon. You took one life, but God made you responsible for another – mine.”
Fallon’s face was very pale now.
And as Father da Costa’s niece Anna was listening to this conversation from a nearby place of shelter, it turns out that Fallon is now responsible for two lives. The gangster Meehan, a man capable of any form or degree of cruelty, knows that Father da Costa and Anna know something, and he is not the kind who likes to leave potential witnesses. And Meehan’s younger brother Billy is a sexual sadist casting his malignant gaze towards Anna.
It sounds melodramatic, and it is – but there are elements of A Prayer for the Dying that give it a certain dignity nonetheless. And most of all, Fallon’s growing remorse for the life he has lived holds the book together. Over the course of the novel, one learns more about the botched IRA operation that made him leave the organization. And under Father da Costa’s prompting, Fallon can’t help recognizing that he carried out his last his killing strictly for money and an escape from the law; he can’t claim that it was all in the line of duty, for old Éire and the glorious cause of a united Ireland. The depth of his sorrow shows through when a young sex worker named Jenny Fox tries to seduce Fallon, on Billy Meehan’s orders.
He frowned slightly, and then a brief, sad smile touched his mouth. He kissed her gently on the lips and shook his head. “Not me, girl dear, not me in the whole wide world. You need a man…I’m just a corpse walking.”
Fallon ends up protecting both Jenny Fox and Anna da Costa from Billy Meehan’s sadism, causing Father da Costa to remark, “You see, my friend, good deeds in spite of yourself. You are a lost man,” and reminding Fallon that the chain of events that he set in motion through the shooting of the gangster is still in motion:
“I’m leaving on Sunday night,” Fallon told him. “They’ve arranged passage for me on a ship out of Hull.”
“And you think that will finish it?” Father da Costa shook his head. “You’re a fool, Fallon. Jack Meehan will never feel safe while I am still in the land of the living. Trust, honour, truth, the sanctity of the given word. None of these exist for him personally, so why should he believe that they have a meaning for someone else?”
And with that, even as Jack Meehan moves forward with his plans to get Father da Costa and his niece Anna permanently out of the way, Martin Fallon assigns himself one more mission – one that he fully intends to be his last, and one that involves no escape via the harbour of Hull.
Thriller authors sometimes have an unfortunate habit of throwing in so many can-you-top-this flourishes that the reader finally says, “Oh, come on!” I must say that A Prayer for the Dying has its share of moments where either the events being depicted, or the prose through which the events are conveyed, or both, made me say, “Oh, come on!” Or maybe it was, “Oh, bloody hell!” I can’t quite remember.
And yet the dynamic between Fallon and Father da Costa keeps the reader's interest, in spite of the book’s many imperfections. Father da Costa sees something in Fallon worth saving, and Fallon intends, in his own way, to save Father da Costa and Anna. A Prayer for the Dying keeps one turning the pages, and in the process gets one thinking about the many ways in which people express sorrow for what they have done, and try to find some measure of redemption.
The novel’s English-born author, Jack Higgins (not his real name), was raised by his Irish mother in Belfast – and therefore it makes sense that the Northern Ireland conflict, a central aspect of this novel, would come to be of interest for him. A prolific author of thrillers that bring together politics and espionage, Higgins is probably best known for The Eagle Has Landed (1975), a brisk, best-selling page-turner about a Nazi commando plot to try to change the course of the Second World War by kidnapping British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In a telling indicator of how strongly Higgins’s Northern Ireland upbringing influenced him, The Eagle Has Landed includes as a focal character an Irish Republican Army agent working with the Nazi commandos.
A Prayer for the Dying was published years before The Eagle Has Landed, in 1972, a particularly difficult period of the Northern Ireland conflict that is usually referred to as “the Troubles.” It was the year of “Bloody Sunday,” the incident in which British Army paratroopers fatally shot thirteen unarmed demonstrators in Derry/Londonderry, and therefore it was a time in which Northern Ireland was very much on the minds of people around the world.
The protagonist of A Prayer for the Dying is one Martin Fallon, an IRA hitman who was the lead character of a previous Higgins novel, Cry of the Hunter (1960). As the novel begins, Fallon has left his Irish homeland and taken refuge in England, conscience-stricken as the result of civilian casualties that resulted from a bungled IRA attack on a British Army convoy. On the run from British military and intelligence operatives, ordinary police officers, and his former IRA comrades, Fallon is sought out by a British gangster, Jack Meehan, who hides his criminal enterprises behind his “legitimate” business as a mortician – a business that, with a crematorium on premises, makes the disposal of bodies an easy thing.
Meehan’s offer to Fallon is a simple one – money, a passport, and a boat passage to America, in return for Fallon carrying out one last hit on a mob rival of Meehan’s. Fallon, after some arm-twisting, agrees; but when he commits the murder in a church cemetery, he is seen by the parish priest, Father Michael da Costa. A compassionate priest who serves as a kind guardian for his blind niece Anna, Father da Costa has some pretty tough history of his own, as a former partisan in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during the Second World War and a survivor of North Korean torture during the Korean War.
Anyone who has seen the Alfred Hitchcock film I Confess (1953) can anticipate Fallon’s next move: he goes to Father Da Costa and confesses his crime, placing his act of murder under the seal of the confessional. Father Da Costa’s anger at this stratagem by the ex-IRA man is understandable, but he is a true priest, an educator in the sinful ways of the fallen human soul. And he rocks Fallon’s stated confidence in being able to walk away from this murder, board his boat, and start over in America:
[Fallon said,] “Don’t worry, I’ll put something in the poor box on the way out. I can afford it.” He flicked his cigarette out into space. “I’ll be going now.”
He turned, and Father da Costa grabbed him by the sleeve, pulling him round. “You’re making a mistake, Fallon. I think you’ll find that God won’t let you have it your way.”
Fallon said coldly, “Don’t be stupid, Father.”
“In fact, He’s already taken a hand,” Father da Costa continued. “Do you think I was there in that cemetery at that particular moment by accident?” He shook his head. “Oh, no, Fallon. You took one life, but God made you responsible for another – mine.”
Fallon’s face was very pale now.
And as Father da Costa’s niece Anna was listening to this conversation from a nearby place of shelter, it turns out that Fallon is now responsible for two lives. The gangster Meehan, a man capable of any form or degree of cruelty, knows that Father da Costa and Anna know something, and he is not the kind who likes to leave potential witnesses. And Meehan’s younger brother Billy is a sexual sadist casting his malignant gaze towards Anna.
It sounds melodramatic, and it is – but there are elements of A Prayer for the Dying that give it a certain dignity nonetheless. And most of all, Fallon’s growing remorse for the life he has lived holds the book together. Over the course of the novel, one learns more about the botched IRA operation that made him leave the organization. And under Father da Costa’s prompting, Fallon can’t help recognizing that he carried out his last his killing strictly for money and an escape from the law; he can’t claim that it was all in the line of duty, for old Éire and the glorious cause of a united Ireland. The depth of his sorrow shows through when a young sex worker named Jenny Fox tries to seduce Fallon, on Billy Meehan’s orders.
He frowned slightly, and then a brief, sad smile touched his mouth. He kissed her gently on the lips and shook his head. “Not me, girl dear, not me in the whole wide world. You need a man…I’m just a corpse walking.”
Fallon ends up protecting both Jenny Fox and Anna da Costa from Billy Meehan’s sadism, causing Father da Costa to remark, “You see, my friend, good deeds in spite of yourself. You are a lost man,” and reminding Fallon that the chain of events that he set in motion through the shooting of the gangster is still in motion:
“I’m leaving on Sunday night,” Fallon told him. “They’ve arranged passage for me on a ship out of Hull.”
“And you think that will finish it?” Father da Costa shook his head. “You’re a fool, Fallon. Jack Meehan will never feel safe while I am still in the land of the living. Trust, honour, truth, the sanctity of the given word. None of these exist for him personally, so why should he believe that they have a meaning for someone else?”
And with that, even as Jack Meehan moves forward with his plans to get Father da Costa and his niece Anna permanently out of the way, Martin Fallon assigns himself one more mission – one that he fully intends to be his last, and one that involves no escape via the harbour of Hull.
Thriller authors sometimes have an unfortunate habit of throwing in so many can-you-top-this flourishes that the reader finally says, “Oh, come on!” I must say that A Prayer for the Dying has its share of moments where either the events being depicted, or the prose through which the events are conveyed, or both, made me say, “Oh, come on!” Or maybe it was, “Oh, bloody hell!” I can’t quite remember.
And yet the dynamic between Fallon and Father da Costa keeps the reader's interest, in spite of the book’s many imperfections. Father da Costa sees something in Fallon worth saving, and Fallon intends, in his own way, to save Father da Costa and Anna. A Prayer for the Dying keeps one turning the pages, and in the process gets one thinking about the many ways in which people express sorrow for what they have done, and try to find some measure of redemption.
February 4, 2024
A decent thriller. Finished in one day.
October 22, 2008
In the 1970s, when Higgins still taught adult education in Leeds and was clearly styling himself on Ted Lewis, he wrote some brilliant books. This was one of them. It got me reading as a kid back in the days when I hated school and ran away to join the army at 17. Sadly, when Higgins moved to Gurnsey and started supporting Margaret Thatcher he lost something. One of the great things about a Prayer for the Dying, apart from its interesting allusions to the writing style of Graham Greene and the fact it's a BRILLIANT story, is that it isn't populated by real figures in preposterous scenarios trotting out expositional dialogue - a sad trait of Higgins' more recent novels.
April 14, 2019
(Am traveling back in Taiwan, so brought along a stack of old "read and throw away" paperbacks, this being #1.)
Very corny cliché-ridden story, but somehow 3-star fun nonetheless. Every character is a total caricature - the sensitive-yet-dead-inside hitman (who's also a classically-trained organist); the albino psycho-pervert henchman and his sadistic gay mob-boss brother; the former-soldier-who's-seen-too-much priest; the beautiful blind girl who's the only one who can truly "see" the sensitive-yet-dead...you get the picture.
Written in 1973, this was eventually filmed in 1987 when Mickey Rourke was pretty near his peak (right after "Angel Heart"), with some additional characters added (including an early Liam Neeson role - right after "The Mission").
FUN FACT: The main character here is named Martin Fallon, which for some weird reason is also the pen name Higgins used to write his seven Paul Chavasse novels, (only one of which I've read, Year of the Tiger, and it SUCKED). So was this some meta concept where our SYDI hitman/musician also supposed to be a lousy suspense novelist as well, or did Higgins just really like the name?
Very corny cliché-ridden story, but somehow 3-star fun nonetheless. Every character is a total caricature - the sensitive-yet-dead-inside hitman (who's also a classically-trained organist); the albino psycho-pervert henchman and his sadistic gay mob-boss brother; the former-soldier-who's-seen-too-much priest; the beautiful blind girl who's the only one who can truly "see" the sensitive-yet-dead...you get the picture.
Written in 1973, this was eventually filmed in 1987 when Mickey Rourke was pretty near his peak (right after "Angel Heart"), with some additional characters added (including an early Liam Neeson role - right after "The Mission").
FUN FACT: The main character here is named Martin Fallon, which for some weird reason is also the pen name Higgins used to write his seven Paul Chavasse novels, (only one of which I've read, Year of the Tiger, and it SUCKED). So was this some meta concept where our SYDI hitman/musician also supposed to be a lousy suspense novelist as well, or did Higgins just really like the name?
February 8, 2017
I doubt I can contribute any insight into this fine novel beyond the thousands of reviews already out there. I read a few of Higgins' books ages ago, hadn't taken one up in decades, but saw 'A Prayer for the Dying' listed somewhere as being an underappreciated gem so I thought I'd seek it out. I'm glad I did..... excellent story in a concise package, good character development, fine writing, fast pace, a very flawed but sympathetic 'hero'..... the stuff on which great thrillers are built! Next step: find the movie version.
May 11, 2022
Riveting, character-based IRS thriller makes sure to create ruthless baddies to torment the reluctant loner Irish badass into doing what he does best. Annihilate them all. A very sparse narrative keeps the pace fast. The British cliche' of keeping the nasties either perverts or homosexuals (or both) is reminiscent of good old 1970s crime thriller movies. Still, the characters are complex and intriguing, and the violence punctuating. Avoid the Mickey Rourke and Mike Hodges movie. It could have been a masterpiece without the unforgivable studio interference.
July 2, 2024
3.5* rounded up
There are a lot of errors spelling and grammar, which lowered my rating but fully understand the sub context of the story, a former IRA who killed and crippled many children during the troubles in Northern Ireland, looking for atonement after the disaster but was unable to forgive himself even though he was trying to figure if religion, specifically Catholic faith, would be a source of redemption
There are a lot of errors spelling and grammar, which lowered my rating but fully understand the sub context of the story, a former IRA who killed and crippled many children during the troubles in Northern Ireland, looking for atonement after the disaster but was unable to forgive himself even though he was trying to figure if religion, specifically Catholic faith, would be a source of redemption
April 24, 2020
I have no idea how this book ended up on my Nook. But I'm trying to read all the books from my Nook (which I no longer use - I'm reading them via the app on my phone or on a desktop through B&N's website).
A Prayer for the Dying is definitely not the genre of story I typically pick up but I found it very readable and exciting at times.
A Prayer for the Dying is definitely not the genre of story I typically pick up but I found it very readable and exciting at times.
August 10, 2024
I read this book because it was cited as one of his best, and I don't typically read thrillers. The story is tight and well paced. Character backgrounds are revealed gradually, increasing the depth of the story and bringing to mind the age-old question, who are we, truly. Highly recommend this book.
May 10, 2023
Solid story and a great buildup to the finale. The characters are memorable. Definitely will be reading more Higgins. I will also have to check the movie out.
November 29, 2016
I love Jack Higgins books and have gradually been working through all of them. This one in particular I had high hopes for as a lot of people talk about it being with The Eagle has Landed as one of their favourites. I must admit that I have never seen the film that was made of it so had no preconceptions about this book to start with.
This is one of Higgins older books, originally written in 1973. The book was an easy enough read and like most Higgins went quickly. Unfortunately, unlike his more modern books the storyline and action just did not grab me.
Fallon for me seemed to be Higgins early attempt at the Sean Dillon character and there was the Higgins staples of your "gangsters" in this case the Meehans and there is always a character called Harry that turns up somewhere or another.
I did like both Fallon and Father da Costa but I was still a little underwhelmed by the book as a whole. 3 stars. Disappointingly average.
This is one of Higgins older books, originally written in 1973. The book was an easy enough read and like most Higgins went quickly. Unfortunately, unlike his more modern books the storyline and action just did not grab me.
Fallon for me seemed to be Higgins early attempt at the Sean Dillon character and there was the Higgins staples of your "gangsters" in this case the Meehans and there is always a character called Harry that turns up somewhere or another.
I did like both Fallon and Father da Costa but I was still a little underwhelmed by the book as a whole. 3 stars. Disappointingly average.
January 14, 2019
Bueno tengo que decir que este libro es muy pero muy entretenido, una historia llena de misterio y acción, pero hay algo que no me gustó de este libro, los clichés tan pronunciados que tiene la historia, y la deficiencia policial, mejor dicho no les digo más, muy pronto subiré la reseña a mi canal de Youtube que se llama, Juancho Juanchito Books.
July 13, 2022
Jack Higgins produced some bangers in his time, and this is not exactly one of them. This is a case where the movie holds up a bit better than the book. Still, if you like Jack Higgins, you might as well read it on some dreary night.
May 16, 2019
Over the course of five decades, he has used many names; Martin Fallon is just one of them. He carries a huge load of guilt for the tragic errors of his past. As a soldier for many years in the Irish Republican Army — the military force known as the Provos — he was responsible for an uncounted number of deaths. Now Fallon is a mercenary of sorts, a gun for hire.
A tale of violence and redemption
A Prayer for the Dying opens in the city of Hull, in the north of England, early in the 1970s. In hopes of securing a passport and the necessary funds to flee the country, Fallon agrees to kill the chief rival of a local crime boss, and he carries out the assignment with cold efficiency. There’s just one hitch: standing just feet away in the cemetery where the murder takes place, a Catholic priest witnesses the act. Thus begins an intriguing tale of violence, guilt, contrition, and redemption.
A crime boss, a killer for hire, and a confession
Six principal characters figure in this well-crafted and suspenseful thriller, all of them fully fleshed-out and interesting in their own right. Apart from Fallon, they include the ruthless crime boss, “Dandy” Jack Meehan, and his sex-crazed younger brother, Billy; the priest, Father Michael da Costa, a former soldier in Britain’s Special Air Service, a British special forces unit; the priest’s blind niece, Anna da Costa; and Detective-Superintendent Miller, the veteran cop who heads the Hull CID. The four-way relationship among these characters revolves around the inviolability of the confession in the eyes of the Church.
A tale of violence and redemption
A Prayer for the Dying opens in the city of Hull, in the north of England, early in the 1970s. In hopes of securing a passport and the necessary funds to flee the country, Fallon agrees to kill the chief rival of a local crime boss, and he carries out the assignment with cold efficiency. There’s just one hitch: standing just feet away in the cemetery where the murder takes place, a Catholic priest witnesses the act. Thus begins an intriguing tale of violence, guilt, contrition, and redemption.
A crime boss, a killer for hire, and a confession
Six principal characters figure in this well-crafted and suspenseful thriller, all of them fully fleshed-out and interesting in their own right. Apart from Fallon, they include the ruthless crime boss, “Dandy” Jack Meehan, and his sex-crazed younger brother, Billy; the priest, Father Michael da Costa, a former soldier in Britain’s Special Air Service, a British special forces unit; the priest’s blind niece, Anna da Costa; and Detective-Superintendent Miller, the veteran cop who heads the Hull CID. The four-way relationship among these characters revolves around the inviolability of the confession in the eyes of the Church.
August 31, 2024
Martin Fallon, Jack Meehan adlı bir adamla anlaşır. Çek malı Ceska adında bir tabanca ile Krasno adında birini öldürecektir. Bunu yapınca, para ve pasaport alıp kayıplara karışacaktır. İşi bir mezarlıkta başarır ama olayı Da Costa adında bir rahip görür. Bunu Meehan'ın adamı da fark eder. Rahibi öldürmeyen Fallon, başarılı bir hile ile Rahibe günah çıkarmaya gider ve suçunu itiraf eder. Artık bu kilise ile onun arasında bir sır olarak kalacaktır. Müfettiş Miller ve Fitzgerald ne yaparsa yapsın ağzından laf alamaz. Costa'nın gözleri görmeyen ve piyano çalan Anna adında bir yeğeni, Meehan'ın da Billy adında şehvet düşkünü bir kardeşi vardır. Fallon Meehan'a giderek papazı bu işin haricinde tutacağını söyler. Jenny adında bir fahişenin evinde kalmayı kabul eder. Billy, Jenny'yi kullanarak Fallon'u tuzağa düşürmeye çalışır ama başarılı olamaz. Fallon pasaport lazım olduğu için işleri alttan alır ama Billy Anne'e saldırınca ipler kolat ve onu öldürüp abisiniln krematoryumunda yakar. Meehan ise hepsini öldürmeyi planlamaktadır. Jenny Fallon'u kızı Meehan'ın elinde olduğu için tuzağa çeker ama Fallon adamları öldürür. Bu arada yaralanır. Kiliseyi patlatmak isteyen Meehan'a engel olmak için yola çıkar. Anne ve Da Costa esirdir ama onları kurtarır. Yaşamanın anlamı olmadığını düşündüğü için onları gönderir ve Meehan'a kardeşini öldürdüğünü söyler. Acaba bomba patlayacak mıdır? Jenny Miller'ı arar ama o yetişebilecek midir? Anne ve Da Costa ne yapacaktır? Keyifle soluksuz okunan bir roman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2022
The thirty-third #jackhiggins #martinfallon #hughmarlowe #harrypatterson #henrypatterson #jamesgraham novel #aprayerforthedying published in 1973. Certainly one of the best Higgins novels so far. This is a very thoughtful intimate story. Smaller in scale/scope than some of his international novels. It certainly explores religious and Philosophical questions and examines the contradictions inherent within individual characters. The terrorist/freedom fighter/assassin that is highly educated and an accomplished musician. The gangster who is ruthless but reads philosophy and is in a gay relationship. The blind girl who can ‘see’ the good in a bad man. The priest with a violent past. The final appearance of Martin Fallon and possibly a cross over with #nickmiller but it’s not clear if it’s the same policeman or a different cop with the same name. It’s a short novel and the action is good like you would expect from Higgins but it’s the smaller more intimate character moments and conversations that really shine.
October 4, 2025
I read this book straight after The Eagle Has Landed (which I loved) and was pretty disappointed.
Partly because Martin Fallon, the flawed hero, is indistinguishable from Liam Devlin - a hugely cultured killer, all flowery language, doomed romanticism, dark eyes, incredibly effective violence and a love of Irish whiskey.
Beyond that, it felt like a writer who was a bit bored fishing around for stuff to write about, having written lots of thrillers.
That said, I read it all, so the narrative moved along nicely.
Partly because Martin Fallon, the flawed hero, is indistinguishable from Liam Devlin - a hugely cultured killer, all flowery language, doomed romanticism, dark eyes, incredibly effective violence and a love of Irish whiskey.
Beyond that, it felt like a writer who was a bit bored fishing around for stuff to write about, having written lots of thrillers.
That said, I read it all, so the narrative moved along nicely.
February 5, 2019
Loved it. Fast moving action all the way through. Such a tightly written thriller that it was a very easy read that I literally could not put down for long before I rushed back to pick it up again. A film of the same name starring Mickey Rourke and Bob Hoskins was made from this Book. Love Jack Higgins writing. Always recommended.
November 3, 2021
De fácil lectura y entretenido, pero deja mucho que desear. Puedo llegar a entender los sentimientos y traumas de una persona que ha pertenecido a IRA, pero creo que ensalzan mucho al personaje principal, otorgándole un papel de héroe justiciero que creo que no le corresponde. No es uno de los peores libros que he leído, pero tampoco de los mejores.
Si tengo que recomendarlo, no lo haría!
Si tengo que recomendarlo, no lo haría!
December 22, 2025
Fácil de leer y una trama entretenida…
Sin embargo, no he llegado a conectar con ningún personaje, algunos de ellos me han parecido muy cliché. Lo que más estaba llamando mi atención era la introspección que podía sufrir el sacerdote respecto a respetar o no el secreto de confesión y queda muy abandonado en el desenlace del libro.
Sin embargo, no he llegado a conectar con ningún personaje, algunos de ellos me han parecido muy cliché. Lo que más estaba llamando mi atención era la introspección que podía sufrir el sacerdote respecto a respetar o no el secreto de confesión y queda muy abandonado en el desenlace del libro.
February 11, 2018
A Prayer for the Dying by Jack Higgins... It's a first read, missed it out years back good to have caught up on this novel... The Catholic belief in the confession and the sanctity of the secrets behind the veil evolving into a plot laid out in simplicity and fast pace... A page turner....
November 19, 2018
A gripping and mystery novel from start to end. Though the plot seems to be known and that somewhere its seen in movies, still its a great read. All characters are built so nicely and story is so well connected for each chapter. Its a small book which can be finished in few hours.
November 23, 2022
Jack Higgins and Martin Fallon together again
Irish mysteries are the best . The evil ones are so bad! And the innocent women are so good! An old church with an unusual priest is the setting of this thriller.
Irish mysteries are the best . The evil ones are so bad! And the innocent women are so good! An old church with an unusual priest is the setting of this thriller.
June 6, 2023
Higgins at his very chilling best, not a wasted word, not one superfluous character. A short novel, but every moment tells in this thriller. Character, action, suspense, plus a dash of metaphysics and theology all unite to make this an unforgettable thriller.
January 4, 2024
32nd Higgins book - what is strange is he has this series of books with the character Martin Fallon and then writes other books under the name Martin Fallon.
Old Jack, whose real name was Harry, was a bit out there sometimes.
Old Jack, whose real name was Harry, was a bit out there sometimes.
December 19, 2024
This was a nice little read. They made a movie of it in the late 80s with Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins, and Alan Bates that stuck pretty closely to the novel (though they added an additional storyline with an IRA hunter played by Liam Neeson).
July 19, 2025
Absorbing.
Both of the Martin Fallon books are excellent, but this one is, shall we say a cut above the other. The life and misery of idealist come through and should if listening speak, reminding one faith is a good thing, other than when it is in the wrong thing!
Both of the Martin Fallon books are excellent, but this one is, shall we say a cut above the other. The life and misery of idealist come through and should if listening speak, reminding one faith is a good thing, other than when it is in the wrong thing!
March 26, 2020
Very inspiring app. Addictive so to say, feel like reading till eternity
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