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The Last Place God Made / The Savage Day / A Prayer for the Dying
From the mysterious depths of the Brazilian jungle to the turbulent heart of Ireland, an anthology of three action-packed thrillers includes The Last Place God Made, The Savage Day, and A Prayer for the Dying.
592 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
33 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 2, 2023
1)THE LAST PLACE GOD MADE
Set before the war, this is an unusual novel of a pilot stranded in deepest Brazil, very unlike Higgins's later heroes. He finds employment with a one-man courier service plying between Manaus and the interior. What with diamond smugglers, gun runners, officials on the take, beautiful Brazilian women and a two month spell in a Brazilian jail, this is one Brazilian expedition you would rather watch than go through yourself.
2)THE SAVAGE DAY
It's not patriotism, glory or idealism that means a whit to any revolutionary movement anywhere in the world at any time in history. It's gold, is all. And this one is in Higgins's characteristic play-both-sides-of-the-field, not as double cross, but as open to both parties. As a mercenary might be. Well written and absorbing, though with less passion than the Sean Dillon books.
3) A PRAYER FOR THE DYING
This comes closest to Jack Higgins's later work, and is possibly the best of the three novels collected here. It suggests that totally unforeseeable forces of circumstance beyond a man's control pin him down inexorably and from where there is only one way out.
While not as scintillating as the best of Higgins, the three novels explore the nature of revolution and the element of terror in all such movements, balancing the cost in terms of honour and treachery against financial or political gains. All three are solid, fast-paced thrillers from the first page to the last.
Set before the war, this is an unusual novel of a pilot stranded in deepest Brazil, very unlike Higgins's later heroes. He finds employment with a one-man courier service plying between Manaus and the interior. What with diamond smugglers, gun runners, officials on the take, beautiful Brazilian women and a two month spell in a Brazilian jail, this is one Brazilian expedition you would rather watch than go through yourself.
2)THE SAVAGE DAY
It's not patriotism, glory or idealism that means a whit to any revolutionary movement anywhere in the world at any time in history. It's gold, is all. And this one is in Higgins's characteristic play-both-sides-of-the-field, not as double cross, but as open to both parties. As a mercenary might be. Well written and absorbing, though with less passion than the Sean Dillon books.
3) A PRAYER FOR THE DYING
This comes closest to Jack Higgins's later work, and is possibly the best of the three novels collected here. It suggests that totally unforeseeable forces of circumstance beyond a man's control pin him down inexorably and from where there is only one way out.
While not as scintillating as the best of Higgins, the three novels explore the nature of revolution and the element of terror in all such movements, balancing the cost in terms of honour and treachery against financial or political gains. All three are solid, fast-paced thrillers from the first page to the last.
June 25, 2025
Takes place in 1938 in the Amazon. Pilot has to crash land but another pilot comes to his rescue. I loved this book! Exciting, different, interesting. Unfortunately the author is deceased but I will look for more of his books. C.1971.
December 4, 2021
So far I have only read "The Last Place God Made". This was unlike any of the previous Higgins books I have read and I did enjoy it.
January 7, 2009
Really liked this collection of novels. The Last Place God Made, about a bush pilot in the Amazon was my least favorite. but The Savage Day and A Prayer for the Dying were both great mysteries roughly centered around the IRA
November 3, 2016
Good reading!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews