The Killing Ground

Some writers no matter what they are writing about are a delight to read simply because their writing style is so enjoyable. The delight is intensified if the main character is a passionate and heroic and unusual man that we would like to meet and, if not meet, enjoy watching and listening to, and if the villain is bad, but not bad like everyone else, and interesting. Jack Higgins is such a writer, Sean Dillon such a character, and Casper Rashid such a villain. If the plot includes a need for righteous revenge against pure evil, then the main ingredients are properly spiced. Higgins tells the tale of Rashid's father kidnapping Rashid's thirteen year old daughter and taking her to Iraq to marry her to a man known as the "Hammer of God." Rashid the villain begs Dillon for help and Dillon accepts because he sees an opportunity for revenge.

Sean Dillon is back & in especially good form! I love these characters! Jack Higgins is a master at painting a picture that you mind can see - LOVE it!

As in past novels Jack Higgins takes Sean Dillion on adventures that can be handled only by a man of his talents. There are a few surprise additions to the 'Prime Minister's Private Army' which add to the adventure. Like always it is an exciting read, one that I will read over and over.The Killing Ground

Jack Higgins has written another thriller with the customary cast of characters--General Ferguson Major Roper, Sean Dillon, the Salters, and Major Greta Novikova. The dual plot involves the kidnapping to Baghdad of a 13-year-old girl by her grandfather. and a Russian plot to assassinate Ferguson and Harry Salter. The girl is the daughter of an apostate Bedouin living in London with his prominent and talented surgeon wife. Sean Dillon discovers the father on his return from the Middle East (he was attempting to retrieve his daughter) and makes a trade--he will rescue the girl in exchange for information on terrorists. After a failed attempt to get the girl back from Iraq, she is moved to another Mideast country under the care of her cousin--an accomplished assassin known as the Hammer of God-- to whom she is intended when she becomes of age, and three armed soldiers. Now the task becomes more complicated. An exciting tale told with Higgins' usual excellent writing and plotting, the novel is fast and arousing reading.

Billy Salter is now part of Major Ferguson's Secret Intelligence Service and like Sean Dillon, killing is just another tool in his arsenal. Sean and Billy are working passport patrol when they notice Mr. Casper Rashid and his wife Mollie entering the country after traveling to several known terrorist-sponsored countries. They are detained and brought in for interrogation. Rashid tells them that his thirteen year old daughter Sara has been kidnapped; taken to Baghdad by her paternal grandfather where she will marry the Hammer Of God, well known and respected by al Qaeda and Osama. If the British agents will help him get back his daughter, he will give them all the considerable information he knows on the Army of God and other terrorist organizations. The deal is struck but Sara's grandfather gets word that they are coming to rescue her. He hands his grandchild over to her betrothed who takes Sara to her uncle's estate in Hazar. It takes a lot of work and subterfuge but the British agents rescue Sara. Their troubles are not over because Russian President Putin using an intermediary puts out a hit on Ferguson and his crew while the Islamic terrorists do the same. Much blood will be shed, including some on the right side before things are temporarily settled. Jack Higgins is the master of the espionage and political thriller, changing enemies as the times change. Sean and Billy are cold blooded killers who know what they are as they fight against the enemies of England. Their efforts prove they are not thugs but very intelligent loyal men who do what they are told by their superiors with no questions asked. The author shows his skill as he makes the reader believe the terrorists and the Russians are in bed together although with the Chechnya revolt that seems unlikely. Harriet Klausner