Without Mercy

A fitting conclusion to the story told in Dark Justice - up to his usual standard and a great read.

i have read the book in a good time and i find reading the book a breeze .The story is good and yes it's good to read a story that you do know the background.

As an avid reader of the Higgins novels..only Higgins can weave the tales of suspense that keep you up late..unable to put it away. That irish rascal Sean Dillon always seems to find a way to put you on the edge, wondering will he or won't he come thru alive. For the new reader..be prepared to go on an adventure thru literature that will be unlike any other..Higgins novels read like motion pictures and are addictive..This ranks with his best..buy it

This Higgins novel is a touch more hard edged than usual with the death of one the main characters of previous Sean Dillon books (like Laurence Block's Everybody Dies) but full of formularized dialogue which doesn't offend me, but others might find tiresome.

During a top secret operation sanctioned by England's Special Branch Chief General Ferguson, agent Sean Dillon killed several Provo IRA operatives. and Russian Major Greta Novikova. Russian Josef Belov, who used his multi-billion dollar company, to fund terrorism, also was killed. Special Branch thought Major Yuri Ashimov and Russian Major Greta Novikova were also killed but they survived. General Ferguson's aide Deputy Superintendent Hannah Bernstein was critically injured. Ashimov wants revenge and is backed by President Putin in his desire because he saw too many of his plans and operatives destroyed by the Special Branch. In the hospital where Hannah is recuperating a nurse who is a sleeper agent in the IRA is ordered to kill her. She succeeds and is then killed by her handler. After a few more attempts are made on General Ferguson's agents they find out the two Russian agents are alive and pulling the strings of the IRA. Chasing each other half-way across the world, the adversaries vow to kill the enemy and only luck and skill will determine which side wins. Jack Higgins never writes a dull book. His novels are always exciting so that readers can't turn the pages quickly enough to find out what happens next. One of the author's greatest talents is his ability to make cold blooded killing machines like Sean Dillon sympathetic to the reader. This book is one of Mr. Higgins' best novels to date and will definitely appear on the bestseller lists. Harriet Klausner