Rating: 
Summary: LESS OF THE SAME
Review: Higgins doesn't break a sweat with this one. If you have read Higgins' other books with Sean Dillon as the protagonist there's is no need to read this one. Same story elements, same set piece action scenes and so on. Maybe I have read one too many of his books but they are all very much blending together now. Even the name of the book is unoriginal, note his earlier "Touch the Devil." Harmless enough few hours of reading but not much is new.
Rating:
Summary: LESS OF THE SAME
Review: Higgins doesn't break a sweat with this one. If you have read Higgins' other books with Sean Dillon as the protagonist there's is no need to read this one. Same story elements, same set piece action scenes and so on. Maybe I have read one too many of his books but they are all very much blending together now. Even the name of the book is unoriginal, note his earlier "Touch the Devil." Harmless enough few hours of reading but not much is new.
Rating: 
Summary: Old Fashion Yarn - we need more like it on the bookrack
Review: Higgins has been around for so long and has developed an endearing style for spinning tales that can only hook the reader. The types of adventure stories he tells had gone out of style long ago. I lament the passing of those times. For that reason, I often find myself reading material from the 60's and 70's, transporting myself back to a time when geopolitics and detailed knowledge of technical hardware didn't gum down the pace of a good novel. It was a less informed time, but fun, non the less.Drink with the Devil is a rare novel that transports me back but yet remains refreshingly contemporary! I think that's why I like it so much. Sean Dillon, Higgins's weathered hero, does all the time travelling for me. The novel opens with a gold heist gone awry a decade ago. Fast forward to today and a treasure hunt ensues throughout the rest of the novel. Mafia, Ulstermen, angry IRA types, and many others find their way into the novel. Like most Higgins fare, the pace is very quick. All subplots, there aren't many, are attended to; Dillon sews up all loose ends, as he usually does. A fine read. Or, a fine listen. Patrick McNee does the audio version. He relies on his cockney accent to bring realism to the text. Very enjoyable
Rating: 
Summary: Good-predicable-like seeing an old friend.
Review: Higgins is really a wonderful plotsman. He can keep the suspense going-but lately it seems like he's been drawing from his older stuff. For a new slant on thriller writing check out richard greenwald's spear of golgotha-published in australia - you won't need a bookmark
Rating: 
Summary: DRINK WITH THE DEVIL
Review: I LOVE THIS BOOK. I am 13, and this is my favorite book. It is the best Higgins book yet.
Rating:
Summary: DRINK WITH THE DEVIL
Review: I LOVE THIS BOOK. I am 13, and this is my favorite book. It is the best Higgins book yet.
Rating:
Summary: This book is much deeper than you might think.
Review: In 1985, IRA terrorist Sean Dillon is assigned to infiltrate a renegade Loyalist terrorist group led by Michael Ryan. Posing as a Protestant named Martin Keogh, Dillon saves Ryan's niece Kathleen from rape (and probably worse) at the hands of a group of Catholic thugs. Dillon joins Ryan in his plan to hijack a British armored car carrying 50 million pounds to fund Ryan's campaigns. The heist goes off successfully, but the captain of the boat ferrying them across the Irish Sea tries a double cross, and pays with his life. Dillon and the Ryans survive, with Michael maintaining an electronic device which will lead the user to the wreck and the money. Dillon has an opportunity to kill the Ryans and take the device, but (perhaps in his first pangs of conscience) chooses not to, and they go on their separate ways. Ten years later, Michael and Kathleen Ryan have immigrated to the U.S., where Michael is imprisoned for shooting a police officer in a botched robbery. Michael's health is failing, so he is often transported from the prison to a nearby hospital for treatment. One of the henchmen of Mafia Don Antonio Russo gets wind that Ryan knows the location of (now) 100 million pounds sitting at the bottom of the Irish Sea. Russo confers with IRA chieftain Jack Barry (the man who assigned Dillon to infiltrate Ryan's group) and offers to split the booty. Russo will break Ryan out of prison in exchange for the location of the wreck. The Ryan's are thus forced into assisting the IRA and the mob. Stalwart British Intelligence guru Brigadier Charles Ferguson gets wind of Ryan's resurfacing and sends Detective Chief-Inspector Hannah Bernstein and Dillon, who's now working for British Intelligence (read "Thunder Point" if you want to know why,) after the gold, to stop it from falling into the hands of either the IRA, the mob, or the Ryans. Another Dillon classic, with the added bonus of shedding some light on what Dillon did when he was with the IRA. Kathleen Ryan is easily the most compelling character in the book. At the end of the book, when you find out what has happened to her in her short life, it makes her actions that much more tragic and also much more understandable. I defy you not to feel for her when her trauma is finally revealed. One wonders how many real Kathleen Ryans there are in Northern Ireland today, both Protestant and Catholic, and if they'll ever manage to find peace. If you like Higgins, and especially Dillon, buy this book. But it's a lot deeper, and raises a lot more questions, than most people are willing to admit.
Rating:
Summary: This book is much deeper than you might think.
Review: In 1985, IRA terrorist Sean Dillon is assigned to infiltrate a renegade Loyalist terrorist group led by Michael Ryan. Posing as a Protestant named Martin Keogh, Dillon saves Ryan's niece Kathleen from rape (and probably worse) at the hands of a group of Catholic thugs. Dillon joins Ryan in his plan to hijack a British armored car carrying 50 million pounds to fund Ryan's campaigns. The heist goes off successfully, but the captain of the boat ferrying them across the Irish Sea tries a double cross, and pays with his life. Dillon and the Ryans survive, with Michael maintaining an electronic device which will lead the user to the wreck and the money. Dillon has an opportunity to kill the Ryans and take the device, but (perhaps in his first pangs of conscience) chooses not to, and they go on their separate ways. Ten years later, Michael and Kathleen Ryan have immigrated to the U.S., where Michael is imprisoned for shooting a police officer in a botched robbery. Michael's health is failing, so he is often transported from the prison to a nearby hospital for treatment. One of the henchmen of Mafia Don Antonio Russo gets wind that Ryan knows the location of (now) 100 million pounds sitting at the bottom of the Irish Sea. Russo confers with IRA chieftain Jack Barry (the man who assigned Dillon to infiltrate Ryan's group) and offers to split the booty. Russo will break Ryan out of prison in exchange for the location of the wreck. The Ryan's are thus forced into assisting the IRA and the mob. Stalwart British Intelligence guru Brigadier Charles Ferguson gets wind of Ryan's resurfacing and sends Detective Chief-Inspector Hannah Bernstein and Dillon, who's now working for British Intelligence (read "Thunder Point" if you want to know why,) after the gold, to stop it from falling into the hands of either the IRA, the mob, or the Ryans. Another Dillon classic, with the added bonus of shedding some light on what Dillon did when he was with the IRA. Kathleen Ryan is easily the most compelling character in the book. At the end of the book, when you find out what has happened to her in her short life, it makes her actions that much more tragic and also much more understandable. I defy you not to feel for her when her trauma is finally revealed. One wonders how many real Kathleen Ryans there are in Northern Ireland today, both Protestant and Catholic, and if they'll ever manage to find peace. If you like Higgins, and especially Dillon, buy this book. But it's a lot deeper, and raises a lot more questions, than most people are willing to admit.
Rating:
Summary: Major plot holes mar thriller
Review: Introduction : in 1985, Ulster Loyalist Ryan successfully robbed 50 million pounds of gold, only to lose it in transit when the Irish Rose, a vessel carrying the truck which carried the gold, sank somewhere off the coast of Ireland after sailing off from England. Ten years later, a New York mafia don discovered Ryan and his connection to the lost gold. He arranged for Ryan to escape and forced Ryan's niece along to salvage the gold, working together with Jack Barry, retired IRA chief. It appeared that Ryan's gang of robbers had included an IRA mole, whose identity is easily guessed by readers familiar with Higgins' work. Through a stroke of luck, the British authorities learned of the planned salvage and Group 4, aka PM's private army, was put to work to prevent the refunding of either militant factions in Northern Ireland. The rule, as usual, is "no publicity", which is somehow important amidst the US-mediated Irish peace process. Higgins' work, as usual, is action packed. There are less twists and turns, with the prologue taking almost half the book. His heroes, and heroines, seemed incredibly lucky and outskilled the opponents all the time, and trip only the sheerest bad luck. As usual, they know exactly where to inquire for their quarry, rendering zilch the laborious detective work. This book would have served well enough if not for some incredible plot holes. First, it was in the papers that the gold was on the Irish Rose which sank between England and Ireland. Though the British may find it hard to locate the wreck, the IRA had strong clues to narrow the location, and 50 million pounds of gold would have been worth the effort, regardless of whether one is driven by idealism or greed. Second, Ryan could have retrieved his gold without too much difficulty, but instead he took chances to rob a bank in American and landed in jail. Why he did nothing, even after finding himself in prison, is a major plot hole. He could even have contacted his comrades to work something out instead of growing old in prison.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Higgns & Sean Dillon in a mediocre mating
Review: It is true that Jack Higgins write adventures and that Sean Dillon is one of the contradicting heroes ever created. In a book series with the same hero, Higgins falls into a trap he should not have to. But let's start in the opposite way. The book is good, but not as good as Higgins himself. It is an adventure of the Bond likes, with agen- cies, conspiracies, international terrorism and very much updated (the IRA peace thing), that flows well enough, speeding at times, with a straightforward plot that is not striving for complexity, nor to great mysteries. Yes, the rhythm is good, but the story passes as the expected and the action or pre action justifications are too simple, while the heroes pass through it in an easy or non-sweat manner. Enough super hero like- ness is attributed and the psychology behind any action is of non-existence or minimal. The chara- cters themselves are fairly focused, even if they are recurring or firstly introduced. What is left though is an almost picturous like speech, that is straightforward and to the point, narrating bigger pictures in fewer words and being very good to that. With three interesting twists and a sweat and sour taste at the end, the attention of the reader is kept and the book has the ability to be read fast although the reader is not so much keen to explore the next chapter for seeing "what's going to happen". Knowing the potentials of Hig- gins, I wouldn't mind he wrote less books, but I mind that he writes a lot that are fair or medium. Even if he wants to present a Bond like hero, or if he had met us with him (or them) previously, he should have bothered for more psychology (like Kellerman does), more originality in story (like Flemming, or Ludlum, or Savarin - same hero trilo- gies) and more real adventure (like Morell, Clancy, Wilbur Smith, a.o). That's the trap he fells into: little to say on a much exploited genre.
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