Rating: 
Summary: TRADING ON HIS REPUTATION? OVER THE HILL? OR JUST TIRED?
Review: Higgins at his best was unbeatable. At his worst, which this book is, he's hard to tie by even those stinkers that killed the Western genre, such as Tor and M. Evans were (in)famous for.
Unforgiveable writing sins abound: (1) stepping out of character, (2) contrived situations to creat false suspense, (3) Acts of God - i.e. incredible coincidences.
This is real unbelievable "egabrag" as we used to say in the old Air Force. Who would allow their leading hit man to live openly without surveillance cover, or the chief of the whole schmear ditto? The whole plot turns on this minor oversight in security.
If I were stranded with nothing to read but the label on a can of beans and this heavy sledding, I'd be reading about the calories and carbos, first.
Hang it up, Jack!
Jack Dempsey tanked around after he passed his prime until one day he got slugged all over the ring by a tough young King Levinsky, and quit. You just did the equivalent. He had sense enough to quit. Will you?
Rating: 
Summary: Same sad company
Review: Any reader expecting great literature will be disappointed and, to be fair, having read about a dozen of Higgins' books myself, such expectations would be more than foolish. Higgins is a well-oiled, formulaic writer, able to produce simple, direct sentences, basic emotions, and some color, using a relatively standard set of "high" elements. In this case, using foggy London, the stormy Irish Sea, forested Germany, and Middle Eastern deserts, he provides some set pieces of almost chivalrous interaction among the caricatured cast: the reformed IRA member, the London mobsters, the head of a shadowy British counterintelligence unit, the crippled computer wonk, the very attractive Oxford assistant, the noble Nazi, the secretive Swiss banker, the out-of-wedlock son, and the elderly one-time secretary to Hitler. Both sides of the battle have polite face-to-face meetings where they swear they will kill each other. What are they waiting for? Characters reveal incredible skills with obscure or unrelated tasks, from playing the piano to speaking multiple languages to working explosives. Sean Dillon could be James Bonds' darker side, or brother abandoned at birth.
Moving quickly across time and place, Higgins's prose is as sparse as Hemingway's yet without any of the emotion or power. The "emotional event" that drives the protagonist, seems small and insignificant. Higgins is more fascinated with food (lots of bacon and eggs), hotels (the Dorchester), restaurants, booze (make it Bushmills), weapons (everybody loves their Walthers), estates (German, of course) and haunts (pubs, night clubs, swank clubs, the London docks) than with his paper mache characters. Even his layout is thin: 282 pages, large font, extra spacing between lines, blank pages between chapters and sections. This is a quick read because the story is so short. Even the stereotypic plot 'device', the Hitler diary, has no real use in the story. remove it entirely and you lose little of the story. One star for weaving a credible (if poorly researched) story and another for making it easy to digest. But that's it. I'm swearing off Higgins.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: During the last days of World War II in the European theatre, Baron Max Von Berger, a sturmbahnfurher of the SS is given Hitler's diary by the dictator personally. The Baron takes the diary and hides it in a secret niche in his home Schloss Alder near the village of Nevstadt. The diary contains never before released information about Hitler suing for peace with the United States and both countries then would invade Russia. President Roosevelt sent Senator Cazalet, the father of the current United States President, to meet with Hitler's representative in a neutral country. Roosevelt rejects the idea of an alliance but if the truth about President Cazalet's father ever comes out, it could topple the government. The president appeals to English operative General Charles Ferguson and his colleague Sean Dillon to get the diary, which will be no easy feat. The Baron and his son hate the president, General Ferguson, Dillon and several of their friends for their role in the death of Kate Rashid, a terrorist wearing the clothes of a legitimate businessperson. Jack Higgins can always be counted on to give his fans a riveting thriller and his latest novel is one of his best. BAD COMPANY starts off at light speed and goes quickly into warp drive, never easing up on the throttle so that readers never quite catch their breath. There's a dark undercurrent running throughout all the characters and the only difference between the heroes and the villains is that the heroes carry a badge. This is one thriller that is on it's way to the bestseller lists. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: A Toss-Away Read!
Review: Entertaining and interesting? Yes. A true thriller? Way too predictable to meet that standard. There's no real punch, no real suspense, no real substance and no real characters. It's more like a fast-paced Harlequin read for men. In that respect, 'Bad Company' meets Higgins' commercial goal, but with the number of new military thriller and suspense authors as well as authors like Ken Follett who still stretch their capabilities to achieve five-star thrillers, 'Bad Company' is truly disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Higgins should have disowned this book
Review: from an ordinary author, this book would be acceptable. it wouldn't be great, but not all books are. from higgins, this is shameful. if sean dillon were real, he would want to "pay a visit" to higgins for writing this....
Rating: 
Summary: Strong Entry in the Dillon Saga, but maybe a change needed
Review: I eagerly wait for every Higgins novel when it is announced. I am happy to say that I enjoyed Bad Company as much as the others in what could be called "The Dillon Saga". Those who like Higgins will get what they expect. A "villian" that isn't really a BAD guy in that you can understand his/her motives and sometimes has some redeeming qualities so it is a little sad when they get their due. You can expect to see appearances by the usual crew, Ferguson, Salter, etc. I WOULD like to see Dillon and Hannah get together...in some fashion, but the "Sam and Diane" scenario doesn't seem likely to change. Anyway, in Bad Company, good triumphs over evil after a few bumps in the road and it is on to the next chapter in the Dillon saga... Sean Dillon has certainly grown from the "villian" in his first appearance in the Higgins tales. He, like the others has come to be an old friend. But even we need a break from our friends. I have been a huge fan of Jack Higgins since I was in college and my Dad handed me a copy of Storm Warning. The novel has always been a favorite of mine. I think Higgins is at his best when he is in the "historical fiction" mode when he mixes real and fictitious characters and events. Since Higgins isn't averse to doing sequels or stories with recurring characters, I would love to see a follow up to that wonderful story that Storm Warning was. Better still, the end of his sequel to "The Eagle has Landed", "The Eagle Has Flown" seemed to indicate that another chapter in Devlin and Steiner's story might pop up someday. Since Dillon and Company have seemed to have pretty much wiped out the Rashids and their friends (They didn't have any killer pets did they?), maybe, just maybe Higgins will try something new next time. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing Dillon again, as the groom in a Jewish wedding :)
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Premise for a Very Thin Novel
Review: I have always liked the way that Jack Higgins can imagine circumstances that occurred in the past that could have profound, negative consequences today. In Bad Company, Mr. Higgins has once again developed such a concept. In the waning days of World War II, the Nazis hold secret talks with the Americans about joining forces against the Soviet Union. Although those talks went nowhere, the U.S. representative was the father of the current U.S. President, Jake Cazalet. And thus you see the risk of grave embarrassment. The book takes a strange turn in two ways. First, Mr. Higgins grafts this interesting concept onto a continuation of the Rashid family saga . . . which doesn't really add anything to the book. In fact, it makes the book work less well. Second, the German protagonist is a confusing mix of a good German who turns into a supporter of post World War II Nazis . . . and a father who wants to dote on a monster. On the side of the angels is the usual devil, Sean Dillon, who routinely annoys and dispatches all adversaries with comic book panache. I personally don't enjoy reading about Mr. Dillon and this book has much too much of him in it. As with other books in this series, all roads lead through Northern Ireland . . . which is fine if you don't mind that sort of thing. As I finished the book, I realized that the interesting premise had turned into a book that could have been written with almost any premise. So an interesting idea was mostly wasted. Perhaps another writer will pick up on the concept and continue with it. If the premise had not been interesting, I would have rated this book at two stars.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable Plot + Awful Accents = Low Octane Higgins
Review: I have been a fan of Jack Higgings' work - especially his WWII stories - for years. I had high hopes early on as Bad Company starts in Hitler's bunker amid the bombs and bullets of the last days of the war. Higgins paints a desperate, atmospheric word picture of the chaos that existed as fruits of a madman's harvest bring down a country. But as the audio CD moves from the 1940s to modern times, we get a confused, predictable tale, low on surprises and not much fun (especially the ending). I was disappointed that the good guys were not more likable than the bad guys - especially with Nazis and IRA killers popping up every now and again. Everyone is a crack shot, planting bullets in the brains of people at unbelievable distances while weathering storms and machine gun fire from the enemy. Really laughable. Even harder to swallow was Patrick Macnee's attempt to do German and Italian accents. Maya Got! Atsa no gooda! This is only for die hard Higgings fans - all others can safely pass and know they didn't miss much.
Rating:
Summary: Higgins, you can do better!
Review: I have been a long-time Higgins fan. His books, as stated by another poster, are all over the place in quality. When Higgins is "On" he's like lightning. When he's cold, he's like a limp fish. This one is a limp fish. I couldn't even finish the book. Got about 25 pages from the end and just gave up on it. Parts of the book are just down-right hokey; as when he talks about hacking computers...like anyone can hack into the most sensitive files in a computer. He also sprays the book with his usual, and now just old and over-used phrases. If you want good Higgins read "The Valhalla Exchange" or if you want great Higgins, read "Solo" or "The Eagle has Landed". Solo is a killer book...I read it in one day.
Rating:
Summary: Dillon never ceases to amaze me
Review: I have read ALL of the Dillon adventures and I find them all exillarating. Jakc Higgins captivates me with each story. I find myself putting everything else aside just to find out what happens next. Who is Dillon going to kill next? I can't wait for Mr.Higgin's next book, To the point I read the other 17 Dillon adventures over again. Mr. Higgins I don't belive can disappoint me. Once you read one its just like potato chips there is no such thing as just one, you gotta have more.
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