Confessional [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Jack Higgins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ulverscroft large print series | Publication Date: July 1986

A KGB-trained IRA assassin has gone rogue and is hellbent on killing the Pope. The IRA, KGB and British Secret Service are all after him, but can Liam Devlin get there first? Classic Jack Higgins for the new generation. Operating in Ireland to keep the cycle of violence between the IRA and British Intelligence at a fever pitch, hit man Cuchulain targets the pope as his ultimate victim, and two enemies become the only people who can stop him. The third book in the Liam Devlin series, hero of The Eagle has Landed.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Open a Jack Higgins novel and you'll encounter a master craftsman at the peak of his powers ! first-rate tales of intrigue, suspense and full-on action.' Sunday Express 'Higgins is a master of his craft.' Daily Telegraph 'A thriller writer in a class of his own.' Financial Times 'The master craftsman of good, clean adventure.' Daily Mail --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Jack Higgins was a soldier and then a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. 'The Eagle Has Landed' turned him into an international bestselling author and his novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into sixty languages. Many of them have also been made into successful films --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large Print edition edition (July 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708914896
• ISBN-13: 978-0708914892
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,652,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jack Higgins is among the world's most popular authors. Since the publication of The Eagle Has Landed--one of the biggest-selling thrillers of all time--every novel he has written has become an international bestseller, including The White House Connection and Day of Reckoning. He has had simultaneous number-one bestsellers in hardcover and paperback, and has been published in thirty-eight languages worldwide. Many of his books have been made into successful movies, among them The Eagle Has Landed, To Catch A King, and The Valhalla Exchange. He lives with his wife on Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for Higgins fans., October 19, 2000

By 

"bulldog51" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessional (Hardcover)

This book is another in Higgins' Liam Devlin series. Devlin is the former IRA gunman, German intelligence operative and all around charming rogue from such other Higgins works as "The Eagle has Landed" and "Touch the Devil."

This time, Devlin is semi-retired from the IRA and working as a professor of English literature at Trinity College in Dublin. The KGB has placed a deep-cover operative in Ireland, where he's killed both Protestants and Catholics at key times, in order to maintain the state of strife and distrust that exists in Northern Ireland.

But when a Soviet engineer defects to Britain, he has a story to tell. The KGB had set up a town called Drumore in the Ukraine, but it's an exact replica of a market town in Northern Ireland. There, a young man named Mikhail Kelly, son of a Russian mother and Irish revolutionary Sean Kelly, is trained to act as a normal Irishman, and a member of the IRA. Kelly has been in Ireland for twenty years, acting on Moscow's orders to derail any peace initiatives.

Now, the jig is up. But the KGB attempts to put Kelly, his usefulness over, out of commission. They fail, and now Kelly has no where to run and nowhere to hide. In a last act of desperation, he sets his sights on the Pope, who'll soon be visiting England.

Devlin, working in conjunction with the IRA and Brigadier Charles Ferguson, must stop him.

This is a good book for Higgins fans. The beginning of the book seems sort of slow, and never quite builds the tension it intends to. The action picks up near the end, when Mikhail Kelly is unmasked in his assumed identity. Kelly's romp through Great Britain, one step ahead of Devlin and Ferguson, is the best part of the book.

If you like Higgins, and especially Devlin, this one's worth picking up. If you're new to Higgins, don't start here. Start with "Eye of the Storm."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a spy novel should be, August 23, 2006

By 

D. K. Stokes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Confessional Pb (The Classic Jack Higgins Collection) (Paperback)

It's been quite a while since I've read a Jack Higgins book, though his were the first action/adventure, spy novels I ever read. Now I remember why I enjoyed them so much.

A Soviet spy, a very talented actor, code name Cuchulain, has been living in Ireland for 20 years. His task: to foster unrest. To this end, he's been part of the IRA, but he also works for the other side--whichever will make the situation in Ireland worse.

British Intelligence learns of this from a defector, and has to work in conjunction with the IRA and the only two people who can identify him: the defector and the foster daughter of a high-ranking Soviet official, a concert pianist who was just a child when Cuchulain killed her father.

The story has several twists, as our heroes try one avenue after another to find and stop the elusive and deadly Cuchulain. By the end of the story, the Soviets are after him as well.

The Good:
Jack Higgins's writing style. It's so transparent, there's nothing between the reader and the story.
The premise. It's intriguing and chilling to think that one man, in the right place, at the right time, with the right training, could cause so much havoc.
The plot and pacing. Every time one avenue of investigation or attack is closed off, we veer down another, always increasing the tension.
The characters. While this isn't by any means an in-depth character study, the characters are well-rounded and understandable individuals the reader can care about.


The Bad:
It's quite obviously an older book, with dated references, particularly those to the Soviet Union.
Cuchulain's cover identity was fairly obvious early on.


The Verdict:
This is what a spy novel should be: exciting, edge-of-your-seat suspense and action, plenty of twists and turns, and characters and consequences you can care about.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An example of how thrillers should be written., August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Confessional (Paperback)

This book is an old favorite of mine. A good plot and true human characters make this yarn a great read. Higgins is a master at very quickly setting the scene, giving the reader a clear idea of where the action is taking place. He introduces the characters without beating about the bush and sends them on a ride that grips them and the reader from the first page to the last.