Customer Reviews

Edge of Danger

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

See story summary above.

No doubt an action packed story that'll take you from spots in England to spots in the Mideast. Pure action all the way. If that's all your looking for, look no further. As far as details and dialogue are concerned, there is very little to sink your teeth into, which is typical for a Higgins novel. Though short and to the point, I do enjoy his books. I would match super hero Sean Dillon against any fictitious villian. Good escapist fiction and quick reading make this book enjoyable.

Recommended.

Taut and tense, an explosion of sequential thrill packed events - these are hallmarks of the popular novels springing from the pen of the seemingly inexhaustible Jack Higgins. "Edge Of Danger," his 32nd suspense laden powerhouse is no exception.

The Belfast born author now brings us a harrowing tale with former IRA member, Sean Dillon, confronted by the Rashid's, an English/Arab family sworn to avenge the killing of one of their own by a Russian diplomat who was driving drunk. When the diplomat is provided immunity by Russia and America, vengeance is sought with the life of the American president.

Action swerves throughout the world until a terrifying finale takes place in a remote castle.

Patrick Macnee, whom many will remember for his portrayal of John Steed on the hit TV series The Avengers, has the perfect voice for this reading. His control, accents, and delivery are superb, bringing a larger than life story to even more vivid realization.

Let's face it; this book is not great literature, but I don't think that the author meant it to be. What he wanted to do was entertain his readers, and that is what he does, with a bang! I enjoy relaxing with an exciting, page-turning work every so often, and Mr. Higgins' Sean Dillon series is the perfect read. Yesterday was a snowy day, the office was closed, and I started this book right after lunch. The plot kept me going throughout the day, and I finished the book before turning out the light and going to bed. I will admit that, at times, Dillon's almost flawless performance becomes a tad annoying, but he is such a cheeky rascal that I can overlook that possible failing. It's just good to sink into a book, and let the author take you where he wishes. The characters are fairly engaging, and I get interested in finding out how Dillon and friends are going to make everything right in the end. As long as Mr. Higgins keeps writing these tales, I will keep reading them!

Oh, man...Jack Higgins, where have you gone? Eye of the Storm, the introduction of Sean Dillon, is perhaps Higgins' best work. Starting with The President's Daughter, however, it's been all down hill.
It's sort of like when your favorite All-star ballplayer starts hitting below .250, and never snaps out of it.
I know fiction is fiction, but anyone who has even the most basic understanding of world politics will have a tough time buying into the plot.
Higgins has a history of characters whose families have dual ethnicities, as does the main antagonist in this story. But Paul Rashid's background -- half Arab, half English, and he was an SAS soldier in the Gulf War -- doesn't jive with some of the things he does in the present setting of the story. Like Rashid telling all of the Arab fringe groups to start kicking up a fuss. Arafat can't control these people, but they'll listen to some guy who fought AGAINST Arabs? Don't know about that one, Jack old boy.
The book boils down to the Rashids sending one hit squad after the next to knock off Dillon and his cronies, Dillon of course foiling the attempts and wasting the hitmen, and then Dillon and Ferguson et al bumping into the Rashids the next day in a nice restaurant and chatting about it.

Here's the whole three hundred pages, in a nutshell: Supercool IRA hitman Sean Dillon plays some piano (cigarette hanging from lip, Hoagy Carmichael-style), cracks wise (Irish-style) with the resident skirt, kicks a** (with style, of course), and has a Bushmills. Then he goes somewhere to eat and talk, cracks wise, kicks a**, and has a Bushmills. Subsequently, he (inexplicably) gets into an underwater speargun duel, kicks a**, and manages to find a Bushmills in some hellhole in Yemen (no clean water, but they've got Bushmills). Then he takes a break, and has a Bushmills. Then he crash lands his plane after it gets machine-gunned by baddies, wins a three-page mini-Beau Geste gunfight at a deserted desert fort, cracks wise, and--even though he has to walk a few miles to get it--has a Bushmills. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Ludicrous, flat, and uninvolving, from a writer who's capable of much more (The Eagle Has Landed, The Eagle Has Flown, Storm Warning, etc.). And does J.H. own stock in Bushmills' distillery, or WHAT???? Have a bourbon and soda once in a while, for the love of god.

The premise of this book is that someone who doesn't care if he dies is unstoppable.

Mr. Higgins's invincible hero in Edge of Danger is the familiar Sean Dillon, ex-IRA, who continues his role in earlier Higgins books of foiling terrorists on behalf of the British government. The terrorists here come from a wealthy, influential British family (the Daunceys) with Bedouin roots (the Rashids) as well. The Rashids employ IRA and Arab mercenaries to execute their plans, but get their own hands pretty dirty in the process.

The book is marred by several problems. First, Dillon's inevitable success makes the action seem redundant. Second, there's too much action crammed into the story (enough for about four books) so you don't get the careful build-up of tension and then relief that makes action thrilling to read about. You just get another punch in the stomach, and move on to the next. Third, this book is about meglomania on such a grand scale as to be like looking inside an insane asylum. That robs the story of validity. Fourth, the villains are cut out of such thin cardboard that all you can tell about them is that they are crazy, rich, and stupid. The threat from their plots is hard to take seriously. Fifth, the book relies on references to products and brands as the primary means to establish mood and setting, a weak method to employ in such a sketchy book.

I was surprised by how far Mr. Higgins has strayed from his roots as a thoughtful thriller writer. In Edge of Danger, he has almost written a satire of his own work. In fact, the book is almost a crossover into the worst of the post-Ian Fleming 007 books.

The point he wants to make is that honesty and loyalty are what count, rather than one's ancestors, money, or influence. That message seems distorted by the fact that Sean Dillon turns out to be available to run errands for the rich without fully understanding what he is facilitating. What good are honesty and loyalty if they can be suborned by almost anyone, including the creeps in this book? This early betrayal of the Dillon character by Mr. Higgins sets up a reason for Dillon to be angry and want revenge, but even that's not carried off well. Between violent episodes, the good guys and the bad guys are having civil little chats with one another suggesting that the bad guys should mend their ways.

Unlike many series, you could skip this book and not miss a single important development about Sean Dillon and his colleagues. If you do decide to read Edge of Danger, set a time limit and read quickly. That will make the experience more exciting by giving you a real source of suspense. Will you finish the book before your time runs out?

After you finish the book (if you insist on reading it), I suggest that you contemplate what makes thrillers thrilling. What draws you to this genre? How can you tell if a book will meet that promise from reviews? Which reviewers are reliable and which praise everything? How can you evaluate whether to finish such a book once you've started? What face do you want evil to show, in order to make the triumph of good rewarding?

Seek out the spread of goodness in all that you do!

Many years ago Jack Higgins wrote The Eagle Has Landed, one of the best adventure novels of my lifetime. Then he wrote Storm Warning, an extraordinarily good adventure novel. In total he has written 29 adventure books. Most have been pot-boilers (a nineteenth century term for light novels you read while waiting for the pot to boil).

Higgins developed a set of characters involved in counter espionage and trying to stop bad guys from succeeding. In the post cold war world he has found an increasing range of bad guys. Edge of Danger is worth reading as a reminder of several key realities of our time. There are many people with massive resources who may decide they dislike us for reasons of their own. They may have backgrounds that give them remarkable knowledge of and contacts in our society. A free society is remarkably open and vulnerable.

The details of this book are not believable but the overlying sense of vulnerability and threat are as real as the Taliban destroying priceless historic monuments and Osama bin Laden still holding press conferences eight years after the United States began trying to knock him out of the terrorist business. If you are looking for a quick read in a world of adventure and danger this will get your mind off whatever you have been worried about and remind you of the real threats the CIA and the FBI have to worry about. I look forward to Higgins' next work.

this book is great could not stop when i started. can not wait for the next book.

As most people readers know, Jack Higgins has written many fine action-packed books. However, this book reads like a twelve-year-old wrote it. The characters are so transparent they could be ghosts.

The author and his publishing house must really need the money to rip of the public in this manner. This is the last book I read by this author. One can only rest on his laurels for so long. I'm glad this book was handed down to me or I would have written a really nasty review.

Reading this book was a waste of time. The story was very predictable and the characters were dropped at author's will. The author builds such a strong image about Paul Rashid that I thought there would be an interesting encounter between Paul and Dillon, but Higgins disappointed terribly. Higgins has divagated from Paul Rashid's "pledge" to avenge his mother's death. The cover of this book is very misleading, beware!. NY times bestseller - you be the judge