Customer Reviews

Eye of the Storm (Signet)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book HAS to be one of Jack Higgins' best! As the combined forces of British and French Security Services "set a thief to catch a thief", the adventure gets even more deadly and complicated. At one side there is an Irish-American Martin Brosnan who is an ex-IRA gunman trying to live a decent life and at the other hand there is a ruthless but honorable and charismatic villain, Sean Dillon, whom you can't resist loving. As the hunter becomes the hunted, the reader gets more and more sucked in this great Jack Higgins book which combines his old books (thorough the appearence of his Liam Devlin and mentioning of Frank Barry) to his new ones... And when you are finished, you can't shake the feeling that this WAS actually what REALLY happened during the mortar attack on Number Ten Downing Street on February 7, 1991...

In this Jack Higgins classic which ranks as one of his very best, IRA gun-for-hire Sean Dillon is the protagonist and main character(recurring throughout several Higgins books) who is recruited by Saddam Hussein through French arms dealer Michael Aroun to assassinate the Prime Minister and War Cabinet during the Gulf War. As the plot develops, it is up to American CIA operative Martin Brosnan and head of the PM's clandestine intelligence agency Brigadier Charles Ferguson to stop Dillon when they are tipped off about the threat. Those of us that remember the real-life mortar attack on 10 Downing Street when John Major was in power are presented with a fast-paced account of what might have happened - could it have happened this way? This thought-provoking actioner is well-paced, easy to read and crams in a Clancy-esque story at less than half the length with no unnecessary subplots. A must-read winner!

What separates this book from other "thrillers" is the sheer fast pace and relatively simple plot that rewards readers like a short satisfying lunch rather than a boring 3 course.

Though the characters were very much like before - 1. Brit Intel agents 2. Master-criminal/spy 3. Ambitious larger than life targets - as usual, the British PM 4. Small-time crooks who became untied loose ends that eventually tripped the villain 5. Traitor within the British establishment

There is now of course the introduction of the veteran Liam Devlin, the man who never grew old and moved as he did during the Gulf War as he did during the WW2. His successor is Martin Brosnan, with the same self-effacing humour, a former IRA who through strange circumstances found himself working for British interests.

Sean Dillon though, was unforgivably stupid to have made the errors that eventually led to his failure.

The final question is, is there a criminal in Higgins' novel who is not virtually invincible?

This book is worth the reading, for a quick theory/speculation of how the British War Cabinet survived an almost random assault - the kind which would never have been detected if not for stupid mistakes on the perpetrators.

While the characters echoed those from earlier novels, there is enough variation in the plot to make it interesting.

I have many times viewed a good Jack Higgins novel as a Tom Clancy story written with less than half the words. I'll give it to Jack, he wastes no time getting to the plot and moves it along at a fast clip, too. What we have with 'Eye of the Storm' is a fictional re-telling of the botched bombing of #10 Downing Street in London in the 80's. How was the plot to attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Thatcher hatched? How was it to be executed? AND most importantly: WHO was behind the bombing? This novel gives us an entertaining fictional version of the hows, who's and the why's. Sean Dillon, who ultimately becomes a good guy in future Higgins stories is portrayed as a troubled but highly intelligent IRA strongman who is given the task of killing one of their biggest enemies. The authenticity with which this novel was written makes one wonder whether or not Mr. Higgins actually HAS IRA connections...or is just a very very good author. I'd like to think it was his talent.

Higgins delivers in this whirlwind action-packed thriller. Former IRA enforcer Sean Dillon is about to demolish the whole British War Cabinet. Things don't go as planned, and Dillon is left to make a most daring escape. The charming, witty, bad boy that you can't help but to adore, Sean Dillon, doesn't fret. He performs best under pressure. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that will keep you turning the pages. The pace is swift, the twisting plot is believable, and the ending is a slam dunk!

A must-read!! This was the first Higgin's book I've ever read and it made me wanna read all of his novels. I think it's one of his best. Sean Dillon, the ruthless but charming and smart hero, is planing the coup of his life: Blowing up Downing Street 10! The book is pretty exciting and it will fascinate you from the first to the last page!!! "Eye of the storm" is a very gripping novel with a very satisfying and unusual ending!!

In this book, former IRA terrorist turned freelance assassin Sean Dillon attempts to assassinate former PM Maggie Thatcher, then the entire British War Cabinet, all at the behest of a former KGB colonel and an Iraqi-French oil millionaire. British intelligence operatives and two of Dillon's former IRA colleagues are tasked with stopping him.

Dillon is at his best as the charming yet cold-blooded rogue who operates according to his own set of (somewhat twisted) standards. The short appearance by veteran IRA man turned professor Liam Devlin is a welcome addition. The character of Martin Brosnan is not as clear as he could have been. I haven't read any other Higgins books involving him (though I'd very much like to,) so I'm not sure if this is a general problem with the character or just this book's incarnation of him.

All in all, a great introduction to a great character whom you wind up rooting for in spite of yourself.

As the book that first exposes us to Sean Dillon, reading EYE OF THE STORM is pivitol to one's better understanding the Dillon books that follow because you get to read more about his background, experience his coldheartedness, and witness his modus operandi.

As for the audio versions, I've had the pleasure of listening to the unabridged version by Patrick Macnee and there is no better reader (or performer) around. The abridged version is OK and definitely better than the downloaded version whose quality made it sound like I was listening to the downloaded audio through string with a tin cup. Their problem seemed to be of the four levels of quality that they could download it in, only the first two were available, with a burnable quality and an MP3 quality not available.

If you're going for the audio versions, get the cassette version and avoid the download so that you can experience Macnee's delightful way of crisply going from one accent to the next.

Eye of the Storm is an early book by a terrific writer, Jack Higgins. It sets up many characters who appear in many subsiquent books by this author. It has lots of action and suspense in the settings of London. Very enjoyable.

Dave

Another great book by the master mystery writer. Book arrived within the given time and was very well packaged. Pricing was very good on this item.