Customer Reviews

JIG.

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

 

 

I can not believe no one else has written a review for this outstanding thriller.

Frank Pagan, the protagonist, is a bruised, battered London cop, whi is assigned to the anti-terrorist squad.

The "Jig" of the title is a well-accomplished Irish killer.

Frank has to catch him.

So, yes: it's a chase story. And it moves. The body count is awesome, the tension is overwhelming. The atmosphere is gritty, sweaty, saeamy. It's real. While it doesn't actually say so in the text, you know that Frank Hagan is a man who farts. He's human. He's damaged: a widower, still in love with his dead wife. He's... eccentric: a Londoner who drives a huge American car and plays 1950s rock and roll LOUD on the car stereo.

The story is a tad dated, but gripping nonetheless. Read it, then read the follow-ups: Jigsaw, and Heat.

They all compare favourably with Nelson Demille's "Cathedral".. enough said?

Jig is the code name of an Irish assassin with a sense of right and wrong that separates him from other IRA hit-men.

Frank Pagan is the Scotland Yard agent assigned to bring him down.

When a ship carrying over a million dollars' worth of money and weapons for the IRA is attacked in the Atlantic, the two adversaries are thrown into a game of intrigue, deception, violence, and trust that Campbell Armstrong has woven into a flawless novel of suspense that will have all readers on the edge of their seats.

It is in New York City that the two meet face-to-face...and the chase begins. Jig doesn't know where to begin looking for the money. Pagan can't convince the FBI to allow him to investigate in his own way. And Ivor McInnes, a Belfast minister, is working on something so deadly that Jig and Pagan are forced to join forces to stop a scheme that will bring the IRA to its knees.

Featuring a conscience-torn ex-priest, the President's brother, and a mysterious woman named Celestine, "Jig" is a riveting page-turner that echoes the dance it is named after. And the faster the dance gets, the harder the book is to put down.

I tripped over this thriller in Heathrow Airport and got hooked on Campbell Armstrong. It is rare to find a book that balances gripping action, three dimensional characters and immersion in current events. But Jig (and its sequel Jigsaw) accompishes this.

Armstrong avoids falling into predictable formulas which keeps the reader involved and on the edge of their chair the whole time.

I read this book, the first time, many many years ago. It's a powerful, intriguing, keep you on the edge kind of book. You will be left with a great appreciation for the creativity and writing ability of this author as he relates through this faceless IRA hitman and a New Cop. This book takes off and doesn't end till the end. Surprise ending is a special treat!

Excellent.I read this book a few years back...I would highly recommend it! .. You will not be disappointed!

Probably the finest thriller about the Irish Troubles written in the last twenty years. The Daily Telegraph (London) called it 'the thriller of the year" in 1987. Currently in its 22nd printing in the UK (Coronet Books