The Killing Ground (Sean Dillon) (Hardcover)

by Jack Higgins (Author) "BLAKE JOHNSON WAS RECEIVED WITH COURTESY AT THE American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, as befitted President Jake Cazalet's most important security adviser, the head of..." (more)
Key Phrases: reefer coat, Hal Stone, Hussein Rashid, Molly Rashid (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
After almost two score books, many of them bestsellers, Higgins (Without Mercy) knows how to fire up a thriller. In the first half-dozen pages, he establishes his London locale; reintroduces recurring lead Sean Dillon, the colorful former IRA man turned British intelligence antiterrorism op; has Sean shoot a smalltime hood's ear off; and intimates there are much bigger fish to fry beyond the hood's Russian employer. The real villain is a Muslim extremist of the al-Qaeda variety: Hussein Rashid, aka the Hammer of God, and one of the most successful assassins alive, with 27 certified kills of American and British soldiers and Iraqi politicians. Hussein has his sights set on Charles Ferguson, head of British intelligence. It's a longstanding grudge, complicated by the recent kidnapping of Hussein's promised bride, his 13-year-old cousin Sara, who was earlier kidnapped by Hussein himself. The proceedings are complicated; it helps if the reader is a veteran of this long-running series. But it's all pure Higgins: almost every shot hits square between the eyes, and all the characters are hard lads indeed. (Jan.)
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Product Description
The master of suspense returns, with a chilling novel of modern terrorism and revenge.

For intelligence operative Sean Dillon, it begins with a routine passport check. But the events it will lead to will be as bloody as any he has ever known.

The man he stops at Heathrow Airport is Caspar Rashid, born and bred in England but with family ties to a Bedouin tribe fiercely wedded to the old ways, as Rashid has just found out to his pain. His thirteen-year-old daughter, Sara, has been kidnapped by Rashid's own father and taken to Iraq to be married to a man known as the Hammer of God, one of the Middle East's most feared terrorists. Dillon has had his own run-ins with that clan, and when the distraught man begs Dillon for help, he sees a chance to settle some old scores-but he has no idea of the terrible chain of events he is about to unleash, nor of the implacable enemies he is about to gain. Before his journey is done, many men will die-and Dillon may be one of them.

Filled with dark suspense, driven by characters of complexity and passion, this novel once again proves that in the words of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Jack Higgins is the dean of intrigue novelists. He has no equal."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399153802
• ISBN-13: 978-0399153808
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #284,869 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sadly predictable, February 24, 2008

By	Stephen M. Zielinski (Depew, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Killing Ground, The (Sean Dillon) (Audio CD)

I couldn't believe Mr. Higgins could write yet another book with the same characters...Dillon, Roper, Ferguson and the Salters fighting the same tired old foes...the IRA and now al-qaeda. Yet here it is, with all the predictable character "invulnerabilities" that his other books have. Dillon never misses a shot (they're always between the eyes), the Salters always get the bad guys and then have a drink, and Roper's computers always find the other guy's flaws first. Why not have some reality to this type of work? Perhaps Mr. Higgins could come up with some plot where these ageless characters take their leave, and stay that way. Otherwise, they are just as stale as an open bottle of Mr. Dillon's Krug champagne. This is my opinion only.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Good, March 3, 2008

By	R. Oppenheimer "Oppy" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read just about all of Jack Higgins books and this could be the worst of them all!! Good plot but it appears that this was a hurry up and get it done book. Buy it used !

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weak ending detracts from rest of story, June 13, 2008

By	Mystery/Thriller Fan (Eastern USA) - See all my reviews

I am a fan of Higgins, particularly the Sean Dillon series. His returning main characters are in typical form, including a lot of shooting and a lot of drinking. (Note to other reviewers, if we had to kill people as part of our jobs, we'd probably want to drink, too.)
I did wish several of the characters had been given more time to develop. I was left feeling I wanted to know them better to understand their motivations for their actions. My biggest disappointment was the ending. After all the in-depth descriptions of the events in the rest of the book, the critical events at the end of the book seemed rushed and poorly detailed. It felt like Mr. Higgins got tired and just wanted to finish. This won't stop me from looking forward to the next book in the series.