Midnight Runner [Large Print] [Paperback]

Jack Higgins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2, 2003

At the end of Higgins' electrifying novel Edge of Danger, the murderous Arab/English Rashid family lay decimated -- but not extinct. For British agent Sean Dillon, that may have been a fatal error. After her brothers are killed one by one, the beautiful and fabulously wealthy Lady Kate Rashid swears vengeance on all who have harmed her family. Never mind the acts of villainy they perpetrated or attempted -- they were her brothers, and her enemies would pay. Sean Dillon, White House operative Blake Johnson, the President of the United States himself . . . their time was coming, and only she knew how -- or when.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

British agent Sean Dillon returns in a sequel to 2001's Edge of Danger, in which author Jack Higgins, a consistently solid thriller writer, introduced the intriguing and powerful Arab/English Rashid family. Kate, the only Rashid left after an assassination attempt on the American president foiled by Dillon, has sworn to avenge her family and will do anything to humiliate the United States, including sabotage her own oil fields to cripple America's--and the world's--oil supplies.

The fast-paced action starts with the death of a presidential envoy's daughter and ends with an explosive showdown in the Rashid oil fields. Higgins makes the most of a somewhat thin plot with superb pacing and terrific action sequences. From Dillon's earlier adventures, he brings back Harry and Billy Salter, the agent's "reasonably but not totally respectable" gangster pals; White House operative Blake Johnson; and Sean's boss, General Ferguson. The new characters include a Vietnam war hero who's a roving troubleshooter for President Jake Cazalet, and another villainous Rashid, Kate's American cousin Chauncey. And while Kate seems to be down for the count at the end of this adventure, Dillon and his fans may not have seen the last of her yet. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

"Death is the Midnight Runner" goes the Arab proverb that gives Higgins's latest its name, but the title could as well refer to the book itself, swift and coursing with dark passion. A sequel to last year's electrifying Edge of Danger, this 33rd novel from the bestselling author finds the usual Higgins crew most notably, former IRA enforcer Sean Dillon and his present boss, Gen. Charles Ferguson, head of a super-secret British agency answering only to the prime minister responding to various revenge gambits by the beautiful and fabulously wealthy half-bedu, half-English Lady Kate Rashid, countess of Loch Dhu and head of the Rashid Bedu tribe of Hazar, whose three brothers were killed by Dillon and his comrades in the earlier book, after, among other acts of infamy, a Rashid assassination attempt on U.S. President Jack Cazalet. Kate first goes after U.S. Sen. Daniel Quinn, sent by Cazalet to England to investigate Kate and her operations, by seeking to discredit the senator's daughter in a drug scandal, but the young woman dies from the drugs given her without her knowledge. Quinn, seeking his own revenge, induces Dillon and company to confront Kate, no problem when they learn that her master plan involves blowing up a bridge in Hazar desert, thereby disrupting world oil flow and plunging the globe into economic crisis; and, of course, Kate wants to kill Dillon and his pals as well. The action rolls from grand London hotel dining rooms and Oval Office to the Hazar desert, and mostly it's as clipped and brutal, as credible and steel-hearted as Higgins's best; only the absurd final duel between Dillon and Kate, a showdown that feels more scripted than lived, keeps the novel from matching that best.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 397 pages
• Publisher: Large Print Press; 1 edition (April 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410400905
• ISBN-13: 978-1410400901
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,577,585 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

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, April 25, 2002

By 

Daniel P. McManus (Montgomery Village, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Runner (Hardcover)

I am an unabashed Higgins fan who has tried to get his hands on almost everything he has written. Each springtime I eagerly await the release of his latest effort. In short, my standards for Higgins is high. And that is why I am very disappointed by this book. The characters are two-dimensional and the story flat. It's a shame; the formula was there for a great story. I will still eagerly wait next spring for the next new Higgins novel. But unlike other years, I will not be recommending this year's effort to my friends.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sean Dillon: "As ever was", April 15, 2002

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Runner (Hardcover)

This series of books about the converted IRA killer and his friends is one of my all-time favorites! Let's be frank, however; this is not great literature. The characters are mere brush strokes, there's very little exposition, the plots are see-through, and there always tends to be a happy ending. That being said, the books are just full of non-stop excitement, to the extent that you overlook the flaws in the work. Once you start reading these books, you're hooked from beginning to end, and sometimes it's impossible to put down until you've finished reading, even if it's the wee hours of the morning, and your eyes are burning from lack of sleep! That's the highest accolade I can give a book: that it kept me up way beyond my bedtime. It'll happen to you also.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Should have been a comic book, August 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Midnight Runner (Hardcover)

The Book,Got lost in what should have been the main people
I fell a sleep while reading it only to find I had read a hundred pages.
Not a great piece of work for such a good writer