Customer Reviews

Night of the Fox

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

 

 

This book is one of my personal favourites, even among the works of Jack Higgins.

The discovery of old photographs of British war hero Harry Martineau dressed in a Nazi uniform serves as the starting point for this fast-paced historical thriller. Set on the Channel Islands during the Second World War, "Night of the Fox" revolves around Martineau's assembly of a team of doppelgangers who, posing as an elite German squad, are sent to retrieve a captured British officer - a man who knows the exact time and place of the Allied invasion of France. Things fall apart when one of Martineau's men drowns and is discovered to be wearing a R.A.F. uniform under his German one. Higgins skilfully keeps the story moving forward, and the remembered tale of heroism and sacrifice is told with just a hint of nostalgia, in a tone appropriate to the sad chain of events its heroes endure.

It's near the end of World War II, and Hugh Kelso is an American officer who knows important information about the pending invasion in France when his boat is sunk in the English Channel. His rescue raft washes up on the shore of the isle of Jersey, which is presently under German occupation. Hugh is lucky to be rescued by Helen de Ville, a Jersey resident who hides him in her home and gets a message to the Allies that she has him. A rescue team is sent, as it is imperative that Hugh Kelso be kept out of German hands because of the information he has about the invasion.

The British send in Harry Martineau, who can perfectly imitate a German officer and has nerves of steel, and young Sarah Drayton, a nurse who can pass for his French girlfriend who also happens to be Helen de Ville's niece. With their forged papers, Harry a/k/a Standartenfuhrer Max Vogel and Sarah fly to France to meet with the Resistance there, and then go on to Jersey to play their parts. At the same time, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel needs to be in two places at once, so he sends an imposter to Jersey to take his place. Rommel's double and Standartenfuhrer Vogel cross paths and make each other nervous, and Vogel has also raised some suspicions with the powers that be on Jersey.

The story moves from Rommel's imposter, to Harry and Sarah and their friends at de Ville Place, to the German contingent on the island, and cruises along at an easy pace while the danger slowly builds. Things happened that I knew were going to cause trouble, yet the story ambled along in an easy manner, which kept me turning the pages and eagerly anticipating being able to pick it back up every time I had to put it down. I've always enjoyed a good World War II story, and Jack Higgins seems to have a special flair for the era. I not only felt like I was right there on Jersey, but in the rooms with these characters, who were all warm, real people I would want to know. There's something incredibly romantic about the World War II era, with the black market, the bartering, the danger, and the basic lifestyle most people were reduced to as the world at large went off the rails. This book in particular showed a glimpse of life under occupation, and the wonderful human spirit that can prevail in such conditions. Though Jack Higgins has been writing books for a long time, I'm fairly new to them, and I consider myself lucky that there are so many more waiting for me.

This was the first Jack Higgins book that I've read, and likely not my last. This book was easy to read and the action was consistent throughout.

I do think Higgins could have done more to develop his characters. I don't feel that I really got to know the book's most exciting character, Harry Martineau.

If you have read some of the authors books in the past you have a good idea of what you are going to get. An easy to read and understandable book that is full of action. Because of this I am starting to stay away from his books because I am looking for books with a little more depth. With that said I did fall back into my old habits and read this after picking it up at a sale. He really delivers on a fast paced action book and it seams like he is trying to expand some and use more main characters. For a Higgins book this is pretty good, I am still giving it a bit of a knock because I think with as much experience as the author has he could give us more character development.

Leave it to Mr. Higgins to take a true piece of history, imagine a healthy fiction as part of it, add colorful (yet improbable) characters, and you are off on an entertaining romp. The most far-fetched but fun characters are the German Jew entertainer turned soldier who uses his acting skills to take on the role of Erwin Rommel, the Italian Count who is an impressive Naval man, and the Finnish fighter ace. All are thrust into a milieu that began with the rescue of an American Colonel who knows too much about the Allies invasion of Europe. The romance and dialogue grows stilted, the action not as thrilling as many of Higgins' efforts, yet, it still makes the time pass in a pleasing way.

Jack Higgins is a masterful writer who revels in World War II intrigue evident in this interweaved story. The stakes are high: the imminent invasion of Normandy. It's May 1944. Colonel Kelso is injured and marooned on the German-occupied island of Jersey. The British select Harry Martineau to either get Kelso out - or execute him to keep the secret. Martineau enlists the help of a variety of characters - his French mistress, an Italian naval officer and a Jewish German paratrooper.

Higgins' skills are a masterful ability to deceive and counterdeceive his character - and the reader - in a journey of excitement and adventure. His characters are well-drawn. The pace is relentless. The stakes for Normandy are high and well-known. As a companion to his earlier book, "The Eagle Has Landed", Higgins continues in a fine tradition of WW 2 Intrigue.

Michael Mandaville, Author "Stealing Thunder"

This book really made me feel like i was there with the characters, and speaking of the characters they are so discriptive and actually have depth to them. I'm a fan of world war II and this book brings it closer to your doorstep. I love the storyline jack higgans uses to get the reader into the story and the characters. I love the event this book is based on because it was such a pivital point in history. After all jack higgans is my favorite author, I hope he becomes yours also.

I have never read such an exciting book. The reason I bought this book was not for a fun but for studying english. But, for Mr.Higgins's marvelous talent, I could enjoy the story itself. What an excellent time I had. I want to read Mr.Higgins's another novel to brush up my english.

I've read this book 3 times and it is still action packed till the very end. Higgins is a great writer and I can't wait for his new book to come out.

It seems that Jack Higgins was trying to change his writing style in this book. He got several unique characters at the same time, while each one is as vivid as some in a single book. I hate to use breath-taking to describe this book, but surely it is.