Day of Reckoning (Sean Dillon) [Paperback]

Jack Higgins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sean Dillon | Publication Date: February 6, 2001

The master of intrigue and suspense reunites the powerhouse team of Blake Johnson and Sean Dillon from his explosive bestseller The White House Connection to bring down an international crime boss-and this time, there's more at stake than duty and honor.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Jack Higgins's new Mafia, no one wears gold chains or carries a tommy gun. Deals are done quietly and often resemble those in the "legal" business world. In fact, the tentacles of the Cosa Nostra extend into the most public of industries, including TV, film, and publishing. When Truth magazine reporter Katherine Johnson starts looking too closely at the life of millionaire socialite and mob boss Jack Fox, however, the veneer of gentility dissolves immediately. Her body is found one morning floating in the East River, and the coroner suspects foul play.

Wrenched by the pain of his loss, her ex-husband--former FBI agent Blake Johnson--decides to take the law into his own hands. In fact, as part of the secret White House department known as The Basement, Blake actually has the president's permission to take out Fox in the best way he sees fit. As Blake begins his Fox hunt, Day of Reckoning evolves into an international duel between the masterminds of justice and criminality. Blake struggles to exact his revenge by slowly undermining his opponents' businesses. And Fox matches him at every turn.

While the contest between the power brokers is compelling on the surface, Higgins is unable to infuse his characters with enough life to make the story as engaging as it might have been. The heroes and villains borrow heavily from the classic James Bond play book, complete with brandy snifters, brandname cigarettes, Saville Row suits, and secret, world-dominating empires. It's fun to read as a sort of homage to thrillers of the early Cold War period, but Day of Reckoning never matches the success of such earlier Higgins greats as The Eagle Has Landed and seems to fall all too frequently into cliché. --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

There's a jaunty, even slapdash feel to the storytelling in Higgins's exciting new novel featuring his longtime antihero, Sean Dillon. And that's fine. The clipped dialogue and minimal exposition suit their subject well, for Dillon--once the IRA's most feared enforcer, now working for British secret police--and his cohorts are men (and, occasionally, women) of few words and swift action. Higgins's new plot is as direct as his characters. The journalist wife of Dillon's old comrade Blake Johnson is killed in Brooklyn on orders of her latest object of investigation, Jack Fox, heir apparent to the powerful Solazzo crime family. The law can't touch Fox, but Blake and Dillon can and will. Aided by Dillon's black-ops boss, Brigadier Charles Ferguson, and his crew, plus a father/son team of British gangsters, Blake and Dillon strike again and again at Fox's wallet: shutting down his London gambling den; sinking a boat laden with his gold; destroying a cache of his weapons in Ireland; foiling his plans for a major robbery in London. A subplot in which Fox's uncle, the Solazzo don, spies on his nephew with increasing displeasure adds dimension to the linear narrative and leads to a clever denouement. The action is sleek and intensely absorbing, but the supreme pleasure is in those Higgins celebrates--tarnished warriors who value honor over life and who get the job done no matter what the cost. BOMC main selection; simultaneous Putnam Berkley Audio. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (February 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425178773
• ISBN-13: 978-0425178775
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,210 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

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One Book Too Many, April 3, 2000

By 

Malcolm Vineberg "Mal" (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Day of Reckoning (Hardcover)

I must preface my remaks with two facts. First I have read every one of Jack Higgins books and two I always buy them when they come out, I don't wait for the deep discount.

That being said, Mr Higgins has always written wonderful adventure books without the need for graphic sexual descriptions or terrible violance, just what was needed to make the plot work. I am by far no prude I love descriptive books.

Day of Reckoning is so sad. Here is an author who has had it all. He should have quit period. He lumps all the characters from his previous book into a series of impossible plots. They happen so fast that they make no sense. Had I not read his other books all these characters would be meaningless, he introduces them with, I guess, the premises that the reader has read all his books. There are so many new characters that the reader can't remember who goes with what. Irish, English, Maffia, American, Arab, Jew and so forth. They just keeping turning up.

The saddest is the lack of skill in the plot and the horrible dialogue that is all through the book. You get the impression that he wants it over, I don't blame him. Who could not figure out who wins and who loses in each mini adventure. One "hero" gets shot in the arm other then that the good guys always win.

The first chapter doesn't make sense in relation to the book. Why is it there?

Please don't waste your money and encourge Mr Higgins to write any more. For me it is like losing an old friend.

I saw how fast it hit the best seller list and his name was what did that not the book. That is the advantage of fame, it's too bad he used his to sell this disaster. I am sure that his reputation was the mittigating factor with his publisher.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sean Dillon to the rescue (again!), March 17, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Day of Reckoning (Hardcover)

I call this type of book "popcorn for the mind", a refreshing mental interlude between my reading of weightier tomes. It requires no mental effort, just page turning every minute or so, to race along with the plot. It's not great literature, but I don't think Mr. Higgins intends it to be, he simply wants to entertain his audience, and to me, that's what he does! More of Dillon and Co., please!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, but not Higgins at his best., March 23, 2000

By 

Matt Harm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Day of Reckoning (Hardcover)

After reading all of Higgins' books, and enjoying especially the ones including Dillon and his comrades. I found that his last several books about the ex-terrorist seem merely to be continuations of his previous Dillon thrillers. DAY OF RECKONING seems to be a mere continuation of his previous books. When reading the books in order I felt as if I was just going from one chapter to another. His most recent books have seemed to lack the originality of his earlier Dillon editions. I am a big Jack Higgins fan, and will always be. This book is not bad, it is just too similar to his previous ones. There are only so many different terrorist situations to write about, and in two of Higgins' previous books, Dillon has already taken on the Mafia. It would be neat however if Higgins wrote about Dillon back in the day when he was an IRA gunman and/or an international terrorist. Overall, I would suggest reading this book if you enjoy a good old-fashioned thriller.