The Savage Day [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Stephen Rea (Author), Jack Higgins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1988

A thriller which focuses on World War Two hero Simon Vaughan who is freed twenty years later from a Greek prison to assist in a different kind of battle.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'First class!packed with action, atmosphere and ingenuity' Belfast Telegraph 'Hightly topical!highly inventive' Evening Standard 'Among the greats of the high--adventure storytellers' Evening News --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

5 1-hour cassettes --This text refers to an alternate Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Chivers Audio Books; Unabridged edition (February 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745160182
• ISBN-13: 978-0745160184
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,613,842 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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another faultless thriller by Higgins, May 2, 2001

By 

snowy "Lorne Vallen" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Savage Day (Paperback)

In the introduction, Higgins wrote that this is one of his personal favourite and after reading it, I can see why.

The story is simple : an ex-Brit élite soldier, Simon Vaughan, was given choice of 15 years in a most undesirable prison, or a dirty job on behalf of Her Majesty's government. The job consisted of infiltrating the IRA, posing as an arms dealer, locate a shipment of gold stolen by the IRA to be used as the war-chest, neutralise the threat of a certain Michael Cork who masterminded the heist.

The development is anything but. From the start, it was a game of deadly deception between the G-men and the IRAs, not just one, but 2 competing factions. Simon found Michael Cork too cautious to get near, and had to deal through the latter's niece Norah, a Harvard-trained doctor who had seen too much death, and her bodyguard Binnie, still believing in an honourable war. Frank Barry, leader of the rival IRA faction, also wants the gold, and the arms, and seems to shadow Simon and his group at every step.

Through their conversation, readers cannot help but feel sad at the state of affairs - it had definitely gone beyond where any side can claim higher moral grounds, yet it cannot seem to stop or the victims might just lose any cause to go on living with their pain. Almost everyone has a decent reason for what they do, whether it be the IRA or the British government. And almost everyone has their hand in some unforgivable misdeed.

Higgins set out to write from his personal experiences and of those around him and he succeeded in describing the situation as a no-win for anyone but pain for everyone. It was also a warning against simplifying the heroes and the villains, but also to focus on the real victims, people who had to live with the bombings and shootings while simply trying to lead a normal live.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Higgins At It Again, April 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Savage Day (Hardcover)

Jack Higgins has created some wonderful characters, starting back with Liam Devlin in the Eagle Has Landed. He has used the device of rescuing a potential lead character from prison or death sentences in the past and Simon Vaughn appears to be the newest. The story moved with Higgins' usual pace: action-filled, developed story line and interesting characters. Worthy of a read.