Year of the Tiger (Paul Chavasse) [Paperback]

Jack Higgins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Paul Chavasse | Publication Date: October 1, 1996

Assigned to locate and smuggle Dr. Karl Hoffner out of 1962 Tibet, Paul Chavasse confronts a host of enemies from Chinese occupiers to Soviet agents in his desperate race to secure the West's efforts to be the first to the moon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published under a pseudonym in 1963, Higgins's thriller focuses on the cold war-era space race.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Higgins' twenty-forth book involves the cold war and the space race in 1962. Paul Chavasse is an agent with the Bureau, a section of the British Secret Intelligence Service. He is sent to Chinese-controlled Tibet to find and smuggle out a scientist, Karl Hoffner, living there under house arrest. Hoffner, a brilliant mathematician, has come up with a new concept of space travel infinitely superior to Russia's. Chavasse is, of course, eventually able to outrun, outshoot, and outwit his evil pursuers and save the day for the free world. Like his other novels, this one is loaded with action and adventure; it is Higgins at his best. George Cohen

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042515517X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425155172
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,066,429 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A veteran spook remembers ..., January 16, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Year of the Tiger (Paul Chavasse) (Paperback)

A couple of days before his retirement, Paul Chavasse was approached by a Tibetan monk requesting information on an extremely classified operation he had carried out in 1962, smuggling a brilliant mathematician out of communist Chinese occupied Tibet.

As he recalled his adventure, readers would see Paul Chavasse, who had 3 years before successfully smuggled the Dalai Lama out of Tibet, return in order to extract a 70-year old sickly mathematician. His mission almost ended the moment it began, running into a group of Chinese soldiers and Russian journalist who happened to be passing by as he landed in the remote wilderness of Tibet. His mission was made even harder with the presence of a beautiful Russian house helper Katya in the home of the mathematician, and the relentless diabolically shrewd Colonel Li, commander of the regional Chinese garrison.

Betrayal, torture, deception met Chavasse at every turn. How was he going to return with a sickly geriatric over such long distances of inhospitable terrain at Himalayan altitudes ?

Readers may not get a treat of how harshly beautiful Tibet is, but there is no shortage of excitement as Chavasse fought to remain true to his mission. Unlike other books where the adversaries are depicted rather one-dimensionally, Colonel Li posed as a most worthy foe, Jack Higgins being able to portray him as having realistic mind of his own.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fast paced, fun read., September 11, 2007

By 

Michael G. "mikefromrochester" (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Year of the Tiger (Paul Chavasse) (Paperback)

Paul Chavasse has had a long and distinguished career in British intelligence. He is literally on the eve of his retirement when two rather remarkable events occur in rapid succession. He is approached, in person, by none other than Prime Minister John Major who begs him to stay on. Then he receives an unexpected visit from a robed Buddhist monk who engages him in conversation about a harrowing adventure he had in Tibet over 30 years before.

The story of that remote adventure provides the bulk of the narrative to Year of the Tiger by Jack Higgins. Told in the third person though from Chavasse's point of view, this is a fast paced tale with plenty of action and a number of unexpected twists.

The year is 1962 and Chavasse is called upon to rescue an Albert Schweitzer like doctor who is under house arrest in Chinese occupied Tibet. Chavasse defies all the odds as he struggles to get the elderly humanitarian and his beautiful housekeeper across the border to the safety of Kashmir. Not only must he overcome the brutally harsh and thin aired Tibetan terrain, he must also outsmart the thoroughly malevolent Colonel Li and the soldiers in his command.

Though the plotting is rather far fetched, I found Year of the Tiger to be a pretty good action-adventure novel. A 4 star effort, recommended to readers who enjoy fast paced action with a few surprises along the way.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An update of a Higgins classic, May 23, 2000

By 

Larry Eischen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Year of the Tiger (Paul Chavasse) (Paperback)

This book is basically a rewrite of an earlier book by Higgins. it features one of his early heroes Paul Chavasse, a British agent. Paul has smuggled the Dalai Lama out of Tibet and must go back to get a Russian space scientist. I found the book very similar in tone to the Quiller series by Adam Hall. Excellent 60s style espionage tale.