Day of Reckoning

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

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0399145850, Hardcover)

A death in Brooklyn sends reverberations around the world in Jack Higgins's thrilling new adventure.

Higgins's novels of honor, bravery, and irresistible intrigue delight millions of readers every year, but few of his books pack the sheer narrative power of Day of Reckoning.

"Katherine Johnson was a couple of feet under dark green water. Her arms floated to each side, her legs were open, the eyes stared into eternity. There was a look of surprise on her face and she was achingly beautiful in death."

Journalist Katherine Johnson made the mistake of getting too close to the secrets of international crime boss Jack Fox--but Fox made the mistake of killing her. Katherine's ex-husband is Blake Johnson, head of the clandestine White House department known as The Basement, and with the President's permission, the former FBI agent is about to take revenge. Wherever the money trail leads--New York, England, Ireland, the Middle East--Johnson and his Irish colleague, Sean Dillon, plan to hit Fox where it hurts the most, by cutting his illegal businesses to shreds, until Fox stands defenseless before his enemies.

But Fox did not become powerful by letting his enemies get that close. If Johnson and Dillon want to take him on, they will have to face his own brand of revenge. And it is a revenge every bit as deadly as their own. Day of Reckoning is brilliant suspense--the master working truly at the height of his powers. . . .

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0006514359, Paperback)

The incomparable Jack Higgins returns to the bestseller lists, launching undercover enforcer Sean Dillon into his most spectacular adventure yet -- a no-holds-barred battle with a Mafia don. It's all action and suspense as Sean Dillon and his secret intelligence colleagues seek to help American White House security insider Blake Johnson avenge the death of his ex-wife, a reporter murdered for getting too close to a Mafia story. In London, Beirut and Ireland, the daredevil friends are prepared to risk everything as they combine to thwart the ever more desperate ambition of Mafia frontman Jack Fox. Here in his eighth adventure, former IRA terrorist turned British Government enforcer Sean Dillon is established as one of the most popular characters in modern fiction, while Jack Higgins has an unrivalled position as the biggest name in thriller writing around the world. Widely hailed as an outstanding return to form, Day of Reckoning raced straight into the top ten of the Sunday Times bestseller list in hardback