The Khufra Run

If you’re looking for an old-fashioned pulp-style adventure tale to lose yourself in, you can’t do better than this early Jack Higgins novel. A lot of times when a writer becomes as famous as Higgins, earlier stuff that is best left forgotten is repackaged when it might have been better left as a memory. Not the case here, this is fantastic — for what it is. And what it is, for those who’ve read enough to know what I’m talking about, is a modern updating of a Spicy Adventure tale from the pulp magazines.

After reading this — make that devouring this in huge gulps — I have to believe, whether he would admit it or not, that Higgins had been reading Spicy Adventure pulps and watching 1930s and 1940s “B” adventure films show more when he decided to write one of his own. Though the setting is the 1970s, and one of our heroes has some drug and drinking issues related to having served in Vietnam, this tale could easily have appeared as far back as the early 1930s it is so timeless.

Jack Nelson is the somewhat weary expatriate, using his Canadian floatplane the Otter, to eek out a living in Spain. As the story begins, Jack is picking up a coffin in Cartagena and flying it to Ibiza. Upon landing, it isn’t long before he almost runs over a very lovely naked girl in the moonlight. Jack immediately rescues her from some very nasty fellows indeed. Turns out, however, that Claire is not only annoying, but she has tunnel vision concerning a religious treasure which went down on a plane with her father in the nearly inaccessible Khufra. And oh yeah, she’s a nun!

You can just about guess the rest. Despite misgivings, something other than the money compels Jack to help her recover them. His old Vietnam pal Harry Turk has a boat which comes in handy when the Otter is sunk, and as long as Turk can keep the supply of - er - medicine flowing so he doesn’t have to dwell on what happened to him over there, he’s A-plus help when the bad guys are around. And there are some very nasty people who would rather Claire Bouvier not take possession of the Lady of Tizi Benou, and all that gold. What would a nun do with that much money anyway?

Higgins gives us some colorful supporting characters to augment the equally colorful locations. A sexy — and insistent that Jack do something about it — faded Hollywood star, a tiny beach hippie named Big Bertha who is as easy on the eyes as she is easy, a very BAD Algerian named Taleb who thinks nothing of torture, and even some Husa horseman in the remote jungles surrounding the treasure keep the pages flying in this fast escapist read.

This is really pulp ; the plus being that it’s being told by someone who can really write. Higgins uses some strange sentence structure to be sure, hopping around as though he’s completely unaware of the Oxford comma, or that a period could be used between thoughts. Despite this, the story is so much fun, and the narrative so fast-flowing, the reader just doesn’t care.

If you enjoy a fast, fun read that you don’t have to think about — and it really is best that you don’t — or you’re a devotee of the spicy adventure pulps of the 1930s and 1940s, then you’ll probably love this as much as I did. If you picked this up because of Higgins’ name on the book and have never read a spicy pulp adventure, and want Sean Dillon, just avoid it, and let the rest of us who enjoy a good adventure yarn with some mild spice revel in it. show less

This book found its way into my house; I'd heard of Jack Higgins, so decided to give it a go. It wasn't bad, but about as straight-forward and linear a book as I've ever read. I don't know if that's normal for his books or if it's a reflection of its age (copyright 1972). And some of the language was odd as well. Again, maybe this is due to its age or the fact that Higgins was British.

Englishman Jack Nelson, a Vietnam pilot, now lives in Ibiza and nearly runs into a woman who turns out to be a nun. Years earlier, she'd been in a place crash carrying much gold and a special statue. Only she knows the exact coordinate. She wants to recover the treasure and donate to charity. She and Jack enlist Jack's American friend Turk, a Navy vet, and show more severe drug/alcohol addict, for his expert diving skills. Of course, there are baddies who also know of the treasure. Kidnapping ensues and the chase is on.

Again, it's not a bad story, but it also didn't age well. I couldn't help but think of some of early Bond's silly lines, especially when they're directed at (or about) women. show less

Jack Nelson is a freelance pilot with the horrors of the Vietnam War in his not too distant past. One night when he is driving home a naked girl runs out in the front of his headlights being chased by a group of young men. She turns out to be Sister Bouvier and enlists Nelson and his best friend Turk’s help in recovering an airplane loaded with treasure from the deadly Khufra marshes.

What unfolds is a tale of deceit, death and hardship.

Higgins is in familiar territory with this novel and it has a striking similarity to ‘A sad wind from the sea’ an earlier book written under the pseudonym of Harry Patterson. A quick and enjoyable read, with more than one unexpected twist.

A tried and somewhat over-used story of a broken military veteran who finds himself once again battling old demons both real and psychological. The story is held together with just enough twists and turns to keep it interesting to the end.