The White House Connection

by Jack Higgins

Sean Dillon (book 7)

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A mercenary and a black ops agent team up to stop an assassin from derailing the Irish peace process in this classic New York Times-bestselling thriller. A silver-haired assassin stalks the streets of Manhattan. She's killing her way through a list of targets: members of a secret IRA faction known as the Sons of Erin. While she's only killed four so far, there's more at stake than a few lives . . . These murders can topple two governments-and destroy the Irish peace process. Sean Dillon, a show more former IRA terrorist-turned-mercenary, and Blake Johnson, head of a clandestine White House department, are recruited to stop her before all hell breaks loose. And they better hurry. There are only three names left on the assassin's list . . . "Good summer reading, The White House Connection has one heckuva heroine . . . {who begins a one-woman assassination spree that will keep you turning the pages." -Larry King, USA Today "A hard-to-lay-aside thriller." -Associated Press "Higgins has written another thriller that will please his large and loyal following . . . a masterful job. The White House Connection is a satisfying, suspense-filled book." -The Roanoke Times. show less

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7 reviews
Excluding The Eagle Has Landed, which is in a class by itself, this is the best I've read from Higgins. The story is tightly woven. The usual characters play their parts but it is Lady Helen who steals the show. From a moral standpoint, it is difficult, if not impossible, to justify her actions. Still, it is also true the law could not lay a hand on her. The work she did was nothing but revenge but even in that she took out folks who were no credit to the human race. Vigilantism is a fact in human relations. It doesn't always end in death and very often it contributes to the common good. Hence, no judgement of Lady Helen but a great deal of enjoyment in this Higgins book.
½
This turned out to be among my favorite Jack Higgins novels. The introduction of Lady Helen added an entertaining dimension which immediately drew me into the story. The primary characters are as old friends now and the bad guy is pretty much a cardboard cutout, but whatever was lost in that respect was balanced out by Lady Helen.
I felt Lady Helen too easily dispatched the bad guys, but the details didn't matter as the main story wasn't so much about the guys she killed as the efforts to unmask the bad guy.
Overall, this was Higgins at his best.
½
This book is the 7th in the Sean Dillon series and I can say having read the Liam Devlin books and all of the prior Sean Dillon books that the Irish Rogue drama is starting to get stale.

The story line in this arc at least has evolved to include UK-USA coorporation, more so than the last, however this small change was not enough to keep it from feeling stale, it didn't give it the injection of freshness and excitement that the series now sorely needs.

Overall I actually found it a little too much like the prior books without enough variation to make you over look the similar plot path. I'm hopeful that the next book moves on from the Irish Troubles or at least has a fresh take on things.
½
Someone is killing members of splinter group, Sons of Erin. Normally not a major concern but this could lead to the fall of two governments and the derailing of the Irish peace process. Sean Dillon and Blake Johnson join forces to stop the assassin.

Genre: [Thriller](/thriller/)
A spy novel about the IRA and a group called the sons of Erin. This book is about a women who wants revenge for the murder of her son and about two agencies, one in London that reports to the Prime Minister directly and one in Washington that reports to the president directly. Both agencies are working together to solve murder of the groups members and to capture leaders of IRA
The worst book I have read in many years. Plot is impossible, characters are indistinguishable, and it is generally words without much thought.
sorry, I read 100 pages and gave up.

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211+ Works 33,038 Members
Jack Higgins is a writer and educator, born in Newcastle, England on July 17, 1929. The name is the pseudonym of Harry Patterson. He also wrote under the names of Martin Fallon, James Graham, and Hugh Marlowe during his early writing career. He attended Leeds Training College and eventually graduated from the University of London in 1962 with a show more B.S. degree in Sociology. Higgins held a series of jobs, including a stint as a non-commissioned officer in the Royal House of Guards serving on the German border during the Cold War. He taught at Leeds College of Commerce and James Graham College. He has written more than 60 books including The Eagle Has Landed, Touch the Devil, Confessional, The Eagle Has Flown, and Eye of the Storm. Higgins is also the author of the Sean Dillon series. His novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into fifty-five languages. His title's The Death Trade and Rain on the Dead made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Tiirinen, Mika (Translator)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
The White House Connection
Original title
The White House Connection
Original publication date
1998 (orig. eng.) (orig. eng.)
People/Characters
Sean Dillon
Epigraph
[None]
Dedication
To my mother-in-law, sally palmer.
Thanks for the idea.
First words
Manhattan, with an east wind driving rain mixed with a little sleet along Park Avenue, was as bleak and uninviting as most great cities after midnight, especially in March.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Suspense & Thriller
DDC/MDS
823.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-19991945-1999
LCC
PR6058 .I343 .W48Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish Literature1961-2000
BISAC

Statistics

Members
824
Popularity
33,284
Reviews
7
Rating
½ (3.29)
Languages
9 — Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
48
ASINs
7