“Here was one of the last places on earth where the challenge was the greatest of all—survival.”


Both The Kufra Run and The Last Place God Made very much had a pulp feel to them, as though Higgins had been hold-up somewhere with nothing to do but devour copies of Spicy Adventure Magazine from the 1930s and watch robust adventure serials from the same era. East of Desolation, published in 1968, continues in that vein and is right up there with the best stuff he’s ever done. He’s doing a certain thing here, elevating the old adventure pulp style, and he’s done it to near perfection. He even gives the reader a wink to what he’s doing at one point:

“He pushed off and I watched him go, gliding effortlessly across the snow, a clever dangerous animal. I suppose I should have experienced some kind of fear as I went after him, but I didn’t. Instead I was filled with a strange kind of joy and my hands shook excitedly. It was like one of those Saturday serials I’d seen as a kid and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened in the next installment.”

The difference in East of Desolation is that it’s not a serial, but a fun and robust male adventure we get from beginning to its thrilling end. Set in rugged but cold and beautiful Greenland, the tale is rife with romanticized stereotypes, but that's part of the fun. The characters are so well done by Higgins that we can almost picture certain stars of yesteryear playing the various roles. Charter pilot Joe Martin is our main character, the voice and hero of East of desolation, but no tale this vigorous would be complete without one larger-than-life character, and we certainly have that in war hero and legendary actor Jack Desforge. Down on his luck but living life to its Hemingway fullest, he’s the kind that things just happen around:

“There was a box of cartridges in the map compartment and I loaded the magazine with infinite care. After all, there’s nothing like being prepared for all eventualities and the girl was certainly right about one thing. Around Jack Desforge anything might happen and usually did.”

Because no tale such as this would be complete without planes and ariel derring-do, Joe Martin is pilot of the Otter. But Joe’s acquaintance Arnie is also a pilot:

“He roared across the harbor no more than twenty feet above the water and then his engine note deepened and he started to climb at just the right moment, banking into the sun, all for my benefit of course, nice and fast and showy and one of these days he was going to kill himself doing it.”

No tale such as this would be complete without some lovely but very different women, and we get three of them, who all play strong parts in this old-style, elevated pulp adventure. There are hunts and planes and emeralds and double crosses, and near the end, a startling twist stretching credulity, but in a story as entertaining as this one, only a fool or someone full of literary pretension (while secretly devouring this) would object. If I gave details, the plot would seem filled with adventure pulp clichés, but as you read you just get lost in the fun, and don’t care. Higgins even manages to wax philosophic on occasion in the narrative, and when he does, he’s usually spot-on, as in this juicy observation:

“It’s unfortunate, but primitive races seem to acquire all the vices of our civilization,” I said, “never its virtues.” — Joe

This is a robust read for 2/3 of the book, then it becomes a runaway train, and we’re turning pages quickly to see who gets/doesn’t get those emeralds, who does/doesn’t survive doing it, and who gets/doesn’t get their girl. It ends like all great adventure tales of this type, but who does what I’ll have to leave for the reader to discover. Maybe four solid stars till we get that twist, then Higgins kicks it up a notch, and we can’t put it down. This is romantic adventure escapism, male-style, and it’s sublime. A must-read if you’re a fan of the author, those old-style pulp adventures, or both. Great fun! ( )

I really like the spare writing without immense amounts of background. I liked the unique, seldom-used setting. The story is set in Greenland and features the usage of small aircraft to travel around. I liked the way the characters were written, each of them felt lively and significant in their rôle. I liked that they were all daring and interesting and perfectly written for this sort of novel. They all had motives and some were rogues and most had shadowy pasts.

Feels like a fresh, crisp breath of Greenland air instead of the smoggy mush I have read lately.

The plot is perfect for a thriller story. Excellent for a July summer read. The novel is filled out with liquor, crashed planes, gemstones, gunplay, bar fights, skiing and hunting, and sexy ladies. 1960s thriller fiction at its best. I recommend this for most readers, particularly those who are sick of over-written and overly-gruesome “thrillers” of the last few years. ( )

Joe Martin, a recovering alcoholic, makes his living as a bush pilot in Greenland, flying passengers and cargo to remote areas. He's been on many salvage operations, but starts to get a bad feeling when an insurance company and the beautiful widow of the dead pilot hires him to find out what caused the crash that killed her husband. Before long, what should have been a routine mission becomes a hair-raising adventure packed with danger and betrayal.

This is a fast moving action-adventure novel with a number of potentially interesting characters that need to be more fleshed out. The author's description of the harsh Greenland terrain is vividly rendered and is the best thing about this book.

I just discovered East of Desolation was written in 1968 and recently reissued. Jack Higgins has improved with time but this will be a disappointing story for fans of his more recent books, especially Sean Dillon.
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Not his best but still engrossing at times.

I think [b:The Eagle Has Landed|295961|The Eagle Has Landed|Jack Higgins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1347958282s/295961.jpg|2593744] is his best book. Perhaps one of the best books in World War fiction category. If you like thrillers and haven't yet read "The Eagle Has Landed" then you are missing out big time! ( )

A book written in a different style and formula than you would usualy expect from Higgins. In fact, it really reminds me of Alisitair Macleans Bear Island.

The plot is simple enough, an ex forces pilot decides to live for a while in Greenland to escape the pressures of modern civilisation and earn a living through his wits.

His life is disrupted when he is offered to charter a number of people (including a beautiful widow) to a plane crash in order to identify the dead husband.

However events take a more sinister turn, with lots of double agents and storyline twists the plot rattles along to a most unexpected conclusion.

Another Higgins classic and as always, very recommendable. ( )