Toll for the Brave
by Jack Higgins
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From the first name in heart pounding thriller fiction. Ellis Jackson woke up hugging a twelve-bore shotgun. In the next room, his mistress and his best friend lay naked on the bed, their heads blown to pulp. Back in England at last, Ellis Jackson had finally cracked. Active combat, a Viet Cong prison camp and the callous treachery of his lover and interrogator, Madam Ny, had taken their toll. Ellis Jackson was out of his mind. Or was he? Maybe it would all have been easier to take if he show more really had been mad - Jack Higgins is one of the most instantly recognizable names in thriller writing around the world - after more than three decades at the top - Recent novels such as Day of Reckoning, Edge of Danger, Midnight Runner and Bad Company have seen a significant resurgence in his sales. All have been instant top-ten bestsellers in both the UK and the USA - His last paperback, Midnight Runner, was his fastest-selling for many years, spending more than a month in the Sunday Times top ten - Following the success of the recent reissues of Pay the Devil, The Keys of Hell and A Fine Night for Dying, this classic backlist title is to be reissued straight into paperback, with a simultaneous library edition. show lessTags
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Toll for the Brave - Jack Higgins **** ½
Ellis Jackson is a failed English soldier and considered a disgrace to his General Grandfather. With this in mind he joins the American army and goes to Vietnam.
Whilst there he becomes captured and imprisoned along with the almost superhero status 'Black Max'.
They manage to escape to freedom, but not before months of mental torture.
A number of years later Ellis has settled down, has a steady girlfriend but is still haunted by nightmares of his past. One day, while taking the dog for a walk in the English countryside he is assaulted by 2 Viet cong. Convinced he is was right, but told by everyone he is losing his mind he sets out to find evidence. However, upon returning home he in knocked show more unconscious only to awaken to shotgun blasted remains of his partner and best friend.
Has he really lost his mind, or is it an elaborate plan to make him think he has.........
Another good story by Higgins, although once again a bit on the short side. Read it in practically one go, and loved it. show less
Ellis Jackson is a failed English soldier and considered a disgrace to his General Grandfather. With this in mind he joins the American army and goes to Vietnam.
Whilst there he becomes captured and imprisoned along with the almost superhero status 'Black Max'.
They manage to escape to freedom, but not before months of mental torture.
A number of years later Ellis has settled down, has a steady girlfriend but is still haunted by nightmares of his past. One day, while taking the dog for a walk in the English countryside he is assaulted by 2 Viet cong. Convinced he is was right, but told by everyone he is losing his mind he sets out to find evidence. However, upon returning home he in knocked show more unconscious only to awaken to shotgun blasted remains of his partner and best friend.
Has he really lost his mind, or is it an elaborate plan to make him think he has.........
Another good story by Higgins, although once again a bit on the short side. Read it in practically one go, and loved it. show less
A very good yarn if a bit contrived in places. Not one to rush, more to read carefully and enjoy the detail (or you'll get lost!).
I don't have a lot positive to say about this novel, it was alright but initially seemed to meander all over the place. There was flashbacks and what not then about a third to halfway through things start making a bit more sense.
It's a vietnam prisoner of war/espionage tale with the focus on the events surrounding circumstances rather than the actual espionage.
It's a vietnam prisoner of war/espionage tale with the focus on the events surrounding circumstances rather than the actual espionage.
Reissue of a brisk, competent 1971 thriller (under his real name of Harry Patterson) featuring a martially expert hero brutalised in Vietnam fighting ruthless Chinese Maoist villains in Southern England. This is a slick transient read.
An easy rereading of an undemanding novel.
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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
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Goldmann (6777)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Toll for the Brave
- Original title
- Toll for the Brave
- People/Characters
- Ellis Jackson
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- [None]
- First words
- They were beating the Korean to death in the next room, all attempts to break him down having failed completely.
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Statistics
- Members
- 198
- Popularity
- 164,795
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.35)
- Languages
- English, German, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 35
- ASINs
- 7
