The Wolf at the Door

Slightly better than his recent books, it's hard to even justify giving this three stars, it's firmly in 2.5 territory.

This novel begins with the ending (which happens to be the part containing the most action, and interest). It then steadily proceeds downhill with recounting of past events leading up to the ending, which you already have read. Thus you can already establish some of the past events you're now reading through thereby making them somewhat redundant and the book a little dull.

The only real redeeming factor of the book is that it attempts to make sense of some of the jumbled illogical story-lines in past books however such attempts are only cursory merely mentioning circumstances rather than actively resolving them and/or show more providing some logical context.

If there's one thing I take from Jack Higgins' recent books it is that he seems to have an apparent hatred of Vladimir Putin. show less

While I always enjoy remeeting Jack's characters, this tale was interesting in that a great deal of it was from the perspective of Mr. Holly, the bad guy, who doesn't seem so bad afterall in a world where bad is consumate evil.. Describing the events that turned him to the dark side created an empathy that was impossible to dismiss.
This was truly unique as Sean Dillion played a very minor role, and yet, you felt Higgin's primary characters were not incidental.
I would wish that Higgins would lay off the rain. It seems every scene in every book is cold and wet, though that isn't entirely true. I know England is a wet country, but even England gets breaks in the weather and the relentless rain detracts. I found myself wishing the darn sun show more would shine, just to add a different dimension.
Still and all, a pleasureable read. show less

I like Higgins, I could not stand this book, except for President Putin being the bad guy. It is my fault much more than that of the author: all these macho guys who shoot each other and always fall overboard, the adviser to the American President who is more a bodyguard than an observer, everybody drinking, it all confuses me: what was the story again? We go from ex-Communists, to ex-IRAs, to ex-Islam terrorists, we drink vodka and fall overboard with the next shooting, and I am even more confused. Who are the good guys and why? I cannot tell you: my fault again.
It reminded me of OO7 and the unpleasant sides of Ian Fleming. It seems that I am unable to follow people who get wounded, fall backwards in the water, and come back out of show more the water in time to shoot the bad guy straight in the eyes or in another adventure with a dry passport in the other hand.
It must be a book for guys. show less

This work could very easily have been given 5 stars but I always like to hold something back. Again, the body count is down but more ears and hands got damaged by bullets. This is a story about the principle characters in Higgins' books but it involves them to a very small degree. The suspense is built very carefully and the actions are plausible. Emotional conduct is making strong inroads into the peripheral characters and Higgins is displaying a very artful author in this area.

Sean Dillon seems a bit tired in this one. I can’t even remember if he drew his weapon let alone fired it.

Plot seemed a bit of a stretch – Russians are mad at British secret service so they work indirectly through Irish terrorist sleeper cell in London and New York to extract revenge – really? Only recommended for Higgins' die hard fans.

Absolutely not the place to start reading Jack Higgins but an enjoyable extension to a long-running, well-liked series. The focus on the Russians was particularly interesting and offers a promising future.

I didn't like this book as much as some of Higgins's earlier books. However, he did introdue a new character that I think will show up in future books.