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Summary
Summary
For many years, Jack Higgins's "battalions of loyal fans" (People) have delighted in his "rip-roaring, satisfying stories" (AP), novels of honor and bravery and irresistible intrigue. "Readers get exactly what they hope for from Higgins," says Publishers Weekly, and never has that been truer than for his new thriller, The White House Connection.New York: Late at night, the rain pouring down, a well-dressed woman in her sixties stands in a doorway, a gun in her purse, waiting for a Senator to come home.Washington, D.C.: The phone rings on the desk of Blake Johnson, head of the White House department known as The Basement. The President wants him now.London: The Prime Minister sits thinking of Sean Dillon, the one-time terrorist, now his most effective, if not exactly trusted, operative. It'll have to be Dillon, he thinks. There's no one else.Someone is killing off the members of a splinter group known as the Sons of Erin, normally not a cause for much concern, but the consequences are much greater than anyone realizes. For in these actions lie the seeds of disaster: the fall of two governments, the derailing of the Irish peace process. Dillon and Johnson must stop this unknown assassin, the heads of state agree, quickly, quietly, before all hell breaks loose'.'But they may already be too late. For in the Manhattan night, the silver-haired woman smiles, adjusts her rain hat more snugly on her head, and steps out into the street. Four down, she thinks.Three to go.Jack Higgins has written thrilling adventures before, but none as multilayered, surprising, and suspenseful as The White House Connection. It is the master working truly at the height of his powers.Jack Higgins lives on Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Author Notes
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 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)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The Irish peace process is at risk because of the actions of a heartbroken mother in Higgins's 29th thriller. American-born and married to a British lord, 60-ish Lady Helen Lang, the "nicest person you'll ever meet," has taken it upon herself to avenge the brutal death of her son, Peter, at the hands of the Sons of Erin, a fringe Irish-nationalist group led by a psychotic Vietnam vet and with operatives in Dublin, London and the U.S. Other members include gangster Tim Pat Ryan, IRA terrorist Jack Barry, U.S. Senator Michael Cohan and a mysterious member known only as the Connection, who is revealed to be a mole in the White House. With nothing more than an old government file, a modified computer and a .25 revolver, Lady Helen makes short work of most of these villains, managing at one point to knock off three of them in four paragraphs. Naturally, this wholesale violence attracts the attention of Higgins regulars Brigadier Charles Ferguson and Sean Dillon, who try to protect Senator Cohan during his upcoming visit to London. It's not giving away any surprises to reveal that eventually the bad guys get theirs, but there are precious few surprises here, and a bloodless, cartoonish quality to everything from the dialogue to the killings. Higgins's attempt at characterizations are unpersuasive at bestÄto prove that she's really a decent sort, Lady Helen passes up a chance to kill Senator Cohan in favor of shooting a couple of muggersÄand as usual, Sean Dillon's prowess as a gunman includes the ability to outshoot men who have already drawn a gun on him. As for the style, everything is fast, flat and featureless, like driving a car on cruise control in Kansas. Higgins's fans may be pleased, but other readers will probably want a more exciting ride. BOMC main selection. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Jack Higgins is the best-known pseudonym of Harry Patterson, who has written over 60 novelsÄa dozen of them best sellersÄthat have been translated into numerous languages. Several of his thrillers, most recently The President's Daughter (LJ 5/1/97), have involved the characters who appear here. Sean Dillon, a former IRA gunman, now works for the British prime minister; Blake Johnson heads a secret office for the U.S. president. Both have their various talents severely tested while trying to stop a vengeful 66-year-old woman who is assassinating members of the Sons of Erin, including a senator, thereby threatening both governments. A mole in the White House frustrates Dillon's and Blake's efforts, but readers may be more frustrated by the shallow characterization and lifeless dialog. Nevertheless, the legions of Higgins fans will surely devour this as they have so many others, and libraries should be prepared. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/99.]ÄRoland C. Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.