Product Description

This is the new bestseller from the original thrill-seeker - Jack Higgins. In Higgins' acclaimed bestseller "Dark Justice", intelligence operative Sean Dillon and his colleagues in Britain and the United States beat back a terrible enemy, but at an equally terrible cost. One of them was shot, another run down in the street. Both were expected to survive - but only one of them does. As Detective Superintendent Hannah Bernstein of Special Branch lies recuperating in the hospital, a dark shadow from their past, scarred deep by hatred, steals across the room and finishes the job. Consumed by grief and rage, Dillon, Blake, Ferguson, and all who loved Hannah swear vengeance, no matter where it takes them. But, they have no idea of the searing journey upon which they are about to embark - nor of the war which will change them all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110933 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 454 pages

Review
'Another first rate page-turner from Jack Higgins, a writer at the peak of his power' Daily Express 'Open a Jack Higgins novel and you'll encounter a master craftsman at the peak of his powers ! first-rate tales of intrigue, suspense and full-on action.' Sunday Express 'Higgins is a master of his craft.' Daily Telegraph 'A thriller writer in a class of his own.' Financial Times 'The master craftsman of good, clean adventure.' Daily Mail

About the Author
Jack Higgins was a soldier and then a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. The Eagle Has Landed turned him into an international bestselling author and his novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into fifty-five languages. Many of them have also been made into successful films.

Customer Reviews

Without Point
Jack Higgins is a veteran of the thriller scene and by `Without Warning' so is his very tired cast of characters. Sean Dillon returns in another in the series which is now less cookie cutter and more mass Chinese production standard. Gone are any moments of originality or excitement as Sean and co. Drink their way across a very dated feeling Europe. This time Sean must go up against the IRA again and a group of irate Russians working under the rule of Putin. They are fed up that the British agency run by Brigadier Ferguson is always ruining their plans so they set out to wipe the group out and their allies. With Detective Superintendent Hannah Bernstein critically ill in hospital they have a readymade target. Can Dillon keep her safe and undo the Russians once more before starting a new Cold War?

Higgins must have loved the recent events that have tarnished the relationship between Britain and Russia as `Without Mercy' is a very old fashioned thriller that feels like it was written in the early days of the Cold War. He revels in being allowed to stick it to the Russians and as a reader you lose sympathy as the bile drips from the page. If this was not bad enough Higgins takes us once more to the same places with the same people that we have read about several times - it is getting beyond a joke. I know that Higgins is far beyond his heyday of the 70s, but even so I expect him to do more than churn out the same novel repeatedly. The writing is abysmal, with the characters all being stereotypes of a man whose opinions are stuck in the 1950s. For fans of Higgins brilliant peak avoid these later books as it is becoming a sad decline.

A Tiny Bit of Life Is Injected into This Never-Ending Saga
Does Without Mercy have character development, unexpected plot twists or fascinating new facts? No.

Does Without Mercy continue the unending saga begun with the Rashids? Yes.

Does anything happen that isn't in the book's blurb? Yes.

It's that last point that saves Without Mercy from being utterly avoidable. Jack Higgins has come up with the beginnings of a new plot to put President Putin at odds with the British and American governments. From that perspective I felt a stir of life in these creaky meanderings through endless shootings with ex-IRA thugs, visits with creepy foreign characters and "dead" villains turning out to be alive.

To liven up the plot, Mr. Higgins takes us to a new locale, Algeria, and disposes of one of his long-time characters, Detective Superintendent Hannah Bernstein, about whom he began to have trouble writing plausible roles about three books ago.

The other new element is a continual reference to Russians drinking vodka and champagne. I'm sure you'll be shocked by this insight.

Stick with Mr. Higgins for one more book. Perhaps he will write us a new story in this series at some point and remember to make Sean Dillon a character rather than a mere killing machine with regrets.

A Tiny Bit of Life Is Injected into This Never-Ending Saga
Does Without Mercy have character development, unexpected plot twists or fascinating new facts? No.

Does Without Mercy continue the unending saga begun with the Rashids? Yes.

Does anything happen that isn't in the book's blurb? Yes.

It's that last point that saves Without Mercy from being utterly avoidable. Jack Higgins has come up with the beginnings of a new plot to put President Putin at odds with the British and American governments. From that perspective I felt a stir of life in these creaky meanderings through endless shootings with ex-IRA thugs, visits with creepy foreign characters and "dead" villains turning out to be alive.

To liven up the plot, Mr. Higgins takes us to a new locale, Algeria, and disposes of one of his long-time characters, Detective Superintendent Hannah Bernstein, about whom he began to have trouble writing plausible roles about three books ago.

The other new element is a continual reference to Russians drinking vodka and champagne. I'm sure you'll be shocked by this insight.

Stick with Mr. Higgins for one more book. Perhaps he will write us a new story in this series at some point and remember to make Sean Dillon a character rather than a mere killing machine with regrets.