Helpful Score: 4
Absolutely brilliant!
In this Jack Higgins classic which ranks as one of his very best, IRA gun-for-hire Sean Dillon is the protagonist and main character(recurring throughout several Higgins books) who is recruited by Saddam Hussein through French arms dealer Michael Aroun to assassinate the Prime Minister and War Cabinet during the Gulf War. As the plot develops, it is up to American CIA operative Martin Brosnan and head of the PM's clandestine intelligence agency Brigadier Charles Ferguson to stop Dillon when they are tipped off about the threat. Those of us that remember the real-life mortar attack on 10 Downing Street when John Major was in power are presented with a fast-paced account of what might have happened - could it have happened this way? This thought-provoking actioner is well-paced, easy to read and crams in a Clancy-esque story at less than half the length with no unnecessary subplots. A must-read winner!
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The one and only Sean Dillon at his best!!!!
A must-read!! This was the first Higgin's book I've ever read and it made me wanna read all of his novels. I think it's one of his best. Sean Dillon, the ruthless but charming and smart hero, is planing the coup of his life: Blowing up Downing Street 10! The book is pretty exciting and it will fascinate you from the first to the last page!!! "Eye of the storm" is a very gripping novel with a very satisfying and unusual ending!!
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One of the best of Sean...
Sean is definitely a character you will learn to love. Though ruthless, he is certainly a wonderful edition to Jack Higgins' wonderful writing. A must read!
In this Jack Higgins classic which ranks as one of his very best, IRA gun-for-hire Sean Dillon is the protagonist and main character(recurring throughout several Higgins books) who is recruited by Saddam Hussein through French arms dealer Michael Aroun to assassinate the Prime Minister and War Cabinet during the Gulf War. As the plot develops, it is up to American CIA operative Martin Brosnan and head of the PM's clandestine intelligence agency Brigadier Charles Ferguson to stop Dillon when they are tipped off about the threat. Those of us that remember the real-life mortar attack on 10 Downing Street when John Major was in power are presented with a fast-paced account of what might have happened - could it have happened this way? This thought-provoking actioner is well-paced, easy to read and crams in a Clancy-esque story at less than half the length with no unnecessary subplots. A must-read winner!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The one and only Sean Dillon at his best!!!!
A must-read!! This was the first Higgin's book I've ever read and it made me wanna read all of his novels. I think it's one of his best. Sean Dillon, the ruthless but charming and smart hero, is planing the coup of his life: Blowing up Downing Street 10! The book is pretty exciting and it will fascinate you from the first to the last page!!! "Eye of the storm" is a very gripping novel with a very satisfying and unusual ending!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the best of Sean...
Sean is definitely a character you will learn to love. Though ruthless, he is certainly a wonderful edition to Jack Higgins' wonderful writing. A must read!
Helpful Score: 2
From the Publisher
Former allies in the IRA, Sean Dillon and Martin Brosnan have chosen different paths. Now Dillon is a terrorist for hire, a master of diguise employed by Saddam Hussein. Brosnan is the one man who knows Dillon's strengths and weaknesses...and brilliant mastery of espionage. Once friends, now enemies, they are playing the deadliest game of their careers. A game that culminates in a frightening - and true - event: Iraq's attempted mortar attack on the British war cabinet at 10 Downing Street in Februrary 1991...
From The Critics
Publishers Weekly
Higgins's thrillers may evoke a strong sense of deja vu (same basic story, different time frame), but that doesn't seem to diminish the impact of each new novel. Early in 1991, while the Gulf war is in full bloom, operatives of Saddam Hussein hire legendary terrorist Sean Dillon to take the war to the enemy. A master of disguise and subterfuge, Dillon began his career with the IRA, earning the enmity of Liam Devlin--the unforgettable antihero of The Eagle Has Landed , who makes a featured appearance here--and of Martin Brosnan, an American Special Forces hero and IRA member turned college professor. After Dillon's attempt to assassinate former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a visit to France fails, he decides to go after her successor, John Major, and his War Cabinet with a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street. Learning that British Intelligence is recruiting Brosnan to track him down, Dillon confronts his old enemy, a meeting that ends in tragedy and leaves Brosnan bitterly committed to revenge. Although readers can be sure that Dillon's scheme will be foiled, fun remains in the how and why. Standard Higgins in style, plot and resolution, this is bound for bestsellerdom.
Kirkus Reviews
A world-class assassin goes after British PM John Major in Higgins's latest firmly engaging round of speculative derring-do. The Day of the Jackal this isn't, although Sean Dillona rogue IRA hit-man who's also a master thespianis nearly as charismatic a killer as Forsyth's Jackal; and the author's own The Eagle Has Landed it isn't quite either, though Higgins, a diligent literary recycler, revives the spirit, pacing, and even one major player from that 1975 classic. This is the vigorous, rather simple tale of what might have been behind the real-life, still unexplained, mortar attack on Number Ten Downing Street on February 7, 1991. Here, Saddam Hussein, reeling under the allied bombing of Baghdad, asks oily Iraqi billionaire Michael Aroun to avenge Iraqi honor, which Aroun does by joining forces with Stalinist KGB Colonel Josef Makeev and hiring Dillon to blow away Margaret Thatcher, now visiting in France. When Dillon is betrayed by two hirelings and misses his shot at the Iron Lady, he ups the stakeswhy not, he proposes, go after the current PM (here, a most charming chap) and in fact the entire British War Cabinet? Using his Olivier-like powers to pose as several characters, including a bag-lady, and aided by a sexy KGB spy, Dillon sneaks into England, then Ireland, contacts old criminal/IRA pals, and plans. Arrayed against him in an ever-more suspenseful chase are several stalwart British agents, male and female, and two ex-IRA men, including Liam Devlin of Eagle fame. The mortar attack itself has about as much dramatic impact as a hiccup, but Higgins saves his big melodrama for Dillon's attempted escapewhich will leave readers happily breathless and waitingfor a sequel. The action's so fast, the heroes so valiant, and the villains so blackhearted that not even Higgins's syntax-crunching prose will keep his fans from driving thishis most enjoyable book in yearsup the charts.
Former allies in the IRA, Sean Dillon and Martin Brosnan have chosen different paths. Now Dillon is a terrorist for hire, a master of diguise employed by Saddam Hussein. Brosnan is the one man who knows Dillon's strengths and weaknesses...and brilliant mastery of espionage. Once friends, now enemies, they are playing the deadliest game of their careers. A game that culminates in a frightening - and true - event: Iraq's attempted mortar attack on the British war cabinet at 10 Downing Street in Februrary 1991...
From The Critics
Publishers Weekly
Higgins's thrillers may evoke a strong sense of deja vu (same basic story, different time frame), but that doesn't seem to diminish the impact of each new novel. Early in 1991, while the Gulf war is in full bloom, operatives of Saddam Hussein hire legendary terrorist Sean Dillon to take the war to the enemy. A master of disguise and subterfuge, Dillon began his career with the IRA, earning the enmity of Liam Devlin--the unforgettable antihero of The Eagle Has Landed , who makes a featured appearance here--and of Martin Brosnan, an American Special Forces hero and IRA member turned college professor. After Dillon's attempt to assassinate former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a visit to France fails, he decides to go after her successor, John Major, and his War Cabinet with a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street. Learning that British Intelligence is recruiting Brosnan to track him down, Dillon confronts his old enemy, a meeting that ends in tragedy and leaves Brosnan bitterly committed to revenge. Although readers can be sure that Dillon's scheme will be foiled, fun remains in the how and why. Standard Higgins in style, plot and resolution, this is bound for bestsellerdom.
Kirkus Reviews
A world-class assassin goes after British PM John Major in Higgins's latest firmly engaging round of speculative derring-do. The Day of the Jackal this isn't, although Sean Dillona rogue IRA hit-man who's also a master thespianis nearly as charismatic a killer as Forsyth's Jackal; and the author's own The Eagle Has Landed it isn't quite either, though Higgins, a diligent literary recycler, revives the spirit, pacing, and even one major player from that 1975 classic. This is the vigorous, rather simple tale of what might have been behind the real-life, still unexplained, mortar attack on Number Ten Downing Street on February 7, 1991. Here, Saddam Hussein, reeling under the allied bombing of Baghdad, asks oily Iraqi billionaire Michael Aroun to avenge Iraqi honor, which Aroun does by joining forces with Stalinist KGB Colonel Josef Makeev and hiring Dillon to blow away Margaret Thatcher, now visiting in France. When Dillon is betrayed by two hirelings and misses his shot at the Iron Lady, he ups the stakeswhy not, he proposes, go after the current PM (here, a most charming chap) and in fact the entire British War Cabinet? Using his Olivier-like powers to pose as several characters, including a bag-lady, and aided by a sexy KGB spy, Dillon sneaks into England, then Ireland, contacts old criminal/IRA pals, and plans. Arrayed against him in an ever-more suspenseful chase are several stalwart British agents, male and female, and two ex-IRA men, including Liam Devlin of Eagle fame. The mortar attack itself has about as much dramatic impact as a hiccup, but Higgins saves his big melodrama for Dillon's attempted escapewhich will leave readers happily breathless and waitingfor a sequel. The action's so fast, the heroes so valiant, and the villains so blackhearted that not even Higgins's syntax-crunching prose will keep his fans from driving thishis most enjoyable book in yearsup the charts.
Helpful Score: 1
Sean Dillon is one of my favorite characters and this is the first time he appeared.
Helpful Score: 1
A fast paced suspense thriller about 2 former IRA operatives & friends, one trying to go straight, the other now an assassin for Saddam Hussein. A plan to kill the British Cabinet has been uncovered & now the former friends are enemies, as one pursues the other to stop the deadly plot.
Helpful Score: 1
The first book featuring Sean Dillon. Predates his association with Group 4.
