The Judas Gate (Sean Dillon Series #18)

by Jack Higgins

Overview

General Charles Ferguson, Commander of the British Prime Minister's private hit squad and adviser to the new president of the United States, has been given a disturbing recording from Afghanistan, on which the murders of American Army Rangers and a British medical team are recorded. About half of the Taliban force voices on the tape are British. One authoritative voice is Irish; code name: Shamrock.

Shocked that one of their own could be responsible for a massacre, General Ferguson tasks Sean Dillon with hunting the traitor. But even as Dillon goes to war, the war is coming to him...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101475331
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/04/2011
Series:	Sean Dillon Series , #18
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	141,896
File size:	284 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jack Higgins lives on Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Editorial Reviews

The massacre of 12 U.S. Army Rangers and a British medical team in Afghanistan reveals that an Irishman, code-named Shamrock, is applying IRA tactics to the Taliban's struggle against the West in Higgins's less than satisfying 18th Sean Dillon thriller (after The Wolf at the Door). Fearful that British-born Muslims may be heeding the call to jihad, officials employ Daniel Holley, a former IRA terrorist turned arms dealer, whose rich network of contacts may allow him to track down the elusive Shamrock. Since the well-connected Shamrock's own sources have alerted him that Holley is on his tail, Holley and his allies soon find themselves targeted by the very people they were supposed to neutralize. Fortunately for Holley, Shamrock, whose skills should have made him a close match for Holley, proves an inept foe. Nearly every move against the invincible Holley is foredoomed, and only minor characters are ever in true peril, robbing the book of dramatic tension. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Jack Higgins

“A seasoned pro...Mr. Higgins knows how to tell a story!”—The New York Times Book Review

“Jack Higgins has written some of the best suspense fiction of the past fifty years.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune

“When it comes to thriller writers, one name stands well above the crowd—Jack Higgins.”—Associated Press

“Higgins makes the pages fly.”—New York Daily News

“Jack Higgins is one of the best-selling authors of popular fiction in the world, often considered the architect of the modern thriller.”—The Huffington Post

“Higgins is an author with the creative power to hook the reader and keep them forever because of his terrific tales. There are many villains out there, but Higgins is by far the greatest at bringing to life the best and worst of them all.”—Suspense Magazine

From the Publisher

Higgins (The Wolf at the Door, 2010, etc.) pits the Taliban and al-Qaeda against the British prime minister's "private hit squad," led by the redoubtable Gen. Charles Ferguson.

The action involves Ireland and England, with high-flying escapades into Pakistan and Algeria, but it all begins in Afghanistan with an intercepted radio transmission, one occurring during a firefight between the Taliban and NATO troops. Gen. Ferguson knows something wicked is afoot when one of the guerrilla commanders is heard speaking with an Irish accent and using the code name "Shamrock." Are British Muslims supporting the Taliban and al-Qaeda? Enter Sean Dillon, once an enforcer for the Provisional Irish Republican Army and now Gen. Ferguson's top anti-terrorist agent. With Dillon at the sharp end of the spear is Daniel Holley, also former IRA, but now a somewhat legitimate arms dealer with Algerian citizenship. They are aided by wounded Maj. Giles Roper, who mans the computers for the squad and plays a vital part in the search. There are assorted other good guys, including night club owners and part-time counter-agents Harry and Billy Salter, more than enough bad guys and traitors working both sides of the terror game. Also deeply enmeshed is Justin Talbot, a decorated British veteran of Afghanistan who now is de facto head of his family's influential multimillion-dollar corporation and who also dabbles in illicit arms trading. The most diabolical Judas is the Preacher, a respected British professor who has embraced Osama bin Laden and Islamic fundamentalism. Higgins' adventure is action-driven, with minimal character development, no romance and plenty of male bonding. Fans of the genre will appreciate the noisy occasions involving Semtex, AK-47s, silenced Colt .25s and villains coming to proper grief and swift justice.

Sure to be a hit with Higgins' fans, and a fast first read for newcomers to the work of this action-adventure writer.

Kirkus Reviews