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Product Description
Review
Praise for Jack Higgins:
‘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
Product Description
Dillon and company are back in the ultimate blockbuster from the ‘legend’ that is Jack Higgins
Disillusioned with the Putin Government, famous Russian writer and ex-paratrooper Alexander Kurbsky decides he wants to disappear into the West. However he is under no illusions about how the news will be greeted at home - he has seen too many of his countrymen die mysteriously at the hands of the thuggish Russian security services, so he makes elaborate plans with Charles Ferguson, Sean Dillon and the rest of the group known informally as the "Prime Minister's private army" for his escape and concealment.
It's a real coup for the West…except for one thing. Kurbsky is still working for the Russians. The plan is to infiltrate British and American intelligence at the highest levels, and he has his own motivations for doing the most effective job possible. He does not care what he has to do or where he has to go…or whom he has to kill.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Your reaction to A Darker Place will depend a lot on three things:
1. You feel comfortable with Mr. Higgins' premise that the Communists are still in control in Russia and running things pretty much the same way they always did.
2. You would like a change from Sean Dillon shooting up whoever the Russians send after him or the person Dillon is protecting.
3. You like some character development to balance your killings.
For me, the premise doesn't really work, but I am tired of the predictable Sean Dillon bloodbaths, and I like a balance between character development and "wet" work in my thrillers.
Alexander Kurbsky is a contradiction in one person: a successful Russian novelist, ex-soldier, and assassin who was happiest while living in the UK as a young man. Now, the powers-that-be in Russia want Kurbsky to penetrate Ferguson's operations in the UK. Kurbsky is "encouraged" to play along by the promise that his sister will be released from a remote gulag.
As the story is told, we know what Kurbsky is doing . . . and it isn't very easy to accomplish. Flashbacks help us understand the forces that have created today's Kurbsky while we also learn more about Major Roper. This is primarily Kurbsky's story, and it's interesting to guess which way he will turn next and whether he will be able to carry off the deception or not.
This is such a change from recent novels that it almost seems like a new series. That shift will cheer some and disappoint others.
1. You feel comfortable with Mr. Higgins' premise that the Communists are still in control in Russia and running things pretty much the same way they always did.
2. You would like a change from Sean Dillon shooting up whoever the Russians send after him or the person Dillon is protecting.
3. You like some character development to balance your killings.
For me, the premise doesn't really work, but I am tired of the predictable Sean Dillon bloodbaths, and I like a balance between character development and "wet" work in my thrillers.
Alexander Kurbsky is a contradiction in one person: a successful Russian novelist, ex-soldier, and assassin who was happiest while living in the UK as a young man. Now, the powers-that-be in Russia want Kurbsky to penetrate Ferguson's operations in the UK. Kurbsky is "encouraged" to play along by the promise that his sister will be released from a remote gulag.
As the story is told, we know what Kurbsky is doing . . . and it isn't very easy to accomplish. Flashbacks help us understand the forces that have created today's Kurbsky while we also learn more about Major Roper. This is primarily Kurbsky's story, and it's interesting to guess which way he will turn next and whether he will be able to carry off the deception or not.
This is such a change from recent novels that it almost seems like a new series. That shift will cheer some and disappoint others.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Sorry to say that i was a bit disappointed with this book..prob because i expected a bit more involvement of my favourite character Sean Dillon, even tho it was advertised as the next Sean Dillon book! Readers should have been advised that it was a 'Prime Minister's Private Army' book as that would have been more accurate. The story was ok, but seemed to give an in depth insight to a character who eventually would probably join the Presidents entourage and not Ferguson's, so I was not hugely impressed with this installment...pity..
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jack Higgins' Dillon novels have got so bad that they have now become somewhat of a guilty pleasure to read. Like watching a new Steven Seagal movie,one dosn't really want to admit to enjoying the experience. The odd thing about Higgins is that he still manages to entertain and keep you turning the pages.The dialogue is awful and the characters badly written. It reads in fact like a very bad play. There is little in the way of discription of location and the plot has craters rather than holes in it. Thankfully Dillon continues to only make a cameo appearance.I suspect Higgins is tired of him too.
Higgins still enjoys making Prime Minister Putin of Russia the chief bad guy.He names him..a real person but persists to have a fictional US President (Jake Cazelet) who has been in office for 12 years now?!!As always our prime minister remains unnamed.The whole premise is ridiculous.
Higgins sadly has not moved with the times and shows no intention of doing so and thats why he has become a guilty pleasure. Had he killed Dillon off after 3 or 4 books, ( the first ones were good, especially 'Thunder Point) then he could have got back to writing the decent thrillers and war/adventure stories that he built his reputation and millions on.
Thankfully not as bad as the awful Colin Forbes 'Tweed' series but with his next 'Dillon' out in 4 months time he could still get there!
Higgins still enjoys making Prime Minister Putin of Russia the chief bad guy.He names him..a real person but persists to have a fictional US President (Jake Cazelet) who has been in office for 12 years now?!!As always our prime minister remains unnamed.The whole premise is ridiculous.
Higgins sadly has not moved with the times and shows no intention of doing so and thats why he has become a guilty pleasure. Had he killed Dillon off after 3 or 4 books, ( the first ones were good, especially 'Thunder Point) then he could have got back to writing the decent thrillers and war/adventure stories that he built his reputation and millions on.
Thankfully not as bad as the awful Colin Forbes 'Tweed' series but with his next 'Dillon' out in 4 months time he could still get there!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Simply Shocking
The only reason I gave this book 1 star is because 1 is the lowest rating offered. I haven't read a Jack Higgins book for some time and was shocked that a once top writer could... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Nightman
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Having really enjoyed the last Jack Higgins novel I read, I approached this one with genuinely positive expectations.
Oh dear..... Read more
Oh dear..... Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. Faulkner
A Darker Place - A Worser Book
The only reason I finished this book was because I wanted to be fair when I reviewed it. I have been critical of Jack Higgins recent books and this time he has surpassed himself... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Daniel Taylor
Another superb Jack Higgins novel
I am a big fan of Jack Higgins novels and again have had the pleasure of reading another chapter in his Sean Dillon saga. Read more
Published 16 months ago by D. Mcalpine
Can a book really be this bad?
This is the first, and will probably be the last. Jack Higgins book I have ever read. It is to Ian Fleming what Ian Fleming is to John le Carre. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ken Farrington
Where's this darker place?
I didn't hate this book, hence two stars but I just don't see the point of such novels. Quoted as a new Sean Dillon thriller, the man features on about three pages and on those... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Michael Watson
I wish I could stop....
I am in my late forties and have read Higgins books since my teens. I have long found them cheesey but tolerable and enjoyable, a little escapism. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. J. Murphy
Russian Politics vs Russian Revenge
Although I enjoy reading Jack Higgins, I was getting a little bored with the Sean Dillon vs the same family which has been the concurrent theme running through the more recent... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2009 by Mrs. T. Mannell
A pertinent title for this review!
Having stayed away from one of my favourite authors, I hoped (through my heart rather than my head) that things might have got better; but no. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2009 by M. D. Mackenzie
Dreadful
Implausible, juvenile plot. Characters from the Beano. A waste of money and time. If you are over the age of 12, don't bother.
Published on 18 Sep 2009 by Mr. W. Graham
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