Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfying & suspenseful, 5 Jan 2008
I was in the mood for a quick read and this book fit the bill at just under 200 pages. This is a superb international good vs evil tale. I gave 4 out of 5 stars simply because the ultimate resolution to the story was very quick and the protagonist finds out who the killer is almost by coincidence. Truth be told, this would have been a far more satisfying story if it was a little longer and relied a little more on the cunning of the characters at finding each other rather than coincidence.
Solo is mainly the story of John Mikali, grandson of a wealthy Greek business man. He's a sensitive person who loses both of his parents during infancy. He is raised by his maternal grandmother and a doting Greek woman who could have no children of her own. His grandfather, an equally sensitive person is a central figure in his life as well, but lives far away from the boy on an island in Greece. His grandmother dies leaving him alone with his Greek nanny and the grandfather who lives far away. He is a character who has some part of his soul missing. Though he loves the nanny and grandfather dearly, there is a coldness in his heart. Finally, when they are both killed, something in John Mikali snaps. He takes revenge on those who were responsible for their deaths and finds that he enjoys killing. He becomes an international hit man. At least half of the book is devoted to telling the story of John Mikali. It is extremely well crafted and, though he is evil through and through, you understand his character and care what happens to him.
Where John Mikali is the mouse in this cat and mouse tale, Asa Morgan is the cat. Asa Morgan is a soldier of great cunning and is off at war when he is called home because his 14 year old daughter has been hit by the getaway car of Mikali as he flees the scene of an assassination he has committed. Asa Morgan builds up a fury in his heart toward John Mikali and will stop at nothing to find him and kill him. He is a fundamentally good character, but also enjoys war and killing. His character isn't built up to the extent that Mikali's character is.
Enter, Dr. Katherine Riley, a foremost authority on terrorist mentality. She meets and falls in love with John Mikali. She becomes the only person that Mikali actually cares about. Asa Morgan meets her as well when British intelligence brings her in to analyze an ongoing case. He develops an attraction to her, but his desire for revenge is foremost in his mind. She is a minor character in this cat and mouse tale, a minor diversion.
I don't want to tell much more as it could ruin the story for those who wish to read it. I haven't given anything away that isn't brought out from the beginning. It rates 4 out of 5 for the reasons stated in the first paragraph of this review. All in all, this was a satisfying read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Predictable Higgins, but gripping none-the-less, 6 Jul 2000
By A Customer
A typical Higgins thriller which lets the reader know exactly what's what right from the start, described in intricate detail. A pacy novel which makes you turn that page, but a little predictable in it's outcome. John Mikali, an concert pianist of the highest quality is also the man wanted by countless police forces across the World for the assassinations of prominent, but unsavoury politicians and businessmen. A mistake in one of his killings leads to his pursuit by one Asa Morgan of the SAS. Both men trained killers and trained survivors. Ultimately leading to the face-off from which only one man can get the result he wants.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my favourite Jack Higgins stories, 11 Jul 2007
One of the reviews here sums up the story well enough. I would just like to add that after another tragic loss in his life, John Mikali joins the French Foreign Legion. The short description of his experiences actually got me interested in reading more about the Legion,
I would not describe Mikali as evil. He just more or less loses his soul. If I remember, and I read this over twenty years ago, he spares the lives of witnesses, so is not all bad. I would actually describe him as an anti-hero. He is one of the author's typical characters, one of the bad guys but with with something about him that is attractive, so an anti-hero. I thought his opponent, Asa Morgan was actually quite dull in comparison.
The end is typically corny and romantic and is set in the kind of place Alfred Hitchcock would have chosen.
'There was a concert grand in the corner by the window, a Schiedmayer. As he walked across to it, he took out the gold case, selected one of the Greek cigarettes and lit it. Then he opened the lid of the Schiedmayer and sat down. He took out the Ceska and laid it ready at the end of the keyboard'.
Superb !
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by Jack Higgins
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