Rough Justice

Sean Dillon, Book 15

By: Jack Higgins

Narrated by: Michael Page

Dispatched by the president to report on the state of troubled Kosovo, his trusted agent ,Blake Johnson, runs into a military man there named Harry Miller, who has the same task from the British prime minister. They band together just in time to stop a Russian officer from torching a mosque - or rather, Miller stops him, with a bullet to the forehead.

This action will have considerable consequences, not only for Miller and Johnson, and their associates, including Britain's Sean Dillon, but for a great many people, all the way to the top of the governments of the United States, Britain, and Russia.

Death begets death, and revenge leads only to revenge, and before the chain reaction of events is done, from Kosovo to London to Beirut to Ireland to Moscow, there will be plenty of both.

Filled with all the ingredients that have made him justly admired, Rough Justice is further proof that, in the words of the Associated Press, "When it comes to thriller writers, one name stands well above the crowd - Jack Higgins."

©2008 Jack Higgins (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Good Story, Great Narration . . . but . . .

Jack Higgins is certainly an entertaining writer (his best is probably the WWII thriller, "The Eagle has Landed") and this story, which is set in a kind of fictional alternate universe in a post-9/11 world, certainly holds one's interest. The narration by Michael Page is also expertly done -- he manages to give almost every character (especially male characters) different-sounding voices that are remarkably diverse.

The problem with the book is that it's actually intended as a continuation of a series of novels (apparently, this is no. 15) involving the character Sean Dillon. Dillon actually has a secondary role in this novel, but there are a number of places where Higgins refers to events that have already happened in other novels, and one gets the feeling of having walked in during the middle of the play. So, it's an entertaining and well-read audiobook -- but I wouldn't have chosen it if I had known it was part of a series.

Suspense

Higgins goes geopolitical for an engaging multi-layered story

Narration by accent master Michael Page is truly excellent. (And the shifting accents in a couple books was an experiment;; the accents that you are used to have been restored. ) The accents are so clearly differentiated and local geography authentic that this is a far better performance than reading the book.

A Dillon only in name

Thankfully the narrator is back to normal form and the story is regular Dillon fare but sadly, Dillon is nowhere to be found most times and when he does show up it’s to hold hands while some English Doppelgänger is impersonating him.

Suspended in mystery

Mystery, suspense,murder and intrigue. Nonstop action and plotting with never a drag. The secret organizations of the Brits, The Russians,The followers of Ossama. Wonderfully narrated. It will keep you thinking.

Dangers of the deep state

This is relevant in today’s world. Sean Dillion at his best. What starts out as a good government program ends up being corrupted by greedy people.