Angel of Death

February 27, 1995
The main plot device in Higgins's new thriller has a certain comic-strip blaze to it: a female British motorcyclist in black leather who carries a Beretta pistol and kills only to create chaos. This angel of death is also Britain's greatest actress, Grace Browning, relishing her new role as assassin of political activists of every stripe, be they Arab or Israeli, Catholic or Protestant, CIA or KGB, East End gangster or American senator. Browning belongs to a group that calls itself ``January 30,'' seemingly in honor of Bloody Sunday in Belfast but actually in honor of nothing but the chaos that she and her homosexual superior, an old KGB hand who's now on Prime Minister John Major's staff, hope will usher in a worldwide Communist state. Pitted against January 30 and Browning are Brigadier Charles Ferguson of the PM's elite Group Four and his most devilish agent, returning Higgins hero Sean Dillon (On Dangerous Ground), ex-actor, ex-IRA hit man and master makeup artist. It's assassin vs. assassin, actor against actor, in this shallow and far-fetched yet exciting yarn, which needs all of Higgins's considerable expertise to stay on course as it hurtles from one nervy thrill to the next. BOMC main selection.

Jack Higgins and Patrick MacNee are the perfect combination of writer and narrator. Higgins's latest espionage novel centers around a terrorist group calling itself "January 30th," which emerges with several strange goals, including stopping peace talks in Ireland. Sean Dillon, a former IRA member, now working for British intelligence, must stop the terrorist attacks. Patrick MacNee captures the ambiguity of the political intrigue with careful pauses and dramatic tension. His superb Irish accents increase the enjoyment of this presentation. I.Z. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine