The Death Trade

I have been an on-and-off again fan of Jack Higgins since his excellent thriller, The Eagle Has Landed. Though The Death Trade is not anywhere near as good as The Eagle Has Lande and many of his early books, it is still an enjoyable read.

The Death Trade is fast reading and loaded with several several intriguing characters. Some are villainous, some are heroic, but most are quite interesting and involved in exciting scenarios.

The plot is right out of today’s headlines; dealing with the Iranian nuclear program and its possible effects on world events. The main players include a brilliant but troubled scientst, a megomaniacal billionaire, terrorists of all shapes and sizes and, of course, the small but highly trained and efficient anti-terrorist group working directly under the British Prime Minister.

The story unfolds with breakneck speed and builds to a thrilling climax. I recommend this novel to the typical Higgins fan and to anyone else interested in a very heavily plot-driven exciting and suspenseful tale that spans such world hotspots as Afghanistan, Syria, Iran the Saudi Arabian Desert and, of course, Paris and Great Britain.

Is The Death Trade great literature? Definitely not. Does it follow the formula Higgins has used in most of his books? Without question, yes. Does it have more than its share of cliches? It does. If you can overlook or, at least not be bothered too much by these factors, I’m pretty sure you’ll find The Death Trade to be a fun, entertaining read.

i AM AN IRISHMAN THROUGH AND THROUGH AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE UK (BREXIT) VOTE TO QUIT THE OCCUPATION OF IRELAND. THE FACT THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER WAS A TOP IRA ASSASSIN TURNED TO WORK FOR SOME SUPER DUPER SECRET PM ARMY IRKS ME. That being said the books are enjoyable. Just wish you would do one on England getting their asses kick out of my homeland…..

The organgies/Prosies/thuggish Ulster paramilitary/Brit military/and SASies control Northern Ireland, if the people wanted to be a part of the UK you wouldn’t need all the above forces along with very high cement walls dividing neighborhoods and they called the IRA a terrorist group. I would say they are Irish Freedom Fighters. People look toward Israel and say they are an occupying force but it has been, historically their homeland for thousands of years and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire the UN set aside this land for the Jewish state; this is not the case in Ireland.

The Death Trade by Jack Higgins is one more winner from the remarkable writer. To begin with, I am one of his best fans. I have read every book this man has written and I do mean every book. The Death Trade once again brings his favorite people, Gen. Ferguson, Sean (that crazy Irishman)Dillon, Sara Gideon, Major Roper, and others. Sean and Sara make an interesting duo when Sean plays the piano and Sara sings the ballads. They are a hit where ever they perform. But is this their true mission? No, it is not. There is a mysterious “Master” from al Qaeda who used the internet and cell phones to communicate with the al Qaeda followers all over Europe. Al Qaeda has secretly invaded some of the most closely guarded institutions not only in Europe but also in some of the Arab nations. Our hero’s are off to Paris where they meet an Iranian Colonel, Declan Rashid, who is half Irish and half Arab. What is his part in the Paris meeting with various officials from various nations? Also present is a scientist, Simon Husseini, who has known Sara and her father since she was a little girl. They meet in Paris and discuss old times. Simon is doing some research for Iran that is top secret. He is also a top researcher in the medical field. This great book will keep you in suspense for many good reading hours. Language, graphics. Not recommended for the young reader. DP, Castro Valley, CA.

Jack Higgins, in his ‘The Death Trade’, lives in a black-and-white world where all villains tend to come from the Middle East and all the good guys are from the West. This is more a blood and thunder thriller than a spy novel, although some of the essential ingredients entail MI6-types who work in the U.K.’s ‘private army’–a team of expert assassins including a ruthless killer who had formerly worked for the IRA–the bomb-throwing ‘terrorist’ group who fought the British for years in an attempt to force Northern Ireland to join greater Ireland.
In a theme reminiscent of Roger Croft’s spy novel ‘Operation Saladin’, published in 2013, an Iranian nuclear scientist wants to defect to the UK and the private army’s mission is to help him get out of Iran and into their safe hands. [In Croft’s novel the would-be defector is a Syrian nuclear scientist]. Higgins’ story takes us from London’s Downing Street [home of the Prime Minister] to Syria, Algeria and the Sahara. But the paucity of atmospherics, the lack of descriptive details or descriptions of these exotic locales, leave the reader feeling somewhat short-changed. The main characters are wooden, their language and repartee seem to be out of the 1930s. For example, when Dillon, the former IRA gunman and now a ‘good guy’ fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban, tells beautiful but ruthless Sara, the only female member of the private army, that the bodyguard of one of their antagonists, is a ruthless thug, he adds: ‘Remember that, girl dear, if you’re trying your aikido on him.’ But never mind, she’s no feminist.
All this being said, Higgins is a master at producing a shock-filled page-turner– provided the reader has that exquisite ability to suspend disbelief.

I have returned to the Dillon books because I enjoy them, I now own them in Kindle form and in Audible but for some inexplicable reason this one book is not available as an audible book. All the others are and I have the full set except this one, I know it may seem petty but I really wanted the full set on Audible as listening is easier than reading for me now.

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