A Darker Place

A Darker Place by Jack Higgins Harper, HK$94

Can anyone remember a time before Jack Higgins? His novels - such as Night of the Fox, The Eagle has Flown and the classic The Eagle has Landed - helped shape the modern blockbuster with explosive action, granite-jawed heroes and baddies with odd accents. A Darker Place begins with typical Higgins brio, with a Russian proverb: 'Avoid looking in an open grave. You may see yourself there.' Once again, our hero is the roguish Sean Dillon, a former IRA heavy who now works for the British government in the 'Prime Minister's private army'. His latest mission is to oversee the defection of Alex Kurbsky, a Russian writer and ex-paratrooper. Defection may seem an outdated concept, but Kurbsky suspects Vladimir Putin may mutate into Vlad the Impaler when he learns a high-ranking official has done a runner. Having contacted Dillon, he begins his escape - only for Dillon to suspect more sinister motives lurking beneath Kurbsky's assurances that the West is the best. As ever in Higgins, the plot moves at light-speed. There is global intrigue, romance (the lady-like Monica Starling), glamour and lashings of hot violence. It's as if he's never been away.