The Judas Gate

November 29, 2010
The massacre of 12 U.S. Army Rangers and a British medical team in Afghanistan reveals that an Irishman, code-named Shamrock, is applying IRA tactics to the Taliban's struggle against the West in Higgins's less than satisfying 18th Sean Dillon thriller (after The Wolf at the Door). Fearful that British-born Muslims may be heeding the call to jihad, officials employ Daniel Holley, a former IRA terrorist turned arms dealer, whose rich network of contacts may allow him to track down the elusive Shamrock. Since the well-connected Shamrock's own sources have alerted him that Holley is on his tail, Holley and his allies soon find themselves targeted by the very people they were supposed to neutralize. Fortunately for Holley, Shamrock, whose skills should have made him a close match for Holley, proves an inept foe. Nearly every move against the invincible Holley is foredoomed, and only minor characters are ever in true peril, robbing the book of dramatic tension.

November 15, 2010

Higgins (The Wolf at the Door, 2010, etc.) pits the Taliban and al-Qaeda against the British prime minister's "private hit squad," led by the redoubtable Gen. Charles Ferguson.

The action involves Ireland and England, with high-flying escapades into Pakistan and Algeria, but it all begins in Afghanistan with an intercepted radio transmission, one occurring during a firefight between the Taliban and NATO troops. Gen. Ferguson knows something wicked is afoot when one of the guerrilla commanders is heard speaking with an Irish accent and using the code name "Shamrock." Are British Muslims supporting the Taliban and al-Qaeda? Enter Sean Dillon, once an enforcer for the Provisional Irish Republican Army and now Gen. Ferguson's top anti-terrorist agent. With Dillon at the sharp end of the spear is Daniel Holley, also former IRA, but now a somewhat legitimate arms dealer with Algerian citizenship. They are aided by wounded Maj. Giles Roper, who mans the computers for the squad and plays a vital part in the search. There are assorted other good guys, including night club owners and part-time counter-agents Harry and Billy Salter, more than enough bad guys and traitors working both sides of the terror game. Also deeply enmeshed is Justin Talbot, a decorated British veteran of Afghanistan who now is de facto head of his family's influential multimillion-dollar corporation and who also dabbles in illicit arms trading. The most diabolical Judas is the Preacher, a respected British professor who has embraced Osama bin Laden and Islamic fundamentalism. Higgins' adventure is action-driven, with minimal character development, no romance and plenty of male bonding. Fans of the genre will appreciate the noisy occasions involving Semtex, AK-47s, silenced Colt .25s and villains coming to proper grief and swift justice.

Sure to be a hit with Higgins' fans, and a fast first read for newcomers to the work of this action-adventure writer.

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