Kirkus Review
A spirited sequel to The Eagle Has Landed, the 1975 WW II adventure thriller that catapulted Higgins into best-sellerdom. Though lacking the wild premise, drama, and suspense of the original, this engrossing follow-up, Higgin's 50th novel, does display a veteran's craftsmanship as it traces what happened to noble S.S. colonel Kurt Steiner and charismatic IRA hit-man Liam Devlin after their botched attempt to shanghai Winston Churchill to Nazi Germany on Himmler's orders. Once again, Higgins veneers his tale with historicity--here, by presenting it as being told to him by Devlin shortly after the publication of The Eagle Has Landed. Steiner, Devlin tells Higgins, wasn't shot dead after all but was captured--inspiring Himmler to launch a rescue operation led by Devlin (working for money to fund the IRA) and organized by heroic S.S. general Walter Schellenberg, but also inspiring the British, led by military mastermind Dougal Munro, who gets wind of the rescue, to set a trap for Devlin. The lion's share of the pages, and clearly Higgins's heart, belong to the rescuers, with Schellenberg shown recruiting a daredevil escape pilot as Devlin sneaks into England, travels to London, contacts IRA cronies, has a violent run-in with gangsters, and, disguised as a priest, snatches Steiner from under Munro's nose. A robust tale, told with gusto if no inspiration; more intriguing is the novel-long subplot about why Himmler wants Steiner rescued: to occupy Schellenberg while Himmler, infuriated with Hitler's military losses, plots to kill the Fuehrer--a plan Schellenberg determines to disrupt, realizing that only Hitler's incompetence will shorten the needless, bloody, already lost war. . . Lots of manly action, and the golden title will make this a best-seller, but more masterful entertainment is available in The Eagle Has Landed--which the publisher is simultaneously reissuing in hard-cover in a ""fully restored, complete"" version, about 10% longer than the 1975 edition. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.