JUN/ JUL 08 - AudioFile
Christopher Lane manipulates British, Russian, German, and Middle-Eastern accents to depict foreign terrorists who are being chased by British intelligence operatives Sean Dillon and Billy Salter. With genuine anxiety, subtle accents, and impeccable timing, Lane portrays Caspar Rashid, who was born and raised in England but who has family ties to a Bedouin tribe. When he discovers that his 13-year-old daughter, Sara, has been kidnapped by her paternal grandfather, who has arranged for her transport to Baghdad for the purpose of marrying a Muslim extremist, Rashid begs Dillon, a former IRA operative, for help. Lane’s chilling portrayal and powerful characterizations make this thriller especially believable. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
Higgins pits series hero ex-IRA enforcer Sean Dillon, now British Intelligence's go-to guy on antiterrorism, against terrorists Hussein Rashid, better known as the Hammer of God. The Hammer's plan is to enter England, kill Dillon's boss and kidnap a 13-year-old who has been promised to him as a future bride. This is a familiar but engrossing cat-and-mouse game involving a vast assortment of British, Irish, American, Russian and Muslim players on both sides of the board. Christopher Lang's crisp rendition aids tremendously in following Higgins's constant shifts from the Hammer's progress to Dillon's attempts to halt it. Lang also possesses a talent for accents. It's fun listening to him handle the group chats, with lightning shifts from lilting brogue to clipped old Etonian, guttural grunts to staccato Middle Eastern twang. One can't ask for any more than that. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 5, 2007). (Feb.)
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Kirkus Reviews
Can Sean Dillon & Co. blunt the Hammer of God and again save Western Civilization?When Caspar Rashid, a native of England with big-time Bedouin connections, is picked up in the passport line at Heathrow, no eyebrows or red flags are raised. Routine security measure, that's all, but as it happens Caspar's arrest is the opening move in a complex game of geopolitical chess. It's Dillon himself who puts the arm on Caspar. To his surprise, Dillon-whose place in the Clandestine Hall of Fame has long been reserved-discovers that Caspar is, in fact, eager to be arrested. He wants help, the down and dirty kind, the kind unhampered by niceties such as rules. If Casper can obtain what he needs, he's willing to swap certain sensitive information concerning al-Qaeda. Dillon & Co. rush to reassure him: "The only rules we have are not to have any." Turns out that Caspar's 13-year-old daughter has been kidnapped and spirited away to deepest Iraq-kidnapped by Caspar's cousin Hussein Rashid, the dreaded Hammer of God, a ferocious Muslim killer who sits at the right hand of Osama bin Laden, at the behest of Caspar's father, the rich and fanatical Abdul Rashid. Caspar wants her returned. And so an operation is mounted, Colts and Walthers bang away at targets endlessly available, body bags fill-can any other thrillmeister equal the Higgins corpse-per-page count?-and finally there's the obligatory O.K. Corral variation, during which, for the sake of us all, Dillon & Co. must nail the Hammer. Higgins' 37th (Bad Company, 2003, etc.): You get what you get.
JUN/JUL 08 - AudioFile
Christopher Lane manipulates British, Russian, German, and Middle-Eastern accents to depict foreign terrorists who are being chased by British intelligence operatives Sean Dillon and Billy Salter. With genuine anxiety, subtle accents, and impeccable timing, Lane portrays Caspar Rashid, who was born and raised in England but who has family ties to a Bedouin tribe. When he discovers that his 13-year-old daughter, Sara, has been kidnapped by her paternal grandfather, who has arranged for her transport to Baghdad for the purpose of marrying a Muslim extremist, Rashid begs Dillon, a former IRA operative, for help. Lane’s chilling portrayal and powerful characterizations make this thriller especially believable. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
