From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Higgins's exciting 17th Sean Dillon thriller (after A Darker Place), Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin is behind a plot to kill Dillon and other members of the British prime minister's private intelligence army as payback for their being such a thorn in his side over the years. In London, Gen. Charles Ferguson, who's just left a late-night meeting of Commonwealth ministers, is walking toward his car when it explodes, killing his driver. In New York City, Maj. Harry Miller, who's in the U.S. to attend a U.N. meeting, goes for a stroll in Central Park, where he neatly turns the tables on a hired hit man. Extensive flashbacks explain how the attacks on each of the marked men evolved, with much space devoted to the chief assassin, Daniel Holley. Higgins provides a more cerebral story than usual, but he doesn't stint on action. Though most of the plot threads tie up nicely, the ending makes clear that readers will be seeing Holley again. (Jan.)
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From Booklist
Higgins has been around a long time, and he continues to bring readers page-turning suspense. This novel reads like a family reunion, as characters from previous novels show up and quickly discover they have targets on their backs. Who would want to kill them and why? After Higginsβ main character, Sean Dillon, figures out the puzzle, the story line moves back in time to unveil the reason for the revenge plot and the man hired to carry out the mission. As a result, the familiar characters in whom fans are most interested end up taking a backseat to the revenge story. The overall result is hit and miss. When focusing on Dillon and his friends, the novel shines with all the Higgins flash, but the rest of the book is pedestrian at best. For Higgins completists. --Jeff Ayers