This, the fourth title in the Sean Dillon series, gave me a chance to visit with some old and likable friends once again, but I'm realizing more and more that these old friends are terribly incompetent (mostly Ferguson, the head guy) and would have been removed from their official roles long ago in the real world. The plot is unoriginal; the motives of the bad guys muddled, at best; there are numerous plot developments that require you to merely accept that some people must just be stupid; and the ending is rushed, as if Higgins had run up against a deadline or realized that he was nearing 300 pages and had to wrap things up. On the positive side, the pacing is good and the narrative moves along at a fast clip. I will continue with the next in the series, but I'm not overly excited at the prospect. If I were not interested in the ultimate fates of Ferguson, Bernstein and Dillon, I might be giving up on this series at this point. ( )

With this work, Higgins has definitely come into his own. The characters are crisp, The plot is a gem. The end result is fully satisfactory. If I hadn't been hooked on this author before, I am now. ( )

This is the perfect book to take with you when you've got a lot of time on your hands; waiting room, plane flight, bus trip, whatever. You can stop and start without missing a thing, because you've probably read it all before. And you'll get through it so fast you won't feel guilty about the time you've spent reading it. ( )