About this item
"The bell rings at midnight, as death requires it." - Irish proverb From "the dean of intrigue novelists" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) comes a knife-edge story of terrorism and revenge. In Ulster, Northern Ireland, a petty criminal kills a woman in a drunken car crash. Her sons swear revenge. In London, Sean Dillon and his colleagues in the "Prime Minister's private army," fresh from defeating a deadly al-Qaeda operation, receive a warning: You may think you have weakened us, but you have only made us stronger. In Washington, D.C., a special projects director with the CIA, frustrated at not getting permission from the President for his daring anti-terrorism plan, decides to put it in motion anyway. He knows he's right - the nation will thank him later. Soon, the ripples from these events will meet and overlap, creating havoc in their wake. Desperate men will act, secrets will be revealed - and the midnight bell will toll. Filled with event, driven by characters of complexity and passion, The Midnight Bell is a remarkable novel from the "architect of the modern thriller" (The Huffington Post) .
About the Author
Jack Higgins was best known of the many pseudonyms of Henry Patterson. (See also and He was the bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including and . His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter. Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster , which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures - such as John Dillinger - and often center around significant events from such conflicts as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Patterson lived in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.
