Review Blog

Nov 25 2009

First Strike by Jack Higgins with Justin Richards

HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN: 9780007300495.
John Chance and his twin children Jade and Rich are quietly having a meal in a United States diner when a man who was walking over to speak to them is shot. In hospital he says, 'If the birds have flown, they will try for the Football,' before lapsing unconscious. Unravelling this cryptic message is a key aspect of this mystery novel.
The plot is set in the United States with Jack Chance being a secret serviceman who has already saved the President's life once. An oriental woman with a long black plaited pigtail and missing warheads in China are other central parts of the drama that has its conclusion in a White House siege during a reception. A little hard to follow the plot at times but nevertheless a good old fashioned mystery that will appeal especially to secondary school aged boys.
Kay Haarsma