The Graveyard Shift - Softcover

Higgins, Jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0425187365 ISBN 13: 9780425187364

Publisher: Berkley, 2002

Synopsis

Bounty hunter Marty Keller doesn’t expect his job to be easy—but he does expect to be paid. Stagecoach company owner Malcolm O’Brian has put a price on the head of a stagecoach robber, but money is the one thing he doesn’t have. After Keller dodges a hail of bullets to bring in the wanted man, he’s more than a little curious how O’Brian plans to pay.

The stagecoach owner promises him double, if Keller can rid him of the threat to his stagecoach line for good. Now the bounty hunter is riding shotgun and aiming to take on as many outlaws as necessary—because on this trip the cargo is hot lead and cold death.

About this title

About the Author

Jack Higgins lives on Jersey in the Channel Islands. The author of dozens of bestsellers, most famously The Eagle Has Landed, he served three years with the Royal Horse Guards in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, and subsequently was a circus roustabout, a factory worker, a truck driver, and a laborer before entering college at age 27. He holds degrees in sociology, social psychology, and economics, and a doctorate in media. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he is an expert scuba diver and marksman.

Reviews

Previously published in England under Higgins's real name, Harry Patterson, this 1960s police thriller is the first of three featuring Detective Nick Miller to be released in the United States. Ben Garvald, a notorious thief, is finally getting out of prison, much to the dismay of his former wife and sister-in-law, who go so far as to enlist police protection. While Miller, an educated officer versed in judo and karate, tracks Garvald, hoping that the ex-con will lead him to stolen money never recovered from his final crime, Detective Constable Brady, a jealous colleague of Miller's, secretly confronts Garvald's ex-partner in an effort to solve the case himself. Instead, Brady winds up in a hospital bed, and Garvald, having witnessed the attack, becomes a target. Despite Miller's sophisticated front, he muscles information out of Garvald's acquaintances with the finesse of a hardboiled detective. Miller's abrasive personality takes some getting used to, as does his way with words (like a true '60s detective, he refers to women as "birds" and "tarts"). Though mystery buffs will appreciate the Mickey Spillane-like characters and cadence, this straightforward procedural lacks the espionage elements and historical content of Higgins's bestselling novels (The Eagle Has Landed) and may prove too dated for popular consumption.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Berkley
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0425187365
• ISBN 13: 9780425187364
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272