1969 short Brit thriller a little tame by modern standards..."Dying" was our introduction to prolific author Jack Higgins, a native Irishman heavily influenced by Britain's role in WW-II. In this post-war "thriller", British intelligence agent Paul Chavasse is assigned a case involving a body discovered in the English channel weighted down with chains. Following a lead to a human smuggling ring (to circumvent tight immigration laws), he contrives to be a customer using an Australian identity as a cover. The passage back to England becomes one of cross and double-cross, and before it's over several more deaths go down ere Chavasse closes in on the bad guys and, together with the victim's brother, ensures the carriage of justice.While the storyline is suspenseful, this is a pretty short novel at 180 pages set in fairly large print. The plot is quite straightforward, with just a few characters and a couple of settings, and is characterized by sustained action as opposed to intrigue or complexity. By today's modern thriller standards, this simplistic book comes across as pretty tame -- maybe that was to be expected from a book published nearly 35 years ago.Higgins has compiled a bibliography of some 50 or more novels, so he obviously enjoys a loyal and ardent following. While we were modestly entertained with the effort at hand, we plan to sample a more recent example of his work as a truer test of his craft and abilities. Meanwhile, "Dying" provided an enjoyable, albeit brief, adventure.
