A Fine Night for Dying

Paul Chavasse #6

by Martin Fallon, Jack Higgins

The death of a gangster draws super-spy Paul Chavasse into a breathtaking adventure on the high seas - an unforgettable tale from one of the true masters of modern thriller writing, the bestselling author of Midnight Runner and The Keys of Hell. Caught in the nets of a local fishing boat, the body of gangland boss Harvey Preston is dragged from the English Channel, wrapped from head to toe in heavy chain. British intelligence suspects a connection with a cross-channel smuggling ring. But as undercover agent Paul Chavasse embarks on what will be one of the most dangerous cases in his extraordinary career, he soon discovers that this is no small-time operation - and the ruthless men behind it will stop at nothing to protect their precious cargo.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Action, Mystery, Espionage, Adventure, Audiobook

297 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

One of the many pseudonyms used by Henry Patterson. See Jack Higgins for more complete information.

Reviews

[Jerry B]

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.

[Stefan Ellis]

An entertaining enough action rush. Thin on characters and very short, but if you are looking for a book you can finish in a couple of hours and not think too much, there are worse books out there.

[Tim Corke]

easy peasy read but definitely a good story and kept the interest throughout. a bit more 'real' than Bond I suppose but lots of convenience to allow the story to pull together.

[Bekki Fowell]

Very slow, no real climax...

[Shammas Ahmad]

its aight not sumthin crazy

[Serdar Poirot]

Paul Chavasse bir gün bir otopsiye katılır. Jamaikalı gibi görünen birinin denizden çıkma cesedidir bu. Şefi Mallory bu insan kaçakçılığı işi için onu görevlendirir. İtalya Napoli'ye gider ve oradan bir gemiye biner. Gemide Jacoud, Rossiter adındaki kişiler işi yürütür. Yolcu olarak da Faima Nadeem, Jason, Hamid, yaşlı bir kadın ve sonradan dahil olan Cheung adlı biri vardır. Mercier adında birinin yardımıyla yola çıkarlar ama gemi arıza yapar ve batmaya başlar. Ufak bir bot ile Faima, Cheung ve organize edenler kaçar. Chavasse ve Jason kurtulsa da diğerleri ölür. Jason aslında ölen Jamaikalının abisidir. Zar zor İngiltere'ye dönünce Mallory onları bilgilendirir. Rossiter Kore savaşında esir düştükten sonra beyni yıkanmıştır. Cheung ise Çin istihbarat biriminden bir albayıdır. Bu çetenin finansal sağlayıcısı da Montefiore adında bir adamdır. İntikam alınacaktır. Chavasse hepsini öldürmek için yola çıkar. Mercier'in yardımıyla ve Jason'ın da yardımıyla Jacoud konuşur ve öldürülür. Sonra Hellfire adındaki adaya gidilir. Burada Rossiter, Montefiore'yi Uyuşturucu ile öldürür. Chavasse de Jason ile yakalanır. Arnavutluk'a gidecektir. Daha önceki işlerinden dolayı bu ölüm demektir. Faima da aşık olmuştur Rossiter'e. Zor da olsa kaçıp tekneye binip açılırlar ama Rossiter'e de yola çıkmıştır. Acaba ne olacaktır? Chavasse Faima'nın ihanetini affedecek midir? Jason ne yapacaktır? Madonna bıçağı nasıl Bir rol oynayacaktır? Keyifle okunan bir roman.

[Oli Turner]

The twenty-fourth #jackhiggins #martinfallon #hughmarlowe #harrypatterson #henrypatterson novel #afinenightfordying published in 1969. #paulchavasse returns in this sixth and final book in the series. A tale about people trying to come across the English Channel and enter England illegally and the ruthless human traffickers that take their money and abandon them to die. Still a major and relevant issue over fifty years later.
Typically for Higgins rain and fog and medicinal alcohol make an appearance and it’s all the better for it.
Great atmosphere, fantastic pacing, action and adventure. Short and punchy with an explosive and rather sombre ending. Not my favourite chavasse adventure as it doesn’t reach the heights of books 4 and 5 in the series, but still good

[Neil Fulwood]

During the Sixties, Higgins wrote half a dozen novels under the pseudonym Martin Fallon, featuring James-Bond-alike Paul Chavasse. In this outing, Chavasse is dispatched by his M-like boss Mallory to investigate a people smuggling ring which turns out merely to be part of a larger conspiracy. Along the way, he encounters a glamorous woman, an enigmatic villain and a proliferation of vaguely stereotypical thugs. The action ranges across Europe and comes thick and fast. It’s all pretty generic and lacks the flair of Higgins’s best work, but it’s solid entertainment for all that.

[Brent Henry]

I don't think I had ever read a book by Jack Higgins before. But having done so, this will probably be the last one unless I read The Eagle Has Landed or The Eagle Has Flown.

I found the book slow moving and the characters a bit thin. I think that this book is dated and wasn't particularly entertaining reading for me.

When I have more time, I will try another one of his books. But for now, while it was easy to read, it didn't grab hold of me.

[Lee]

The 6th book in the Chavasse series, which to me is very similar to the later Sean Dillon series, finds him investigating a smuggling ring. They are smuggling people into the UK and once investigating he finds a much more sinister plot afoot. Ok read.

[Ed]

#6 in the Paul Chavasse series. This 1969 series entry by Jack Higgins, writing as Martin Fallon, is a fine addition. Undercover agent Chavasse infiltrates a criminal ring smuggling people across the Channel into England (and sometimes only part way across).

[Melissa]

Easy read, I’ve just been busy otherwise would have finished it earlier. Expected for a book of that genre , also I didn’t read the beginning books of the series so it was a bit confusing on who some of the characters were.

[The Villan]

I really enjoy this character Chavasse Fast read and a good beach read. It isn’t until I read one of Higgins that I recall how thin the actual book is, only 262 pages ! I just wish he’d written more standalone novels like the Eagle has Landed than the Sean Dillon books.

[Neil]

A bit dated but still a fun story and takes you back to the late 60's.

[John]

Fast read book which had some thrilling segments. Well written but due to the amount of pages there was no character intros.

[Eric]

Not a bad read!

[Phil Cole]

Good easy read, easy to follow.

[Larry West]

U

[Jeff]

Enjoyable read of an old book by a favorite author on the drive home from Illinois

[Adam Humphreys]

A quick holiday read, perfectly fine book.

[Jailan El-Rafie]

I like a good and simple detective story as much as the next person but I really didn't understand a lot of what was going on in the last 50 pages or so.

[Kym]

While I despise the way this man writes women, he ate with the plot. I felt like it dragged on for a bit, it really didn’t need to be 290 pages 😭😭 the ending was 10/10 tho

[Emma Louise]

I think it was well written but I was the wrong audience for this book

[Reader]

Worst book I ever read, complete waste of time.
so stupid story.

[Debbie]

Last in the series. Enjoyed it but really no end for this character, so little sad. Feels a little incomplete.

[Christopher Hivner]

Intelligence agent Paul Chavasse is brought in to investigate when a body weighted down with chains in found in the English channel and it's not the first. There is a human smuggling ring operating and Chavasse is sent to infiltrate it. Posing as an Australian criminal he pays for passage with the smugglers which leads him to some powerful people at the top.

This is a solid Higgins novel, but not his best. It was actually written in 1969 and parts are dated, especially the Chinese communism story line. The whole plot is interesting but not gripping. It's a short, compact book with quite a bit of action and twists. This novel won't stay with you. It's like a sweet confection; you'll get a few hours of enjoyment and then it's gone.

[Claudia Sorsby]

A fast, workmanlike thriller. Not bad, but nothing special.

It almost read like a knockoff James Bond story; something dramatic and bad happens, scene. Next, our hero gets his marching orders from M (as it were), and banters with a Moneypenny stand-in.

Next, he's off to fight/chase/fight the bad guys, protect the pretty girl, etc. He gets support from his network, so guns and supplies appear when necessary. There's an atmospheric bad-guy hideout in France, at the end, big fight, end. Ta da.

Eh. Higgins has done better.

[Layla]

Although set in 1969, this novel examines issues pertinent to life in 2011. These issues are human trafficking and the danger of extremists whose only consideration is the disruption of Western life by any means possible.


I could discuss the absence of any substantive female character but let's face it, this is a period piece, not high literature.

It's a good diverting read for waiting rooms and lay-overs.

[Shamila]

I had high hopes for the book, given the author's reputation and this was the first of his works I got to read and, it was not that much captivating. A few moments of suspense here and there was all that kept me going and the climax was abrupt. Maybe I've read too many of thrillers of this kind and this is one of the first of its genre that laid the groundwork for better successors but wasn't that great on its own.

[Abe]

A fast moving novel about underworld smuggling of human and illegal cargo. I can't say anything about Jack Higgins that has not already been said. He's an accomplished author and knows how to weave a fast-paced tale. It is my second reading and I found it as interesting the second time as the first.