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Summary: A gripping flight through the last great war!
Review: Jack Higgins' latest adventure carries you from the present into the dark depths of the air war in europe during World War Two. The story is a both gripping and touching tale of twin brothers: Max and Harry Kelso, raised through childhood together in post WWI America but seperated as Max is taken to Germany with his mother, the Baroness Elsa von Hadler after the death of their American father. Both begin seperate lives but share their common love of aviation and of a small teddy bear named Tarquin. Max assumes his rightful title as the Baron von Hadler and rapidly becomes a fearsome fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe as the world goes to war once more. Meanwhile, his brother Harry Kelso pursues the same occcupation when he travels overseas to join in the european conflict as an ace fighter pilot on the side of the Allies at the war's inception. Both twist and turn through a series of harrowing battles and adventures but are continously crossing paths in many ways as the war progresses on. Always mindful of each others achievements and predicaments across the lines they are brought together once again and unwittingly at first, drawn into a wicked plot by Nazi leaders that may force them to betray both sides and threatens to destroy everything they love. The reader is held by tension to the very end with a surprise twist via a personal note by Jack Higgins.
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Summary: Good story.
Review: Enjoyed the story, and the characterizations were terrific.
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Summary: My First Exposure to Jack Higgins' writing
Review: While by no means spectacular, this book had an interesting--yet cliche--plot. The twin brothers, son of an American WWI fighter pilot and German nurse, both are trained in their youth to become great dogfighters. After their American father's death their mother returns to her German estate with one of the sons. The plot develops as the two sons encounter each other on opposite sides in WWII. The audio tapes were ok to listen to, my complaint being that the sole reader tried to modulate his voice for different characters, but was noticably inconsistent, making it difficult on occasion to know who was talking.
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Summary: Flight of Eagles Review , by Nick Gatz cass pd.4
Review: I found the Flight of Eagles by Jack Higgins to be very interesting and intriguing. The book had a strong plot in which Higgins caught the reader's attention by pulling in historical figures with fictional ones leaving you with suspense and thoughts of always wanting to find out what happens next. The books main Characters Harry Kelso and Max Von Halder are described with such realistic traits, thoughts, and actions by Higgins you would believe that they were real fighter pilots. The characters are described with great detail but often it is hard to keep track of them all until the end when Higgins ties them all together. I found it very interesting as to how Higgins used the bear Tarquin as a symbol in the book to tell the story of two separated brothers brought together by war. The realistic details of war, the planes the brothers flew, and the whiskey they drank made it seem as though you could be sitting right there with them. The book is full of suspenseful action that leaves you with a feeling that you just can't stop reading because you are eager to find out what happens next. The books ending is surprising but well organized in bringing all the events to a whole.
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Summary: A fast-paced plot, somewhat damaged by historical inaccuracy
Review: As an avid Higgins reader, I was mostly pleased with this book. Higgins returns to World War II, a topic he knows fairly well, and centers the story on twin brothers--aviators for England and Germany--and other assorted characters. I was put off, however, by the "Bubi" Hartmann character. Higgins knows, or ought to, that Erich Hartmann was Germany's leading Luftwaffe ace, and not the individual portrayed in this book. The real "Bubi" Hartmann, now deceased, would have had nothing to do with Himmler or the SD, and I had a difficult time reading the novel each time Higgins' "Hartmann" showed up. In addition, wasn't there a "Kelso" in an earlier Higgins novel? Finally, the close approximation to the tale of how "Harry cum Max" met his end--flying an Arado toward war's end--to the way in which another character in an earlier novel died--flying an Arado toward war's end--was off-putting. At least one was shot down by a Spitfire, whilst the other fell to the guns of a Mosquito. Despite these quibbles, I liked Higgins' return to WWII. I'll look for more.
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Summary: Good Story
Review: This is a really good story that will keep you interested and wondering until the end.
Wonderful twists and turns... just when you think you have figured it out... here comes another. Holds the readers interest until the end. most enjoyable and entertaining.
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Summary: Most disappointing
Review: I'm a big fan of Higgin's works but this book is far below the quality of his usual output. If you've never read Higgins, don't do yourself a disservice by starting with this novel as he's written far better works. Try THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, SOLO, COLD HARBOUR, ANGEL OF DEATH and DRINK WITH THE DEVIL. The main problem with this particular, outside of it being too predictable , is simply that too much of the story is put into narrative form. In other words, Higgins rushes through what happens in a summary fashion rather than detailing the pieces more and laying out the emotional context.
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Summary: Truly Awful--Three hundred page cliche'
Review: I picked this up having read and enjoyed some of Jack Higgins' earlier works such as "The Eagle Has Landed", which was truly a good thriller. This book is a fine example of what happens when an author becomes so successful that he can write whatever he wants and it will get published. This book is garbage. The characters seem practically lifted from Len Deighton's 'Winter' and every single situation is a cliche, as is almost every utterance from page one to the last page, which I arrived at with much relief and after much thought about whether the trip was worth it.
The basic premise of this book is that two brothers end up on opposite sides in WWII (read Deighton's 'Winter') and supposedly are forced to work together to kill Churchill. If they refuse, their snobbish and incredibly ignorant mother will be strangled with piano wire by Himmler. The characters go through the motions like cardboard cutouts, except they are less realistic, and the plot is just plain inane.
This is one of the worst books I ever read, and Jack Higgins should be ashamed of himself.
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Summary: Flight Of Eagles
Review: I am an avid reader, and this book is the best book I have ever read. I was captivated by the story, and who ever I have spoken to about this book has agreed with me. The authors ability to capture me is fantastic, and love it. Jack Higgens is an excellent author, and I have never found a book to rival the quality of this one.
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Summary: Nates review of Flight Of Eagles by Jack Higgins
Review: The story begins in 1997 in Cold Harbour, a lonely Cornish villageand once a secret spy base where Higgins and his wife Denise find themselves after surviving a crash landing in the English Channel. There, Zee Aeland, a rugged looking innkeeper, turns emotional when he catches glimpse of Higgins's teddy bear, Tarquin, which the author purchased in an antique shop. Aeland tells him that Tarquin's original owner was a dashing fighter pilot, Jack Kelso, a wealthy, thrill seeking American veteran who fought for the British before the US entered the war. The story takes a leap to two brothers, both ace fighter pilots turned to fight against each other. Max Kelso with the German Luftwaffe, and Harry in Britain's RAF. For it seems that forces much greater than they have set into motion an devistating so bad, so filled with confusion, that it will require that they question everything they know. I really liked this book. It was a great WW2 book if you are into that kind of stuff. The detail and excitement always keeps you on your toes wating in anticipation for what is going to happen next. I have read WW2 books before and this one realy hit the spot with all the accuracy and great detail.
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