Review: Pay the Devil

This book was originally published in 1962, under the pseudonym of Harry Patterson. It quickly went out of print and has never been reprinted. Now, Higgins, in true Dean Koontz-style, has rewritten the book and reissued it.

At the end of the American Civil War, Colonel Clay Fitzgerald escapes to Ireland, only to find that is locked in a war of its own - a war between landlords and tenant farmers. Clay wants to avoid getting involved, but on seeing the terrible atrocities, becomes a night-riding outlaw, rebelling against the landlords.

Whilst this looks like a novel of a reasonable length at 307 pages, it feels nothing like that once you get going. It is incredibly easy to read and indeed, I finished this in one sitting. The font is so large; it makes the novel look a lot longer than it actually is.

It makes a welcome change from the adventures of Sean Dillon and suchlike and it is very different. Higgins obviously likes to have Irish characters in his novels and he paints an interesting picture of the Ireland of the time. Clay Fitzgerald is a great character, but one who is just too good. Even when he is trapped in a nasty situation, he soon manages to get out of it. You find yourself wanting him to run into a large amount of trouble, just to see him have to struggle a bit, rather than just fire his Dragoon.

The ending is, of course, predictable as soon as you get a few pages into the book. You just know what is going to happen. Although this does detract from the quality of the book overall, I cannot say that it is not an enjoyable story, because it is. However, I think that if you paid the full price for this book, you would be disappointed. It is not up to Higgins' usual standard of writing, but then most books that are rewritten are usually not. Worth a read if you can find it in the library.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Book Review: Pay the Devil