First Strike by Jack Higgins with Justin Richards
HarperCollins, 2009.
ISBN: 9780007300495.
John Chance and his twin children Jade and Rich
are quietly
having a meal in a United
States diner when a man who was
walking over
to speak to them is shot. In hospital he says, 'If the birds have
flown, they
will try for the Football,' before lapsing unconscious. Unravelling
this cryptic message is a key
aspect of this mystery novel.
The plot is set in the United States with Jack
Chance
being a secret serviceman who has already saved the President's life
once. An oriental woman with a long black
plaited
pigtail and missing warheads in China
are other central parts of the drama that has its conclusion in a White
House
siege during a reception. A little hard to follow the plot at times but
nevertheless a good old fashioned mystery that will appeal especially
to
secondary school aged boys.
Kay Haarsma