Pay the Devil

Written by Jack Higgins

Narrated by Jeff Harding

In his first new paperback for HarperCollins, master storyteller Jack Higgins displays all his customary skills in a heart-pounding adventure with a less familiar setting – 19th-century rural Ireland – and featuring a swashbuckling new hero.

At the end of the American Civil War, Confederate Colonel Clay Fitzgerald escapes to Ireland, where his uncle has left him an estate, only to find that Ireland is caught up in a civil war of its own. The struggle between the wealthy landlords and the impoverished tenant farmers is growing in intensity, and having just fought and lost a terrible war, Clay wants to avoid the coming conflict. But after witnessing the atrocities that the landowners visit upon the people, Clay is unable to stand by. Taking the guise of a legendary night-riding outlaw, he joins the fight against the landlords – and wages a rebellion of his own…

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780008361273

Jack Higgins

Jack Higgins lived in Belfast till the age of twelve. Leaving school at fifteen, he spent three years with the Royal Horse Guards, and was later a teacher and university lecturer. His thirty-sixth novel, The Eagle Has Landed (1975), turned him into an international bestselling author, and his novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into sixty languages. Many have been made into successful films. He died in 2022, at his home in Jersey, surrounded by his family.

Reviews for Pay the Devil

[henrimoreaux · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Originally penned in 1962 this book was printed once in the UK then fell out of sight until 1999 when it was restructured and reprinted in a revised format. Depending on your interests (there's no spy action here) this is one of the better Higgins books.The story follows a US Civil War veteran who migrates to Ireland only to find himself morally drawn into a conflict between an some English landowners and their Irish tenants. The characters aren't terribly deep and filled out but it is an quick and enjoyable read nonetheless about two topics which often aren't linked together.

[bridgey_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very different offering from Higgins, originally written in the early 60’s under the name Harry Patterson, it has been rereleased.The plot is set at the end of the American civil war. Colonel Fitzgerald is on the wrong side of the battle and must accept defeat. However he has been left a millionaire and property in rural island.With the war still fresh in his mind he leaves for Ireland with his black servant Josh. When he arrives things are far from the idyllic surrounds he was hoping for. He becomes disgusted at the way the English landlords are treating the peasants and is soon forced to take sides. Under the cover of darkness and dressed as the elusive Captain Swing he decides to make an example of the local gentry. However things soon take a disastrous turn of events…Not one of Higgins best, and the plot was at times repetitive. Worth a look, but try others before this.