East Of Desolation

Shadows over the DMZ

In East of Desolation, Jack Higgins transports readers to the razor’s edge of the Korean Peninsula, where loyalties are as shifting as the wind-swept rice paddies. Retired IRA enforcer–turned–government operative Sean Dillon is dispatched to Seoul under the pretense of a diplomatic liaison, but the true mission lies deeper: to track down the missing daughter of an American senator who vanished while volunteering at a humanitarian clinic near the Demilitarized Zone. As Dillon navigates smoky back-alley bars and clandestine safe houses, he uncovers a lethal conspiracy that reaches into the upper echelons of global power. Higgins’s taut prose crackles with tension, painting every neon-lit street corner and rain-slicked rooftop with a sense of imminent danger.

Webs of Betrayal

Dillon’s path soon converges with an eclectic cast of allies and adversaries: a fearless South Korean intelligence officer nursing scars from a past betrayal; a disillusioned American journalist chasing the story of a lifetime; and a shadowy North Korean colonel whose clandestine agenda could ignite a second Korean War. As they venture eastward across the Yalu River into forbidden territory, each secret revealed only deepens the mystery. Higgins masterfully balances heart-pounding action—midnight infiltrations, high-velocity chases through winding mountain roads, and explosive skirmishes on frozen riverbanks—with moments of quiet reflection, where Dillon must confront the cost of the violence he both employs and abhors.

Final Crossing

At its climax, East of Desolation delivers a breathtaking confrontation in an abandoned border fortress, where bullets pierce the silence and alliances teeter on a knife-edge. Dillon’s singular blend of unflappable wit, lethal skill, and unexpected compassion shines through as he fights not only for the senator’s daughter but for a future that refuses to succumb to the ghosts of history. Jack Higgins weaves geopolitical intrigue, moral ambiguity, and visceral suspense into a novel that resonates long after the final shot is fired. Author’s description.