Toll for the Brave

Written by Jack Higgins

Narrated by Guy Mott

From the first name in heart pounding thriller fiction.

Ellis Jackson woke up hugging a twelve-bore shotgun. In the next room, his mistress and his best friend lay naked on the bed, their heads blown to pulp. Back in England at last, Ellis Jackson had finally cracked.

Active combat, a Viet Cong prison camp and the callous treachery of his lover and interrogator, Madam Ny, had taken their toll. Ellis Jackson was out of his mind. Or was he?

Maybe it would all have been easier to take if he really had been mad

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780008361617

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 Toll for the Brave

[henrimoreaux · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't have a lot positive to say about this novel, it was alright but initially seemed to meander all over the place. There was flashbacks and what not then about a third to halfway through things start making a bit more sense.It's a vietnam prisoner of war/espionage tale with the focus on the events surrounding circumstances rather than the actual espionage.

[theoclarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reissue of a brisk, competent 1971 thriller (under his real name of Harry Patterson) featuring a martially expert hero brutalised in Vietnam fighting ruthless Chinese Maoist villains in Southern England. This is a slick transient read.

[Kevin Ypinazar · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The audiobook kept starting and stopping for no reason. Was a good story

[bridgey_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Toll for the Brave - Jack Higgins **** ½ Ellis Jackson is a failed English soldier and considered a disgrace to his General Grandfather. With this in mind he joins the American army and goes to Vietnam.Whilst there he becomes captured and imprisoned along with the almost superhero status 'Black Max'.They manage to escape to freedom, but not before months of mental torture.A number of years later Ellis has settled down, has a steady girlfriend but is still haunted by nightmares of his past. One day, while taking the dog for a walk in the English countryside he is assaulted by 2 Viet cong. Convinced he is was right, but told by everyone he is losing his mind he sets out to find evidence. However, upon returning home he in knocked unconscious only to awaken to shotgun blasted remains of his partner and best friend.Has he really lost his mind, or is it an elaborate plan to make him think he has.........Another good story by Higgins, although once again a bit on the short side. Read it in practically one go, and loved it.