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Harry Miller metes out his own brand of justice—especially to those who are untouchable by normal laws. But when he puts a bullet in the forehead of a Russian officer who’s about to rape a group of young women and torch a mosque, it causes a ripple effect that puts Harry on the hit list of a man known only as The Broker, who reportedly has dealings with al Qaeda.
To his young wife, Olivia, a stage actress in London, Harry is just an ordinary guy who works for the British Parliament. She knows nothing of his secret life—and neither does his sister, Monica Starling. But it’s becoming harder and harder for him to hang on to his cover—especially once it starts putting a strain on his marriage and Monica starts asking questions.
Revenge begets revenge, and it goes on and on in an endless circle until Henry’s enemies take something personal and precious from him, and he decides to wipe the whole lot of them out with a little help from his friends.
Though author Jack Higgins has been around for a while, this was my introduction to his work—but I can’t say that I’m overly impressed. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out what the plot of Rough Justice was supposed to be—or whether it even had one. It just seemed as if a bunch of random acts of violence were thrown into a pot and mixed up together. And it didn’t seem to matter if it made any sense to the plot. Finally, though, some sense started to emerge, and the story became more interesting.
That’s not to say, though, that Rough Justice isn’t stimulating or titillating—because it’s definitely both and more. You just have to be able to overlook the disjointed plot. In a way, it’s like watching an action movie, in which lots of things get blown up and bullets are flying everywhere just for the hell of it. It makes for great excitement—but not much else.
I also had a hard time warming up to Harry. Mr. Higgins didn’t really make me like him enough to care about what happens to him.
All in all, Rough Justice is a pretty good read—maybe even worth your time if you’re just reading for a bit of senseless action. To be fair, I’ve read worse—but I’ve definitely read better, too. Those who want something with more depth to it should probably look elsewhere.
