‘The Eagle Has Landed’ writer Jack Higgins useless at 92

British writer Jack Higgins, who wrote ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ and different bestselling thrillers and espionage novels has died. He was 92.

Writer HarperCollins mentioned that Higgins died at his house on the English Channel island of Jersey surrounded by his household, on Sunday.

Born Henry Patterson in Newcastle, England, in July 1929, Higgins served within the navy earlier than finding out sociology on the London College of Economics.

He grew to become a trainer within the northern metropolis of Leeds and a author in his spare time, with novels that bought modestly beginning within the late Fifties.

That modified with the 1975 publication of “The Eagle Has Landed”, a few fictional World Conflict II plot to kidnap British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Higgins recounted a pivotal name from his accountant.

“He requested me what I wished to get out of my writing,” Higgins mentioned. “I replied that I wasn’t actually certain, earlier than including as a joke it could be good to make one million by the point I retired. He then mentioned: Properly you’re a bloody idiot. Since you’ve simply earned that a lot this week. So what are you going to do about it?’” He was suggested to depart England due to Seventies taxation charges and he finally settled together with his household on Jersey.

“The Eagle Has Landed” grew to become extra common after the 1976 movie adaptation was launched. Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall have been among the many stars of the eponymously named film that was a field workplace success.

In a press release, HarperCollins chief govt Charlie Redmayne mentioned Higgins’ dying marked “the top of an period”.

“I’ve been a fan of Jack Higgins for longer than I can bear in mind. He was a traditional thriller author: instinctive, powerful, relentless,” he mentioned.

“The Eagle Has Landed and his different Liam Devlin books, his later Sean Dillon sequence, and so many others have been and stay completely unputdownable.” Patterson wrote practically 80 books, most underneath the pseudonym of Jack Higgins. Different Higgins titles included “The Eagle Has Flown”, “Angel of Dying”, ”Day of Reckoning”, and “A Darker Place”.

In line with his writer’s web site, the novels have bought greater than 250 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages.

His survivors embody his spouse, Denise, and 4 kids from his earlier marriage.