Rain on the Dead

In bestseller Higgins’s lackluster 21st Sean Dillon thriller (after 2013’s The Death Trade), the legendary ex-IRA gunman plays a largely supporting role. The shadowy Master, who controls a network of international terrorist groups, plots to assassinate Jake Cazalet, a former American president who lives on Nantucket. Two Chechen brothers travel to the resort island to do the job, but fortunately Gen. Charles Ferguson, who commands a secret British antiterrorist unit, and his two chief agents, Dillon and Capt. Sara Gideon, have just arrived for a visit, and are armed and ready when the hapless pair launch their doomed assault. More attempts to kill Cazalet follow. A few of the good guys die in the line of duty, but new recruits quickly fill their places. Higgins appears to be going through the motions in this tired entry. Series fans will hope he returns to form in the next installment. Agent: Ed Victor, Ed Victor Literary Agency (U.K.). (Dec.)