The Graveyard Shift (Nick Miller #1) (1965)

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by Harry Patterson (AKA Jack Higgins)



Nick Miller, a detective working the graveyard shift, looks into the matter of a newly released ex-con with a fearsome reputation who may be out to settle some old scores, only to learn over the course of an eventful night that both honor and sin often exist where they are least expected. 



I grew up seeing Jack Higgins books on my dad's bookshelf but I never read any.

 


I gather that this book was written before his golden period in the 70s when Patterson began turning out bestsellers under the Higgins pseudonym.

 

Harry Patterson


This is an efficient thriller with a strong plot that manages to illuminate a lot of character through action.

 


Unfortunately, the main character remains something of a cypher, though an intriguing one—a bit of a dandy, pretty well off but dedicated to police work, with a real streak of brutality.

 


My favorite character was the American expatriate drug addict who makes ends meet by playing piano; he has a strong and rather touching chemistry with Nick, and I hope he figures in the two books that round out this trilogy.



"Interrupted Vacation" (Polish)

"The Night of the Gravediggers" (French)


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