Re-released on its 25th anniversary, this classic novel is widely considered to be Higgins' greatest work. Threatened on all sides, a desperate Adolph Hitler orders that Winston Churchill be kidnapped or killed. Meanwhile, a beautiful widow and IRA assassin have laid the groundwork for the most treacherous plot of the war, beginning when Berlin receives the message, "The eagle has landed".
This novel was placed number 16 in the best novels of the XXth century, and is considered a real american classic. The ambitious but ill-educated and immature Clyde Griffiths is raised by poor and devoutly religious parents who force him to participate in their street missionary work, and on reaching young adulthood takes low-status jobs as a soda jerk and then as a bellhop at a top Kansas City hotel. There, his more sophisticated colleagues introduce him to alcohol and prostitutes, something he starts to enjoy...