Confessional Mikhail Kelly’s credentials were impeccable. Russian mother, Irish father hanged by the British. He could split an apple – or a head – across a large room with a handgun. And his special talent was acting. The KGB gave him the perfect part…assassin. For more than twenty years Cuchulain has created chaos, fear and disorder in Ireland by hitting counter-productive targets on both sides of the border, making fools of British Intelligence and the IRA. But Cuchulain is a man whose time is nearly up. The one person who can identify him is the beautiful Tanya Voroninova, daughter of a KGB general. And the one person who can persuade her to defect is Liam Devlin, poet, scholar, IRA gunman retired. Hunted by the combined forces of British Intelligence, the IRA and the KGB who now regard him as an expendable embarrassment, Cuchulain prepares to hit the most counter-productive target of all time.…
The Eagle Has Flown By the end of 1943, all evidence of the abortive German attempt to assassinate Winston Churchill has been carefully buried in an unmarked grave in the Norfolk village of Studley Constable. But two of the most wanted ringleaders are still alive.… In the fourth hard winter of war, British intelligence pick up disturbing reports from Heinrich Himmler’s power base in Wewelsburg Castle. The mission is not yet accomplished. For the Fatherland, the Reichsfuhrer is demanding the Eagle’s return.…
He was the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including The Eagle Has Landed and The Wolf at the Door. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter.
Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster The Eagle Has Landed, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures—such as John Dillinger—and often center around significant events from such conflicts as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Patterson lived in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.