Jack Higgins, the author of The Eagle Has Landed, has died at the age of 92

British author Jack Higgins, author of “The Eagle Has Landed” and other best-selling thriller and espionage novels, has died. He was 92 years old.

Publisher HarperCollins announced Saturday that Higgins had died at his home on the English Channel island of Jersey, surrounded by his family.

He is the author of over 85 novels and is one of the most acclaimed thriller writers of all time. Henry Patterson was born in Newcastle, England in July 1929. Higgins served in the military before studying sociology at the London School of Economics. He became a teacher and freelance writer in the northern city of Leeds, with novels selling modestly in the late 1950’s.