Floodgate (1983) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - Irish terrorists threatening the Netherlands with water

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. MacLean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Floodgate is the second book of Alistair MacLean to be set in Holland. The first was puppet on the chain which dealt with the Netherlands underground drug mafia. He brings in the familiar detective Peter van Effen who continues his sleuthing in this book.
Schipol airport in Amsterdam is flooded and the planes are floating around aimlessly. The dykes which kept the north sea out has been breached and the sea has devoured Schipol completely and the authorities are completely baffled. Peter Van Effen, the detective par excellence is brought in by the authorities. Soon FFF, an Irish Liberation force calls in claiming responsibility and threatens to carry on more strikes against the dykes. This pours in the panic as a breach through the dykes would submerge Holland completely under water.



Van Effen goes in to action and checks in all the employees of the airport. He suspects informants among the staff would have helped the terrorist. In the mean time the terrorist have acquired nuclear weapons and threaten to detonate them in the sea triggering a tsunami to submerge Holland.
He is ably assisted by beautiful assistant Annemarie Meijer, an heiress to a large fortune and other beautiful women. Van Effen is very close with to the dreaded underground gang the Krakers and enlist their help to combat the terrorist. Soon the game starts to outwit the terrorists. The FFF has to be stopped for the interest of Holland.
Soon the action hottens up with Agnelli the head of the Krakers gang along with his brothers infiltrate the gang and pass on information to Van Effen. Soon many operatives like Anne Marie and Marie are captured and held for ransom. The leader of the terrorist Samuelson is supposedly an earl who is motivated by revenge for the killing of his sons. Sometimes you feel that MacLean just awakens sympathies for his character even when he planning in human ways to kill.
But the ultimate action is ingenious, although a little tame for such a grand operation. Van Effen successfully gases all the terrorist unconscious and arrest all of them and rescue the hostages. Anne Marie and he predictably fall in love with each other and walk in to the sunset.
This may not be MacLean's best books of the time but the plot is the winner. A very cleverly thought out action plan with with a tame ending is Floodgate. Still I would recommend it for its sheer clever storyline from MacLean.

Partisans (published in 1982) - written by Alistair Maclean - the fight against the Germans in Yugoslavia

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. MacLean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Another book about the battles in world war two from the MacLean Stable. Here the author takes the reader to Yugoslavia where the war rages on with its convoluted politics. On one hand the Germans and the Italians are fighting the war with the native Yugoslav's called Partisans ably aided aadn supported by the communist led by general Tito. They are thwarted by one of their own I.e the Chetniks who side with the germans. The allies try to hitch their horse to the Partisans to defeat the Nazi's.



The main lead is Pete Peterson, an Yugoslav royalist who is the typical macLean man with his dour and cynical ways receives coded orders from his German commanders to deliver it to the German resistance deep in Yugoslavia. Just as the Germans even the readers are confused about the name Pete Peterson for an Yugoslav. But MacLean has an humorist explanation for that. It seems that Pete is the son of an Englishman who never went back to england after coming to Yugoslavia. MacLean provided another funny anecdote about a village in Italy populated by Scots who had landed there decades ago for a battle. It seems those villagers had ruddy Scottish faces and a name starting with “Mac” .
Well the fun ends there for this novel. The plot meanders through the boring fist fights and Nazi vs Allies dialogues. Pete is accompanied by two operatives, gEorge the fat and Alex the dour. He gets two radio operatives, part of the Yugoslav Royalist gang, Sarina and Micheal, the pretty fraternal twins. And so they set pace to Yugolavia and meet many characters on the way, the drinking Giacomo, pretty Lorraine, Marija, Major Harrison and of course the villains.
No prizes for guessing that Pete is really a Partisan. But the loyalties of the other participants is always circumspect. They fight the Nazi's and are captured many time. But each time they are released as a group in tact to reach the other side. Contrary to MacLean's earlier books the fighting is pretty tame and easy passage for the heroes. In the end the villains are captured, the traitors are unmasked and the hero loves his pretty operative. As usual the women whine a lot and cry over his shoulder. One gets her husband and the pther falls for Pete. The villains are captured and delivered to the Britishers.
MacLean is said to have reached a low point in his career during the 80's and many books witness his decline and this book is one of those. There is nothing much to offer the reader and I do not recommend it during a holiday. Just pick it up when you just need to fill your gaps in your day with some light reading.

River of Death (published in 1981) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - moving away from the cold and wet areas to the tropical jungle

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
River of Death is a thriller by Alistair Maclean which happens around the Amazonian jungle. Maclean has always placed his settings within the confines of the most inhospitable environments. Here the protagonists have to battle the jungle with insects, piranhas, crocodiles and hostile cannibal tribes. He says something for the preservation of the old civilizations and the environment itself.
The story opens with the fag end of world war two, where at the docks of Wihelmshaven, the SS soldiers are loading crates of gold and precious stones in the submarine. General Von Monteuffel and Colonel Spatz head overseeing the loading of the crates. Spatz leave to check on the operations along the border with the Russians and the general promises to wait for him. Spatz returns with Russians and allies hot on his heels and is betrayed by Von Monteuffel who leaves him stranded at the dock.



As the flash back settles in, the story moves in a different direction. John Hamilton, is the archaeologist who has discovered a lost city deep in the Amazonian Jungle. As soon as he has made the discovery public, Smith a German millionaire who has a mysterious shady connection makes him a proposal of funding the expedition to the lost city. Hamilton agrees and along with his trusted lieutenants, Ramon and Navarro, he sets off to the Jungle with Smith and his henchmen, Hiller and Tracy. In the group, Smith's secretary Maria is also present.
As soon as they set in to the Jungle they get easily lost. They fight huge crocodiles and insects. Maria who seems to have developed a soft corner for Hamilton is saved from the anaconda who has almost devoured her. Ramon and Navarro seem the happy go lucky people who crack jokes and are never afraid of anything. The whole group run for their lives from the cannibalistic tribes.
They soon reach the destination and the action hots up. They discover a German settlement which is headed by General Von Monteuffel. Smith is revealed to be Spatz who was seeking them to avenge his betrayal. Maria turns out to be the secret agent from the Mossad. As the action hots up many are killed and Von Monteuffel is captured. Hamilton reveals to him that his actions were also to avenge the killing of his wife by the general. Soon huge treasure and the murderers are captured and brought before the world.
Maclean has given an innovative setting for a thriller but fails to keep the reader riveted in his seat. The Action sequences are too predictable and many work in favor of the hero. So there is no adrenaline rush or a special affection for the characters. But the tale is short and one can finish it in two hours. So if you are in a mood for some flippant reading, take it up.

Athabasca (published in 1980) - by author Alistair Maclean - a thriller set in an Alaskan oil refinery

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. MacLean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Athabasca published in 1980 is a action thriller which happens in the Arctic oil refinery. In many ways it is similar to night with out an End, with murder, sabotage and rescue undertaken by tough men in an unforgiving terrain and environment.
The operation manager of an oil company operating in Prudhoe Bay Alaska gets a ransom note to pay a billion dollars to avoid any damage to the installation. The criminal threatens to blast the oil pipelines in Alaska and another one in Canada, thus plunging the world in to a crisis.



So the company directors bring in Jim Brady Enterprises who are specialist in oil field operations. They also double as anti- sabotage experts. Dermot and Mackenzie, the best in the field arrive at Alaska to foil the criminal designs of the saboteur. But their investigations lead them haywire and the unthinkable happens. The operations manager is murdered and one of the petrol pumps in the Trans-Alaskan pipeline is damaged. So they call their boss, Jim Brady to help them with the investigations, but to no avail. The body count keeps on increasing and the criminals keep striking at will.
In these difficult times humor is something which keeps the whole action going. The investigators engage in friendly banter and keep swigging spirits. MacLean is said to have written this book during his whiskey dependent days and it sure shows. Dermot is severely injured and a lot of twists in the plot happen. In the end the criminals who include Bronwski and co are arrested and the king pin Reynolds who was using them as a cover is unmasked in a public meeting. All is well with the bashful Jim Brady and his motley group of investigators. Dermot finds love and escorts her home while Jim Brady again calls another round of drinks.
This is not one of McLean's well known effort and in fact it has been pilloried by all sections of readers. The action and the suspense which sustains in his earlier book is missing. Dermot and Mackenzie are pretty laid back in their investigations and loose their grip on the proceedings. The wry humor exhibited by many MacLean leading men is also missing. MacLean is famous for compressing his action in few pages that the readers are at the edge of the suspense. He usually writes the plot in a taut and water tight manner that the reader never puts the book down. But in Athabasca the plot meanders a lot and the reason for the sabotage itself becomes clearer after 60 odd pages. If you are a first time reader, MacLean has written wonderful tales, so try it after this.

Goodbye California (published in 1977) - By Author Alistair Maclean - the story of attempts to exploit a earthquake fault

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Published in 1971, this book deals with the current flavor of terror, Islamic terrorism. MacLean describes the future terrorist and their methodologies, like nuclear destruction of the Earth. This shows that his thinking was much ahead of his time and today after 4 decades the world is fighting the same war.
MacLean has taken the theme from the Earthquake which shook California in 1906 resulting in wide spread damage to the tune of sixty million dollars and large number of deaths. The citizens of California still live under the threat of another earthquake because of the San Andreas fault line passing through the city. This ring of fire in the Pacific has been the cause of earthquakes in Japan and South America in the later decades. What if some man made activity result in the destabilization of the San Andreas fault line? This novel is taken from this premise.



Sergeant Ryder is the honest police detective who has little regard for his superiors as most of them are corrupt and not talented. He undertakes an investigation in to the corruption in the higher offices of the police department. Some Islamic terrorist steal nuclear weapons and take multiple hostages which include Ryder's wife.
So Ryder has to battle corruption, bureaucracy and pig headed superiors who try to stone wall his investigations. Ryder after a wild goose chase conclude that the Russian connection is not for real and the origin of terrorists are different. Then the game begins.
After a few twists and turns Ryder gets to turn the table on the terrorist with help of unlikely allies and manages to save the world. This book is not considered the good books of MacLean. There are so many plots and subplots which are weak and will not stand the scrutiny of the reader.
The only redeeming feature of this book is the nuggets of information that MacLean throws our way about he earth quakes and its aftermath. Maybe in the 1970's it may have seemed very far fetched, but somehow it seems all too plausible. For action buffs this too results in disappointment as there is lot of sermonizing about governments and corruption. This book is about the angst of one man in this case Ryder against the nepotism prevalent around the world. For the first time reader the advice is not to be disheartened by this book because the story teller has given us great pieces earlier.

The Golden Gate (published in 1976) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - a threat to the Golden Gate Bridge

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
The egomaniac criminal Branson and his henchmen kidnap the president and threaten to blow up the golden gate bridge if their ransom demand is not met with. The criminal master min Peter Branson along with his comrades kidnap the president, his army chief, a oil sheikh and A Prince of a Middle eastern country. The spectacular action unfolds in the middle of the Golden gate Bridge in San Francisco. He also capture Mount Tamalpious which hosts the radar station to control the aircraft activity over the bridge.
So the investigating agencies are crippled by air and land and sea. Branson demands one billion dollars in ransom and a pardon for all criminal activities. He professes to be non violent criminal and executes the action with a smooth hand. His main henchmen are, Van Effen, Chrysler, Bradley and Giscard. Branson is portrayed to be a very able leader and a good friend who takes care all of them.



But Branson had a major flaw, he is fame crazy. When he cripples the law enforcers, he allows news media to cover this event. He invites everybody to witness the kidnappings provided if they have a camera and pen with them, only fire arms not allowed.
So the FBI exploits this major loop hole. Its devious head Haggenbach picks up his finest agent, Paul Revson to check mate Branson. So enter Revson who is a cool cynical MacLean hero armed with a camera and a pen. He flatters Branson and gains entry in to the inner circle close to the kidnappers. Here he meets Dr. O'Hare, a medic and April Wednesday, a journalist who prove to be his unlikely allies.
Revson's ingenious plans start to take shape. He with the help of Dr. O'Hare bring in small guns, cyanide revolvers, smoke bombs and medicines. The villains start disappearing with Revson catching and drugging them to smuggle them out aboard a submarine under the bridge. In this mission he is ably assisted by April Wednesday and Revson soon falls in love with her. The game of cat and mouse continue with the FBI playing with the emotions of the henchmen.
After emotionally wrecking the kidnappers, Revson in the final bout of action with the help of Cartland, the army chief, rescues the President and his guests outwitting the villains. He also wins the lady whom MacLean has not given much of a thought. A simple thriller worth a read.

Circus (published in 1975) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - a tale of intrigue behind the iron curtain

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Circus is an espionage thriller set in the cold war era. The hero is a a trapeze artist with intense hatred for the communist regime's. Bruno Wilderman is a highly skilled trapeze artist who has got superhuman and clairvoyant skills. The east German regime has tortured and killed his family members. So he is a sworn enemy of the Stassi who has killed his wife..
The CIA needs such a person to raid the impregnable Lublyan Fortress for get the secret formula for a device which would annihilate the earth called the anti matter. Anti matter exists in the universe as an opposite of matter. Just like another universe can exists, for other matter we would be the antimatter. So the presence of either one of them would flatten the universe. I find this explanation pretty fascinating and this is one reason that I would pick up this book.



Only a trained and skillful personal could get in. CIA bosses visit the circus to recruit Bruno where they witness his phenomenal skills of mind reading. He is a magician who guesses the right numbers and right words on papers and can work the trapeze blind folded. But for a superman Alistair MacLean says that he is not very handsome, but with a pleasant face. Thank god for small mercies, otherwise he would have been the ultimate man himself.
Apart from Bruno the mission is assisted by his boss, Tesco Wrinfield and a female CIA operative, Maria Hopkins. The circus is supposed to travel to Crau, where Lublyan fortress is located and the provide the alibi and cover for Bruno to fulfill his mission. But before the Circus leaves town the people who recruited Bruno are both killed in a brutal fashion.
Bruno is in the hands and guidance of Dr. Harper and the Admiral. Maria provided the beautiful female companion who falls hopelessly in love with Bruno after seeing his first performance. Well with such sensibilities, I wonder how she became a CIA operative. She is a typical MacLean heroine, very pretty airhead who does not have anything to do but to fall in love with the hero and if MacLean provides, marry the victorious protagonist.
So after several deaths and twists Bruno gets in to Lublyan and gets the formula of anti matter and proposes to Maria. The most loyal and trust worthy character gets the boot to die as he is proven to be the traitor. Then MacLean's villain, the communists are obviously the the mean fiends who are ultimately vanquished. Bruno also avenges the death of his wife and his family. This is not one of MacLean's well known books. I would suggest a one time reading just to honor the pace of narrative. Otherwise this thriller meanders the familiar path with nothing great to set it apart.

Breakheart pass (published in 1974) - Written by author Alistair Maclean, a western story set in Nevada in the late 19th century

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Breakheart Pass is a fast paced western by MacLean. Alistair Maclean departs from his usual world war two environments to reach the out backs of America. He creates a fast paced thriller involving the US Marshalls and the army. So there is nothing British about this story except for MacLean's language.
The novel is set in the 1870's in Nevada. A train starts its journey from Reese city to Fort Humbolt. The passengers include, the governor Fairchild and his niece Marica, the governors Aide, Reverend Peabody, Dr. Molyneux and an assortment of soldiers commanded by Colonel Claremont and US Marshall Pearce. Pearce is in charge of the prisoner John Deakin who is convicted of de-railing a train loaded with supplies for the army. So he is not a very popular man with the soldiers. Dr. Molyneux is a tropical diseases expert going to help with the cholera outbreak.



The passengers are going to fort Humbolt because of the cholera epidemic which has decimated the camp. They are going to relieve the men and provide medical supplies and food. Marshall Pearce is an honorable man who wrangles a ticket just to get to the fort to check on another outlaw.
As the trains chug along the mountainous ravines they encounter murders, a blizzard and villainous Indians. But MacLeans characters are not what they seem. As the novel picks up pace one by one the passengers start to get killed. They are discovered in boxes, among the coal, hanging outside and every gruesome positions. So who turns out to be the unlikely hero, but the outlaw Deakin. He starts investigating.
Soon as the corpses tumble out they realize that all is not well at the fort and cholera is not to be blamed. Deakin is not really a convict but a criminal investigator with the reverend being his boss. Deakin also has a soft corner for Marica, but in MacLean's true style the romance is for names sake only. After reading MacLean I have come to the conclusion that the hero is a man named John and the love interest is always Marie. Is it coincidence or just plain fixation?
There are lot of twists in the plot and in the end the most honorable man turns out to be the despicable fiend and the least honorable the most respected. This book is adapted in to a movie starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Ben Johnson and others. The movie is much different form the book, but the pace is fine. So would like to pick up both for the weekend for time-pass.

The Way to Dusty Death (Written by Alistair Maclean and published in 1973) - the story of a man's attempt to find out the truth behind an accident on the race track

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987. The title of the book is derived from Shakespeare, where Macbeth laments the death of his wife.
Johnny Harlowe, a formula one race car driver is part of a violent accident. The flaming wreck maims his girl friend, Mary Macalpine and his friend and navigator, Issac Jathou. This accident makes Harlowe an emotional wreck and he drowns his sorrow in the bottle. But a lot of accidents happen in the racing circuit and the regularity arouses the suspicions in Harlowe. He undertakes an investigations on his own. But soon he realizes that many people he had trusted especially in the racing field colleagues are not to be trusted. He finds unlikely allies in a journalist and a teenage kid.



Harlowe's adventure takes him across the racing car track and pushed him to the edge of him stamina. But he is shrewd and calculative and uses his alcoholism and depression as a mask to cover his real intentions. People do not take him seriously and this gives him a free rein ]in his investigations and unmask the villain.
This is a very simple and light read from MacLean, about 200 pages and may take just over a couple of hours. There are no subplots or reminisces which confuse the reader. This is fairly a single minded investigation till the end. Do not expect a superman with fancy gadget and stupendous power. Johnny Harlowe is a regular guy who works his way through the maze with a flash light and a rope.
MacLean has given a female lead called Mary again who is a pretty wooden character. She is told to be the girl friend but not much of the relationship angle is explored for the reader. Again do not expect romance, sex or even emotions. She is just a girl whom he is with, even ]the reason for his attraction maybe is the fact that she is a multimillionaire's daughter!!!!!
What you get in this book is the details of Formula one car racing details. The car races are well described and the rules are presented well. But for this decade the rules sound outdated but the formula one races of the 70's are well described. Again a little light book and good for a MacLean introduction. Old hands of MacLean ]books should not have any preconceived notions and comparison with HMS Ulysses or Guns of Navarone.
The Way to Dusty Death appeared as a TV movie, starring Simon MacCorkindale as Harlow, and Linda Hamilton as romantic interest Beth Macalpine.

Puppet on a Chain (published in 1969) - authored by Alistair Maclean - the narcotics world and Netherland

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Puppet on a Chain is Alistair MacLean's detective thriller set in the Netherlands. This book describes the underbelly of the city where drugs and devastation rule. The protagonist is Paul Sharman who is an ex army officer now head of the interpol Narcotics bureau and is based in London. He comes to the Netherlands to investigate a series of disappearances and drug offenses. The drug king pin rules the narcotic ring covering the entire continent. They use a wide range of torturous tactics to keep their hold on the empire. The title of the story gives away the method of torture applied by these drug lords to shut off dissidence.



As soon as he lands in Amsterdams Schipol Airport, he is ambushed and knocked down injuring his solar plexus. His only contact in Netherlands is shot down before his own eyes. The police seem very reluctant to pursue the assailants, but try to fix charges against him. Paul Sharman with him dry and sarcastic humor however decides to go ahead with the investigations. He is aided by two female operatives. One of them is an experienced agent and the other is a rookie. MacLean describes them as breathtakingly beautiful and I find this very uncharacteristic of him. His careless banter with these female operatives add zing to the proceedings.
Soon Sharman realizes that his presence is not desired in Holland and many times he is followed and ambushed. He is beaten and left to die and it is a wonder for many a reader how he escapes. Sometimes it almost borders on absurd, but he is the hero and the story must go on. So the nine lives that Sharman seems to leads saves him time and time again, and he follows his follower who lead him to a ware house which is filled with rubber toys and neatly stacked books. The books are called the Gabriel Bible and are scooped up from inside. Thee inscription outside the book reads "With the Compliments of the First Reformed Church of the American Huguenot Society". This sets his thinking process along the methodology adopted by the smugglers to smuggle drugs across the border.
The high adrenaline chase is full of boat chases and murders across Amsterdam. Sharman is a no nonsense thug who does not feel any qualms of bumping anybody. Soon he is fighting the war in the Netherlands and must save him and his associate. So who wins this cat and mouse game? No answerer's for guessing that! but there are many surprises while on the way. A great book for thrill seekers.

Seawitch (published in 1977) - Author - Alistair Maclean - action related to a massive oil platform

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Seawitch is the story of a rich ruthless oil magnate who can pull all stops to make profit. Lord Worth is a very rich businessman whose main interests are in oil. This tycoon builds the largest oil rig off the waters of Houston and has invented some special type of equipments to enable his company to drill maximum quantity of oil at his will and fancies.
So the other oil tycoons get the jitters as the price of oil starts to slide. So what do they do? Well the easy way out, hire a killer to stop Lord Worth in his path. The competitors are an inhuman bunch as they don't care how the mission is accomplished and are ready to pay the highest price to stop Worth.



The hired killer, John Cronkite has a major ax to grind against Lord Worth as he has been the root cause of many of his miseries. So Cronkite talks to the Russian, Cuban and another communist renegades top source for the weapons to destroy Seawitch. But Lord Worth gets the whiff of his plans as one of the conspirators is a spy. He hires detectives to defend Seawitch at any cost.
In the mean time, Lord Worth's two daughters are kidnapped from his villa and are held prisoner on the Seawitch. To make matters worth the Russian and some Cuban submarines are making their way to destroy the oil platform. Lord Worth approaches the Ministry of Defense to scare the submarines and succeeds. But Cronkite has managed to steal some nuclear weapons and reached the Seawitch.
Does Lord Worth succumb to pressure? No way, he has got aces up his sleeve in detectives Mitchell and Roomer who are in love with his two daughters, Marina and Melinda. These are ex-policemen who are the typical cynical, rough and tough MacLean heroes. They are brutally honest and totally in love and will go to any lengths to rescue their damsels in distress. So the match is set and the fight is to begin.
Lord Worth who reaches the rig is also imprisoned and Cronkite and his men booby traps the entire oil platform. Mitchell and roomer arrive with a doctor as a scientist. They try to take over when Cronkite's back is turned and Roomer gets hurt. He leaves to get more relief as Mitchell mans the platform. But Cronkite will not go so easily. He takes over Seawitch again and this time places the nuclear weapons. Soon high adrenaline shooting game commences where Mitchell kills four of Cronkite's men. Lord Worth, his daughters and the good men leave stealthily and watches the oil rig explode with Cronkite and his men on board.
Seawitch was written during the fag end of MacLean's writing career and you can feel him loosing touch. I feel you can buy it as a one time read and forget it.

Force 10 from Navarone (published in 1968) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - Mallory and Miller sent to Yugoslavia to fight along with the partisans

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war that he was part of, and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Force 10 from Navarone is the sequel to the highly successful Guns Of Navarone. Guns of Navarone had featured the doughty heroes of MacLean, Mallory, the resourceful mountaineer, Miller, the the explosives expert, Andrea Stavros, the brooding cool Greek resistance fighter, Brown, the engineer and radio expert and Stevens the medic. Brown and Stevens were martyred in their last mission to silence the German guns in Navarone. After the Aegean war Andrea stays over to marry the Greek resistance fighter,Maria and Mallory and Miller return to the war in Europe.
Force 10 picks up the threads right after the war. Miller and Mallory are ordered to return to Navarone and fetch Stavros for a mission in Yugoslavia. Stavros after much resistance comes with them. They are joined by Royal Marine Commando's who fill up the vacancies of Brown and Steven's. But one of them, Reynolds is less than pleased to be a reserve. But a team they must be, to fight the Germans in eastern Europe. They are briefed by Colonel Jensen about the mission. They are supposed to go to the Neretva region in Bosnia and check out why all allied agents have been kidnapped and if possible undertake a rescue mission.



They meet general Vuckovic the commander of the partisan forces supporting the allies in Yugoslavia. He informs them that the partisan forces are trapped against the river with German Panzer forces moving in on them. He indicates that if the partisans are defeated the German Army will control all of Yugoslavia and asks for help from the allies to prevent the slaughtering.
The mission starts as soon as they are air dropped down to Neretva and are captured by Drozhny, a huge partisan Bosnian. They tell him that they are allied deserters who are being tried by the army for selling Penicillin. Drozhny produces them before a German captain Neufeld who informs a stunned Miller that Drozhny and group are German collaborators called the Chetniks. Thus the mystery of the continuous capture of allied agents become clear.
Now in the hands of the enemy they have to engage them with lies and deception. They meet the singing blind minstrel Peter and his sister Maria who have secrets of their own. After a series of twists and action the heroes manage to rescue the captured Allied Prisoners and outwit the Germans. The ending is phenomenal with a dam burst and washing away of the Panzer divisions.
This book was also adapted to become a movie, directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach, Edward Fox and Franco Nero and was a moderate success. But the movie has little in common with the book apart from the principle characters and the title. So grab your copy and enjoy the action packed thriller.

The Caravan to Vaccares (published in the year 1969) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - murder story set among the gypsies

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Another pot boiler from Alistair MacLean. The hero is Neil Bowman who investigates the mysterious disappearances involving the gypsies along with his friend Cecile Dubois. He is pretty smitten by Cecile and is on the verge of falling in love with her.
Soon the mysterious disappearances which continues is an head ache fort the local police. Bowman suspects that the gypsies are hiding something which is deadly. The entire clan of gypsies make an annual pilgrimage to the patron saint Sara in Provence, in the South of France. They make a hazardous journey through the iron curtain every year.



As Bowman starts his investigation he finds that the gypsies are funded by a Guise Stromme whose trail leads to Le Grand Duc de Croytor or Charles as he insists on calling himself. Bowman comes across two pretty English girls, Cecile Dubois and Lila. Lila becomes the girl friend of the duke. Le Grand Duc de Croytor is a folklorist and a gourmet who has a nose for all the fine things in life. He is described as a large man whose interest in food is commensurate his size. But Bowman feels his strength during a hand shake and wonders about the affable duke. He plans to write a book about the gypsies and their customs and thus frequent their haunts very often.
As the investigation proceeds Bowman finds himself drawn in to a cat and mouse game with the assailants. The game of treachery, kidnappings and murder unfolds in which nobody is what they seem to be. In the end the gypsies are out witted and the duke is found to Bowman's Boss. The pretty English girls marry the hero's which is a rare MacLean generosity. Usually MacLean finish off the pretty female leads and never culminates a romance. Thankfully this time he does for a lesser know book.
This book is to a large extent a typical MacLean book. A cynical doughty hero and pretty lasses and murderous villains and an amazing twist in the plot. But I feel very much for the portrayal of the gypsies and Asians in the book. They are treated as fanatical murderous rogues out to wreck western civilization. This treatment almost borders on racism and I feel this is a very wide spread complaint against MacLean, given that such tendencies are there in other books of his. Otherwise the action is sleek and the plot is well managed. This may not be Guns of Navarone or HMS Ulysses, but is still worth a look and read.

Bear Island (published in 1971) - Written by Alistair Maclean - story of murders on a lone cold island

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Bear island is a detective thriller which is set up in the Norwegian seas. This is one of the later Alistair MacLean books where the who done it plot kept the action going. Typical of all MacLean Books the elements play an important part. In fact MacLean describes the cold Arctic so well that the reader gets the goose bumps.
A film crew sets sail to the Bear island, across the Barents sea ostensibly to shoot a feature film on a trawler which is renovated as a luxury sail boat called the Morning Rose. Most of the crew who are part of the film hardly know the script except for the director and the scriptwriter. Aboard the ship there is a medic Dr. Marlowe and couple of Mary's.



Soon the mystery starts as the crew members are killed one by one by a murderer. Marlowe is puzzled by this and starts his investigation. The murders continue even as the crew is deposited on the Bear Island and are beyond the help of any law enforcing agencies. Marlowe is not what he professes to be. He is an agent with the US treasury and is shadowing the boat along with the police. The mysterious director Otto jergan is after the gold ingots and securities which was buried by a Nazi Admiral under the sea after the world war two. There are several sub plots which involves a Romanian count, hit mans, Admirals daughter etc which ultimately converges to the main plot. So after a lot of twist in the plot Marlowe uncovers their sinister designs and foils the murders.
Some times the book is a drag because of the multiple designs and activities. The past and the present collide rapidly that the reader keeps getting confused. As for ever MacLean does not give the women any credit or scenes for the women. Only thing which stands out in the book is the description of Bear Island. It is presented so very beautifully by MacLean that it can be copied by any tourist operator.
Bear Island was adapted to film in the 1980 movie directed by Don Sharp and starring Donald Sutherland, Richard Widmark, Vanessa Redgrave, and Christopher Lee. The film was shot in Canada and Alaska. The film bears little resemblance to the book and even the hero's name is Lansing instead of Marlowe. The scenery described by Alistair Maclean is also absent from the movie. So go ahead pick up the book. Its worth a first time look.

Guns of Navarone (Published in 1957) authored by Alistair MacLean, a classic set in the Second World War

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
MacLean's characters are men who fight against all odds. They are ordinary men who are thrown in to situations which are physically and emotionally demanding. Many of them never think about surviving, and their only instinct is to fight the odds. Some succeed, some redeem themselves and some sacrifice. But in the end all are heroes. This story is based on the battle of Leros during world war two. This is one of the most successful of MacLean's books which was made in to a successful motion picture.



The battle takes place in the year 1943 during the the world war two (based on the battle of Leros) where more than 2000 English troops are holed up. Their evacuation is possible only if the route through the island of Navarone is opened up, but this is not possible till the route is made safe from the huge guns overlooking the route which threaten any ship trying to pass through. It is needed to remove these guns, something which seems incredible, and this impossible task is put to a crack team is put together to neutralize the guns of Navarone.
The team is led by Captain Keith Mallory, a mountaineer from New Zealand who is also a commando, Andrea Stavros, a Greek colonel, Corporal Dusty Miller (an American explosives expert), Petty Officer Casey Brown (a Royal Navy personnel, from the Special Boat Service), and many others. They ultimately set sail to Navarone disguised as Greek fisherman.
Their boat has to fight the ever present enemy - the water and the sea, but eventually they reach the foot of the cliff and have to climb the sheer cliff in a storm, where the experience of Mallory proves invaluable.
They are one step ahead of the Germans, but just, and they have a timeframe whereby they have to blow up the guns to give the trapped men a chance through a relief convoy; in addition, like you would expect from such a book, one of the people supporting them is also betraying them. How do they manage to get into the fortress, and destroy the guns ?

HMS Ulysses (published in 1955) - written by Alistair Maclean and about the struggle of a doomed ship during the war

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Because of his war experiences, his novels are also high on the action content. The emotional and the romantic angle is not very much touched upon by Maclean. His characters are highly cynical men who are always part of the high octane action and push themselves against all odds with out any thought for their safety. The elements also play a very important in MacLean's writings. Most of the time his men are pitted against harsh unforgiving surroundings which brings out the innate nature hidden inside, be it a devil or a hero.
HMS Ulysses is Alistair MacLean's first novel and is largely drawn upon his war experiences. The true story about the ill-fated convoy PQ-17 provided the basis for this story. It tells us the story of ordinary men who fight against seemingly unsurmountable odds just to prove their loyalty. HMS Ulysses is Captained by Richard Vallery, who commands unflinching loyalty from his men.



The story begins with Ulysses at Anchor in Scapa Flow after a grueling mission as an escort ship in the arctic north. The men are exhausted and tired battling the harshest of climates coupled with low food rations. They are emotionally exhausted because of the battle of nerves against the U-boats, enemy aircraft and ships. These men learn upon weighing the anchor that the higher authorities are planning to send them back in to battle and are ready to put them through the same grind with out any concerns for their well being. A mini mutiny spreads across the ship and only their loyalty towards Richard Vallery prevents them from deserting.
Now a much soothed crew find that the trust in their abilities is eroded and orders are very clear, - escort a convoy through the battle field of Murmansk and on return will be rewarded with a draft to the Mediterranean. HMS Ulysses is to use to bait German Destroyer Tirpitz and help her destruction. The Captain and the crew accepts the terms for the sake of redemption.
But a fierce storm is raging in the Arctic, coupled with death stalking Ulysses in the form of U-boats and fighter planes above. Men have to fight against bone chilling cold and the waters toss the Ulysses with no mercy with the specter of tuberculosis among them. In the last pages Alistair Maclean graphically describes the hopelessness of the expendable men battling everything stacked up against them and sacrificing their lives for honor. Glory is for them for ever because the mind numbing hopelessness brings the men to give the battle everything they have, not to survive but to sacrifice and win.

The Last Frontier (by Alistair MacLean) - Published in 1959 - Set with the backdrop of the Hungarian revolution and the struggle against Communism

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Because of his war experiences, his novels are also high on the action content. The emotional and the romantic angle is not very much touched upon by Maclean. His characters are highly cynical men who are always part of the high octane action and push themselves against all odds with out any thought for their safety. The elements also play a very important in MacLean's writings. Most of the time his men are pitted against harsh unforgiving surroundings which brings out the innate nature hidden inside, be it a devil or a hero.
This book is inspired by the Hungarian revolution and its aftermath. This marks MacLean's foray in to the genre of Espionage thrillers.



Micheal Reynolds, the hero is a British under cover agent who is cool and calculative. He unlike James Bond does not have any fancy gadgets to defend himself but relies mainly upon the power of his gray matter. He is sent to communist Hungary to rescue British ballistic expert Professor Jenkins. He meets a wide array of people and secure unlikely allies, like Jansci, alias erstwhile major General Alexis Illyurin who is a revolutionary leader, a master of disguise “the Count” and the strong and loyal Sandor.
Each of these characters are wanted by the Russians and hunted by the secret police of Hungary, AVO. Jansci is disillusioned with communism but has not lost his feelings of empathy with the fellow Russians. He has a sad past in which his wife was arrested and sent to a concentration camp which makes it impossible for her to be traced. His daughter Julia would not escape without him and his wife. The Count acts as a double agent but is working for the revolution and has only one love in his life, his child.
One thing about this book is the high dose of philosophical dialogues between the principal characters, Jansci and Reynolds. For Reynolds all the ills plaguing the world is because of communism , but Jansci is a non violent apostle talks about communism as - “remains only as a myth, an empty lip-service catchword in the name of which the cynical, ruthless realists of the Kremlin find sufficient excuse and justification for whatever barbarities their policies demands.”He feels that the fear of the traitors for their downfall is the cause of all pogroms.
Apart from these highly thoughtful dialogues, the book is just another MacLean adventure. Reynolds is captured, tortured and is helped by others to escape with the Professor with Julia in his arms. All the ingredients of brutality, torture, chemical warfare, nuclear arsenals and a feeble love story make up this story.
Now that communism has faded you can find the echoes of these dialogues in other “isms” like terrorism and fanaticism. A good book which makes you wonder at the world.

South by Java head (published in 1957) - Author: Alistair Maclean - story of the fight against the Japanese in the Second World War (to get some papers)

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Because of his war experiences, his novels are also high on the action content. The emotional and the romantic angle is not very much touched upon by Maclean. His characters are highly cynical men who are always part of the high octane action and push themselves against all odds with out any thought for their safety. The elements also play a very important in MacLean's writings. Most of the time his men are pitted against harsh unforgiving surroundings which brings out the innate nature hidden inside, be it a devil or a hero.
South By Java head, a innate Alistair Maclean novel is about the war in the pacific, more specifically about the war of Singapore. Singapore, British colony is over run by the Japanese and the assurances about its defense by the British authorities proves to be hollow. So a large scale exodus of British and other foreign nationals take place to escape from the cruel clutches of the Japanese.



The survivors try to flee aboard the Kerry Dancer which is crippled by the Japanese. A group of survivors slip into the south china Sea by boat. This disparate groups of people include, an Englishman, Farnholme, A dutch planter Van Effen, a beautiful Eurasian Girl Gudrun Drachman, a slave trader Siran and a mysterious Johnny Nicholson. Soon this small flotilla of theirs is bombarded and dogged by the Japanese who are hell bent in getting some secret papers.
There is a large dose of adventure in the story with spies, secret papers, battle plans and real war. But all this pale in presence of the crews fight for survival. As all men in a MacLean adventure, they are pitted against the unsympathetic elements. If in HMS Ulysses the cold was the overriding element, here the heroes are up against the extreme heat and humidity. They weather tropical storms, insects coupled with the ferocious and cruel Japanese.
Johnny Nicholson is a typical MacLean lead character who is cynical, cool and well versed in the technique of war fare. There is an underlying factor of masochism in all this brave men. But a surprise element for all women is the presence of Gudrun Drachman, a nurse who ultimately is the love interest of Nicholson. MacLean attempts of portraying the the romance is almost laughable.
Another problem with this novel is the under current of racism or the political correctness. The Japanese are the villains, but is it necessary to attribute inhuman cruelty to all of them. All Japanese soldiers, especially officers are presented as blood thirsty fiends and rapist. Alistair MacLean attributes the Japanese as inherently cruel and all the Englishmen as upright citizens. Well, Maclean would be forgiven by a public in the 50's but in this era such unbridled violence and masochism may be discouraged. Apart from these sore points this book gives you an adrenaline rush and a feeling of triumph.

Fear is the key (published in 1961) - by Alistair Maclean - a gripping tale of a man driven by revenge

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
If you read Fear is the Key, be sure to find enough free time because this is one book you cannot afford to put down. This is an intense revenge saga by a wronged man. Talbot, the owner of "Trans Carib Air Charter Co" listens helplessly on the radio, the death wails of his wife, son and his best friend. His plane en-route to Florida is shot down by American Military plane. All he can do is to wait to serve revenge to the perpetrator.
Then the novel cuts to the present with Talbot, standing trial in the court and being sentenced. It seems that in his grief he has turned to a life to crime. But at the moment of sentencing, Talbot escapes, taking a beautiful heiress hostage. The hostage, Mary is the daughter of oil tycoon, General Ruthven. After an intense car race and drama, Talbot manages to escape with the hostage. Soon a reward is announced for his capture and he has many unsavory elements hot on his trail.



A thug, Jablonsky capture Talbot and rescues Mary. Instead of handing Talbot to the police he is released to General Ruthven. Ruthven, who is a millionaire many times over, has a shady past and underhand dealings. Most of his money is ill-gotten and he gives two choices to Talbot, help him recover something precious or die.
Talbot agrees to salvage the precious cargo for Ruthven and Jablonsky is also recruited. Soon the picture becomes clear that the precious cargo involves gold and diamonds with ten million locked in the fuselage of a DC-3 plane which has crashed at the bottom of an oil rig. This is the same plane in which Talbot's wife and son was traveling. This loss of Talbot's is so great that all the gold and the diamonds in the world cannot replace it.
Talbot, like all MacLean leading men is a skilled diver, knowledgeable about the oil rig exploration, an out standing diver and an engineer. He is also a skilled martial arts practitioner and completely a macho man. So Talbot gets his revenge in this intense story of greed, murder and money with out any doubt.
This tale sounds very familiar to many revenge drama's of a wronged man on and off screen, but only Alistair MacLean can pull out an intense thriller through his fast paced narrations. The words whiz past telling us about the car chases, under water explorations, gun battle and murders. Maybe you won't meet a MacLean Hero in real life, so its all the more reason to read about him in this book. And get this book, it's an incredible thriller.

The Golden Rendezvous (published in 1962) - by Alistair Maclean - an action packed ocean thriller on a cruise ship

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Because of his war experiences, his novels are also high on the action content. The emotional and the romantic angle is not very much touched upon by Maclean. His characters are highly cynical men who are always part of the high octane action and push themselves against all odds with out any thought for their safety. The elements also play a very important in MacLean's writings.
The golden rendezvous is an action packed ocean thriller. It takes place aboard SS Campari which is a ex-freight ship which has been turned in to a luxury cruise ship. It is weighing anchor in the exotic Caribbean. The ship is fitted with all the luxury accessories that a man can think off and is patronized by the who's who of the society. It is captained by the mercurial and moody Captain Bullen.



A series of events sabotage the voyage of the Campari. The island where the Campari is weighing anchor is enveloped in a coup. Soon certain passengers are recalled back because of family emergencies and their place is taken by sinister new ones. Apart from this a rumor floats around that a nuclear bomb has been stolen from a nearby naval base.
All this bothers the hero, chief officer John Carter. He has to contend with the temper of Captain Bullen and is distracted by the attentions of the millionaire heiress Susan Beresford. During the shooting he is severely injured and embarks on a mission to find out the truth. He finds to his dismay that the criminal mastermind, Carreras has smuggled in a Nuclear device. Soon the action unfolds with all the passengers being held as hostages with a ransom call of million dollars gold in bullion.
Now carter with his injured leg has to foil the kidnappers and disarm the device. He does in-spite of the death defying activities in which he is ably assisted by Beresford and the doctor. They with the help of a scientist neutralize the nuclear bomb and prevent the escape of the culprits. Carter also finds time to melt into the green eyes of Susan Beresford.
Alistair MacLean has cleverly put in his navy experiences within the book. His knowledge of the navy, the ships, nautical terminology and the ocean is impeccable. You just fall in love with the brave soldier whose death defying stunts are described so vividly.
This book was made in to a movie staring Richard Harris and the lovely Ann Turkel. A good read for action buff's.