Alistair MacLean is one of the most highly regarded authors of action thrillers that Britain has ever produced. Born in 1922 to the son of a Scottish Minister, English was in fact his second language after Scottish Gaelic. Joining the Royal Navy in 1941 his war time exploits in the Arctic, ... Read review
Advantages: Large number of books of high class action Disadvantages: A few weak links
Alistair MacLean is one of the most highly regarded authors of action thrillers that Britain has ever produced. Born in 1922 to the son of a Scottish Minister, English was in fact his second language after Scottish Gaelic. Joining the Royal Navy in 1941 his war time exploits in the Arctic, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, gave him the background that served him well in his later writings. Following his release from the Royal Navy in 1946, he ... ...which he then used to gain a post as a teacher.
It was his student days that saw the first elements of his future writing career, as he gained an additional income by writing short stories. The publisher, Collins, asked MacLean to write a novel for them, and as a result in 1955 he produced HMS Ulysses. There then followed a writing career lasting 31 years, consisting of 28 novels, 1 collection of short stories and 3 non-fiction works. MacLean ... more
Alistair MacLean is one of the most highly regarded authors of action thrillers that Britain has ever produced. Born in 1922 to the son of a Scottish Minister, English was in fact his second language after Scottish Gaelic. Joining the Royal Navy in 1941 his war time exploits in the Arctic, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, gave him the background that served him well in his later writings. Following his release from the Royal Navy in 1946, he studied and graduated with an English degree from Glasgow University, which he then used to gain a post as a teacher. It was his student days that saw the first elements of his future writing career, as he gained an additional income by writing short stories. The publisher, Collins, asked MacLean to write a novel for them, and as a result in 1955 he produced HMS Ulysses. There then followed a writing career lasting 31 years, consisting of 28 novels, 1 collection of short stories and 3 non-fiction works. MacLean was also known to use the pseudonym of Ian Stuart. All of MacLean's best work were based upon the first hand knowledge and experience that MacLean had. Keystones of his work was the attention to detail and the tension that MacLean managed to instow in his writing. Equally they all followed the same formula of a hero fighting against overwhelming odds, with little distraction from female characters. -HMS Ulysses (1955) 4 star; WW2 adventure set on Royal Navy cruiser on Arctic convoy duty. -Guns of Navarone (1957) 5 star; WW2 adventure set on a Greek island and a sabotage attempt on the German guns. http://www.ciao.co.uk/The_Guns_Of_Navarone_Alistair_MacLean__Review_ 5719891 -South by Java Head (1957) 3 star; WW2 adventure of a ship escaping the fall of Singapore. -Last Frontier (aka the Secret Ways) (1959) 5 star; Cold War thriller of attempt to retrieve scientist frcommunist Hungary. -Night Without End (1959) 4 star; Thriller about crashed airliner in the Arctic wastelands. -Fear is the Key (1960) 4 star; Novel of missing treasure, oil and blackmail. -Dark Crusader (aka the Black Shrike) (1961) 3 star; Cold War thriller of missing scientists in the Pacific. -Golden Rendezvous (1962) 4 star; Thriller set onboard a tramp steamer in the Caribbean. -Satan Bug (1962) 3 star; Thriller set in Britain of germ warfare and blackmail. -Ice Station Zebra (1963) 4 star; Cold War thriller of spies and submarines set in the Arctic. -When Eight Bells Toll (1966) 5 star; Thriller set in amongst the Scottish islands and stolen gold bullion. http://www.ciao.co.uk/When_Eight_Bells_Toll_Alistair_MacLean__Rev iew_5712174 -Where Eagles Dare (1967) 5 star; WW2 adventure of rescue attempt from impregnable fortress. http://www.ciao.co.uk/Where_Eagles_Dare_Alistair_MacLean__Review _5720132 -Force 10 from Navarone (1968) 4 star; WW2 sequel of sabotage in the Balkans. -Puppet on a Chain (1969) 4 star; Thriller set in Holland of drug smuggling and murder. -Caravan to Vaccares (1970) 5 star; Cold War adventureset in France of gyspies and murder. -Bear Island (1971) 4 star; Post WW2 adventure of a movie crew sailing into the Arctic. -Way to Dusty Death (1973) 3 star; Thriller set in world of Formula 1, accidents and intrigue abound. -Breakheart Pass (1974) 4 star; MacLean writes a western. -Circus (1975) 4 star; Cold War thriller of a circus tour of East Germany. -Golden Gate (1976) 3 star; Novel about the kidnap of the President in San Francisco. -Seawitch (1977) 3 star; Novel about kidnapping and oil in the Gulf of Mexico. -Goodbye California (1978) 3 star; Novel of blackmail and the possibility of a man made earthquake -Athabasca (1980) 4 star; Arctic adventure of blackmail, murder and oil. -River of Death (1981) 3 star; Tale of Nazis living in the Amazon -Partisans (1982) 4 star; WW2 adventure in the Balkans, fight between Partisans and Cheniks. -Floodgate (1983) 3 star; Dutch adventure of Irish terrorism -San Andreas (1984) 5 star; WW2 adventure of a hospital ship being chased by the German forces through the Arctic ocean. -Lonely Sea (1985) 4 star; Collection of short seafaring stories -Santorini (1985) 3 star; Cold War thriller of ticking bombs in the Aegean. http://www.ciao.co.uk/Santorini_Alistair_MacLean__Review_5720033
Non-Fiction works -All about Lawrence of Arabia (1962) not read; -MacLean introduces Scotland (1972) not read; -Captain Cook (1972) not read;
It is often said that his work declined following the work he undertook in the 1950s and early 1960s, with this often being blamed in his alcoholism. This is not particularly fair and I would say that Partisans and San Andreas are two of his better works, written though as they were in the 1980's. These two though reverted back to his areas of knowledge of sailing and the Second World War rather than rather than stories of kidnapping and blackmail.
Advantages: Easy to read Disadvantages: No tension and hardly anything to think about
Santorini was one of the last pieces of work ever written by AlistairMacLean, but I would have to say from the outset that if this is the first of his novels that you are about to read then look to San Andreas or Caravan to Vaccares for your first experience. This is far from being his greatest piece of work, and whilst in itself is not a bad read, it does not make you want to go and look for any more of his books.
Santorini is named after the Greek island and the setting for the novel is based around the island and the surrounding Aegean. The setting is modern in the late 1980's and the action primarily takes place onboard HMS Ariadne, a British survey ship and eyes and ears of the NATO fleet in the Med. Ariadne is crewed by some of the best and brightest in the Royal Navy, lead by Talbot, with Van Gelder and Denholm, as able ...
Advantages: A good read in the standard MacLean style Disadvantages: Slightly disappointing ending
AlistairMacLean makes his only passage into this 1974 western writing, but before I start for those MacLean fans out there do not worry it is far from a typical western. There are the expected Indians, army, lawmen and villains, but there is none of the gunfights that saturate the normal run of the mill westerns.
Breakheart Pass has all of the elements of the classic MacLean action novels, a strong individual hero, a minor female role, tension and a story that leaves the reader wondering what the role is of each protagonist.
I wouldn't say it is predictable but there are enough hints throughout the novel that if it were a crime novel you could probably work out who had done it. The first time I read this book I was worried that it would turn out to be a repitition of Fear is the Key but in a different setting, but this worry was ...
Advantages: A true tale of tension and suspense Disadvantages: None
One of the all-time classic action thrillers, from one of the best writers in the genre. I am an avid fan of AlistairMacLean as an authour and I am also a big fan of the Burton and Eastwood film. The book is though superior in a number of areas to the film, providing as it does greater detail and slightly differing action at key points of the story.
MacLean returns to one of his most detailed areas to write about, with the book set in the Second World War. This theme can be seen in some of his best works - Guns of Navarone, Force Ten from Navarone, Partisans and San Andreas.
The book starts inside a Lancaster bomber and you are quickly introduced to the main characters in the story - Smith, the leader of the expedition; fellow British soldiers Carraciola, Christainsen, Thomas, Terrance-Smythe and Harrod; as well as token American ...
