Alistair Maclain

Advantages: A brilliantly writtenWW2 thriller full of action, clever planning and bravery
Disadvantages: None

...I bought my copy of this book in a small bookshop in Stockton for £3.97 in their sale. I bought it specifically because my husband had bought the DVD and I always like to read a book before it is interpreted for film. I have read one or two of Maclains other books and expected to enjoy this one, but was quite unprepared for just how good this book is. It has all the necessary ingredients for a totally absorbing book: a truly great story very well written the right length The story: Set in world war 2 (WW2) the Germans need to bring Turkey into the war on their side - and use the theatre of the Greek Islands to demonstrate their strength and organisation and engineering prowess. The Allies have a large contingent of soldiers on the isalnd of Crete under threat from the Germans and plans are made to evacuate the men onto a fleet... Read review

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...I will confess before I begin to having a weakness for Alistair MacLean's novels. However, I do not follow conventional wisdom as to which are the best. I struggled to get into "The Guns of Navarone", which is reputed to be his 'pièce de résistance'. No such troubles with "Night Without End", I'm glad to report. The tension rises like the tide - insatiably, grippingly - before easing off to rise again later. We identify easily with the chief protagonist as the book as been written in the first person. Writing in this way can seem amateurish in the hands of a lesser writer, but MacLean uses it expertly. I do not want to give away two much of the plot, save to say that the narrator is part of a party of scientists journeying through Greenland. One of their number is picking them off and it's a race between time to see... Read review

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Advantages: Absorbing, Easy to Read, An Original, Page Turner
Disadvantages: Character and Thematic Depth a little shallow

...Some people may read this novel and find it boring as it does not have the intensity of modern day novels, however, i really enjoyed this book simply for that reason, that it is not like modern day novels. it does not focus on the hype, the violence and the sex that alot of novels do. Sure, sometimes these aspects are great when incorporated well into modern day novels, however, author Alistair MacLean manages to depict a taut thriller which entertains, mystifies and keeps the reader guessing till the very end. Ice Station Zebra refers to a British meteorological outpost which is located near the edge of the polar ice cap. In the middle of winter a fire breaks out at the station and the only hopes the scientists have rest with an american nuclear submarine called dolphin as it is the only thing capable of reaching them. What they do... Read review

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