Where Eagles Dare - Alistair MacLean > Reviews > MacLean Flying high

Author's product rating:   

Would you listen to it again?	Absolutely
Story	Outstanding
Characters	Outstanding
Listenability	Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?	Excellent

Advantages:	A true tale of tension and suspense
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

One of the all-time classic action thrillers, from one of the best writers in the genre. I am an avid fan of Alistair MacLean 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 Schaffer. None of whom, aside from Smith and Schaffer, appear to be front line soldiers, but rather desk jockeys.
The first chapter also neatly explains the reason for the expedition - a rescue attempt to regain a shot down American General called Carnaby. All seems fairly straightforward, aside from the barracks of soldiers guarding the General and the impregnable fortress.
Quickly though you gather that the rescue attempt is not as simple as you may first think, why is Mary Ellison quickly parachuted out of the plane shortly after the rescue party? how come two of the rescue team do not even make it out of the village let alone into the castle.
The story continues at pace with episodes of capture and escape, of explosions, of unusual cable car rides into and out of the castle.
The twists and turns come at pace, with the most memorable chapter set in the comfortable surroundings of the castle's main hall. Is anyone who they say they are? or who they are supposed to be? Everyone seems to have a story of deception, of double crossing and triple crossing, that can leave the reader briefly wondering just who is on who's side.
I don't believe I am giving too much away in stating that the escape from the castle, is the best escape tale I have ever read. An unusual cable car ride, and a journey on a post bus just ahead of trucks of Germans, leave the reader on the edge of their seat, and even when a successful escape seems to have been made there is one last twist in the tale

There is suspense and tension throughout, with a number of twists and turns, intrigue and deception abound. This is a true MacLean masterclass in action-thriller writing. All in all an excellent book that I cannot recommend highly enough