The Secret Ways

Rating:
Summary: A great story from the master of suspense
Review: A typical MacLean novel with a typical invincible hero who seems to make a mistake at every move, but is saved time and again by his friends. I found the book being slightly boring until I was two thirds through it, then the action picked up rapidly and didn't stop until the very end - a very typical MacLean end with the hero and the beautiful lady happy and safe. The book is a great read, if only for the way he shows the life in a Communist country and for the highly pacifistic views expressed by one of the main characters

Rating:
Summary: One of my lifetime favorites
Review: Alistair MacLean combines psychology, action, history, sociology, and intrigue into a wonderful spy story. The hero potrtays a tried and true James Bond without the condescending attitude. There's none better.

Rating:
Summary: A master storyteller's best novel.
Review: Maclean knows how to write a story. He takes you along, fast, with a man deep in enemy space, on a vital mission at long odds: yet you can tell right away that this is the kind of man you'd want by your side in such circumstances. When the page-turner is done, you feel priviledged to have been there: you've been given a portrait of heroism: maybe even one of manhood