Ice Station Zebra (original 1963; edition 1981)

Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean

I've always had a fondness for Alistair MacLean. My father would return home from work in Dublin City centre and leave his wool coat steaming in the hall. There was a second hand bookshop near the train station and he would stop off on Fridays and special occasions and buy a handful of paperbacks. The rules of the game were as follows, if I'd been good, I would be directed after dinner that "You might find something interesting, if you look in my coat."

If reports were bad, these might mysteriously disappear. A little personal reconnaissance before the appointed hour was acceptable, but woe betide the Kinch minor that tried to snaffle one before his time. MacLean, Captain W.E. Johns, Richard Jeffries, Rosemary Sutcliff and a variety of boy detectives features a great deal. Henty was bigger and only came solo, as there was a limit to what Dad's pockets would hold. Curiously enough, I don't recall ever getting Ice Station Zebra.

The tale on the face of it is simple enough, there has been an accident at a British Antarctic Base and a US Navy Nuclear Submarine is dispatched to help. On board is Dr Carpenter, a mysterious Englishman, who is tasked with discovering what exactly occurred at the station.

As is traditional in an Alistair MacLean nothing is quite as it seems. Dr Carpenter, who is also a narrator, is revealed as steely eyed secret agent demonstrates the typical MacLean virtues of immense physical endurance, dogged determination and deeply cynical humour. There is no sex or romance in the story and comparatively little violence as the most brutal struggles of the book are pit man against the landscape. The nuclear submarine USS Dolphin is a prominent character in the action, this is not a techno-thriller in the Clancy mould. MacLean is far more interested in men than machines. This is a relatively short book, I read it over a day. It is also an old fashioned story in that it is one where things happen. There is precious little time for reflection or character development, not when there are Reds to outwit and icy tundras to cross.

In a strange way Ice Station Zebra has more in common with classic Christie mysteries like "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Ten Little Indians" then the bullet laced thrillers of our own day. The hero must solve a puzzle against the clock while trapped with his array of suspects. Ultimately despite his brute strength, weapons and the exotic locale, Dr Carpenter must resolve things the old fashioned way, by thinking.

And for those of you who like that sort of thing, this is exactly the sort of thing that you like.

אני זוכר את עצמי בירושלים רתוק לספר במקום לעשות מת​ ( )

Ice Station Zebra was pretty good - once you got halfway or more into it. Before that time, it felt quite plodding ... far from engaging. This is the reason I knocked off one star from the review. It also didn't help that the narrator was a bit on the dull side. Otherwise, I'd have given it four stars because when everything came together it was fairly solid.However, I also have to add that when the bad guy was 'revealed' at the end, it wasn't surprising, as I'd already pegged who the villain was - not necessarily because of anything particular I picked up on, but merely because I think I've seen enough movies, and read enough whodunit books, to be able to figure out with a fair amount of consistency who the bad guy is. This was one of those times. IMO, this story would be more entertaining as a movie - and because there is a movie based on the book I plan to see it, even though I've heard that the book is far better. At any rate, after having read this (which was my first Alistair MacLean book), I'm definitely interested in picking some of his other writings ( )

British thriller writer Matt Lynn has chosen to discuss Alistair MacLean’s Ice Station Zebra , on FiveBooks (http://five-books.com) as one of the top five on his subject - The Great British Thriller, saying that:

“…MacLean was the master of a style of rugged, very masculine action adventure story that is probably best exemplified today by SAS writers like Andy McNab and Chris Ryan. Ice Station Zebra is his finest work: a small group of men, battling against terrifying, extreme conditions, and caught up in a global power play..…”.

The full interview is available here: http://thebrowser.com/books/interviews/matt-lynn ( )

Fairly straightforward thriller set in the Arctic.

A british special forces Dr. manages to get onboard a US submarine going to the rescue of a Arctic research station that has run into difficulties. Supposedly a metrological research station special forces are interested because the real purpose is spying against russian intercontinental missile launches. Several acts of carelessness or maybe sabotage seem to indicate that maybe the russians are aware of it's true nature and that of the rescue attempt. It's all down to the Dr. to save the day.

Average but fun. The characters are all a bit thin, especially the stereotypical americans and the russian agents, but there is enough accidents, and drama to keep the plot rolling along. The clues are there for you to work out in advance who is the russian agent - but until the grand denoucement at the end you are unlikely to do so. ( )