The Dark Crusader

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Britain's scientists are being lured away from the country by mysterious job advertisements. All of the scientists in question are specialists in burgeoning scientific and technical fields, all married, no children. And they have all disappeared en route to these promising new jobs. Then a ninth advertisement appears. This time, the scientist responding to it is ready for trouble.

In the MacLean pantheon, this ranks below The Guns of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra, but above Where Eagles Dare. It's a pretty technical book: this is the place to go if you want information about 1960s-era rocket technology. And for those who enjoy placing their protagonist in the direst jeopardy, over and over again, show more this will be thrilling to read. The first-person narration really captures the grinding futility felt by the protagonist as he continually battles a seemingly omnipotent villain, and the despair into which he sinks at the end.

This ending really made the book. I was worried that somehow MacLean would pull a highly improbable rabbit out of a hat and have Bentall and Marie walking into the sunset, or smooching under the lights of London. But he doesn't. What does happen is incredibly bleak and very well done. A punch to the gut, but well done.

I would recommend this if you like your Cold War narratives with rockets included, stories of relentless adversity and tales of skulduggery in the South Pacific. show less

The Black Shrike is one of the best books I've read (so far!) by Alistair MacLean. It's cold war counter espionage stuff from about 60 years ago, so is a little dated, but it holds up well.

What I really liked, apart from the twisty plot, is the humanity and fallibility of the main character. He might be an agent, but he's no James Bond, though a bit more like MacGyver!

This one is definitely a keeper.

I finally gave up on this one. Every time I started reading it, the hero was doing or saying something tough, and the love interest was acting like an airhead instead of the strong undercover agent she was said to be in the first chapter. I never did find out what 'The Black Shrike' was, and I just don't care.

* UPDATE *

For some reason, I picked this one up and gave it a second chance. The Black Shrike is a missile, and our hero does eventually save the day. After plenty of time to show us how brave and tough and manly he really is. I'm honestly not sure why I did finish it, but it was pretty much like I expected. Maclean can be a great storyteller, but this time there wasn't enough of an original story to tell.

An OK book, but not up to the expectation that several of the previous MacLean works created for me. An interesting yarn with all of the necessary intrigue and double-crossing one needs for a spy thriller, but the human chemistry seemed off. I never made the connection between Bentall and Hopeman, and thus the romantic part felt insincere to me....forced. Lots of pure luck as always plays a larger role in their survival it seems than necessarily cleverness on their part. I certainly enjoyed it, but it was no 'Guns of Navarone.'

Good spy novel with several plot twists. The fictional South Pacific island setting, somewhere south of Fiji sounds like nice place to visit. Elements include a bumbling but brilliant British physicist cum secret agent, a swooning female non-agent, manufactured love (though a bit hard to swallow), a gnarly sea captain, a pompous archeologist, a king kong sized bad guy, lots of betrayal, and ancient cold war technology. Whats not to like?

One of the very best Maclean novels, because of the terrific action sequences and the ending. The British ICBM now seems quant, and the love story is cringeworthy, but there are a lot of unforgettable moments in this book.

"I can be completely ruthless..."

"I left him there, a small dusty man in a small dusty roojm ...."

The second half moved along quickly. The wheels keep falling off but Alistair's hero wins in the end.