When Eight Bells Toll

Philip Calvert and his fellow agent Hunslett are on a case in the Western Highlands of Scotland—ships with valuable cargo keep disappearing, and modern-day pirates are suspected. Over a highly eventful 72 hours, he will risk his life and those of others to uncover the plot and figure out who he can trust and who is in the conspiracy.

Calvert is a down-to-earth, downtrodden sort of bloke, a civil-servant spy with dry humour and a realistic view of his profession. His narration made the book work well. I loved the setting, too, and the story was certainly a thumping good read. I could have asked for less patronizing attitudes toward the main female character in the book, and it got a bit “detective-story-style summarizing how the show more criminals did it” at the end, but overall this is a good thriller if you’ve enjoyed previous works by MacLean. show less

My friends sometimes wonder how I know about hollow point and narrow bullets, and the first page of this book is the cause. It starts with an vivid, but accurate description of the Peacemaker Colt and what effects it should have when it's trained on a man. The pace picks up from there and doesn't stop till the end.

I was expecting what I call the "MacLean effect" to be diminished since I was re-reading this book, and I am not a teenager any more. Turns out that the old man's still got it. This timeless, fast-paced, modern-day pirates on the sea action-thriller is filled with memorable characters. Still not as good as Night Without End or Guns of Navarone, but good enough to satisfy your action-thriller craving.

The plots would be absolutely preposterous-if you had a minute to sit down and think about it,but the terric speed,cracking plots,humour,and a gallant very likeable hero means we never have time for critiques-we are too busy having fun in a riproaring adventure.Great stuff,and still eminently readable decades later.Who needs more?

This is my favorite of all of MacLean's thrillers, and not just because it is set in my native Scotland.

MacLean's books often rely of a big twist near the end. In many of the lesser books, Bear Island for example, you can see it coming from far away. But in WEBT, he keeps things taut, and the action moves so fast and furiously it doesn't give you time to think.

The other great thing about this one is the beginning. It starts right in with a great suspense scene, and just ranks up the tension from there.

Enjoyed this adventure quite a bit. Of course, I had to guess where it was taking place, and eventually figured it out.....but MacLean has a way of creating a main character that you feel you know very well by the end, and more importantly, you really like him. Calvert does not take himself too seriously, unless his survival demands it. There are many things that luckily go his way, but then again, there are many that do not! The British take their crime fighting very seriously, and one wonders whether one guy should have to battle a dangerous gang of gold thieves single-handedly. Certainly not the greatest espionage book ever, but i could not put it down near the end.....a very good endorsement for me. Oh, and one more thing.....can show more someone tell me what the title means??? If i am not mistaken, there was not a single reference to 'When Eight Bells Toll' in the book.....so why???? show less

This book was pretty good, but not MacLean's best. It's an action/thriller set at sea featuring British Secret Service agent Peter Calvert and his boss, Admiral Sir Arthur Arnford-Jason, called Uncle Arthur for some reason. Calvert is witty, but is also a cold blooded killer. He's also a bit of a misogynist, although that may be a product of the book's publication time of the 1960s more than anything.

The opening scene is spectacular, one of the best I've read. It really leaves you breathless. People are trying to kill Calvert. Why? Who? Well, as is the case with most MacLean heroes, Calvert displays superhuman skills and stamina to get to those trying to get to him. A plot is uncovered, a piracy plot, in which people and ships are show more disappearing, people get murdered, and a helicopter he's in gets shot down. One thing that frustrated me about the book, though, was that you don't really have a clue what it's all about until you're about two thirds of the way through it. By that time, you might be irritated you've read so far without having been told what's going on. Calvert, though, seems to know a lot and likes to tell people what's going on, even after Uncle Arthur has said things about need to know. He has his reasons though. Of course, with most MacLean novels, there's a twist at the end of the book, although I found it a bit convoluted. Call me a dullard and I won't take offense. I just had to read extra carefully to make sense of it all. Another thing that bothered me was the plot seemed just so unrealistic. I don't see how anyone would have done what was done in this novel. Too much chance to plan realistically. Still, it lends itself toward excitement. Whatever my complaints, this book is action packed and rarely slow. Lots of violence, if that's your thing. It's very similar, I think, to a James Bond film -- just more violent. Think of the era of publication and it makes sense. Recommended? Yes. show less

"When Eight Bells Toll" is a spy novel. It is characteristic of that genre written in the 50's. If you replaced the main character Calvert with James Bond, you would get a similar take on the book. It involves piracy on the coast of Scotland with the Secret Service to the rescue. The first part reminds me of the opening of a Bond film, instant excitement before the credits start rolling. Although the action was fairly fast paced, I was not too excited about the ending. The explanation for the sequences of events was long drawn out and tiring. Four stars for me.