Fear is the Key

This book rates my highest praise for fiction, which is bonkers. Fear is the Key has car chases, aviation disaster, underwater peril, and criminal conspiracy and revenge like baked in Monte Cristo flavored served cold. This book is bonkers. I loved it. Plus it's a throw back, old fashioned thriller and you cannot go wrong with that.

Nice twisty tale of a sadistic killer hired to recover underwater treasure...but don't assume anything. This one did surprise me and had me guessing to the end.

4258 Fear Is the Key, by Alistair MacLean (read 14 Jan 2007) This is the fifth book by MacLean I have read, the others being:
2231 H.M.S. Ulysses, by Alistair MacLean (read 8 Sep 1989)
2380 Where Eagles Dare, by Alistair MacLean (read 3 May 1991)
2775 The Guns of Navarone, by Alistair MacLean (read 14 Aug 1995)
3298 When Eight Bells Toll, by Alistair MacLean (read 14 Mar 2000)
For much of this book I was not entranced, being turned off by the usual MacLean incredible extravagances, but the ending was so well-done that I changed my opinion of the whole book. Talbot's wife and son are killed by bad guys and Talbot gets onto an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico where the plane was shot down. An excellent ending which made the whole book memorable.

Although it got off to a slow start, almost a confusing start, I now know that was on purpose....the bulk of the book was unraveling all of the confusion concerning underwater treasure, an oil rig on the Gulf of Mexico, a bevy of bad guys seeming to have control over a very wealthy oil family, and the unfortunate guy thrown into the middle of it all trying to save the day against all odds. As with most of Maclean's work, there are some nail-biting, split-second-timing adventures that keep the wheels turning on this one. Slowly, the reader gets to those revelatory moments where the confusion begins to clear, and it takes practically to the bitter end to get it all figured out....just the way i like it. Nicely done - and with a perfect title!

I am working on giving a second chance to authors that I read during my school years and disliked, possibly because they were too demanding for me at the time.

One such author was Grahame Green; I started something and gave up on it, which is a rare occurrence for me. Last year I read Our Man in Havana and was thoroughly entertained - I have since acquired a copy of Brighton Rock which is patiently awaiting my attention.

Alistair MacLean was another writer who I tried and gave up on. Upon encountering a couple of reprints in my local bookstore, I though I'd give him his second chance. 'Twas awful.

The prose starts off terribly florid but fortunately does not stay that way for long. Soon the reader is whisked along a story in which show more everybody is unpleasant, every incident is a cliche and so is every character. The book has two merits: it's fast paced and short.

Ach y fi! show less

I, like others, have recently started rereading authors of my childhood and Alistair Maclean was one I have fond memories of.

I had not read this title before and really enjoyed it. I admit I found the revelation at the end somewhat gut-wrenching due to personal circumstances, but it was a good read.

The revelation toward the end of this book is not so much stunning as explanatory of the narrator's rather odd behavior throughout the book.