Ice Station Zebra

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In the end I’m not sure where to classify this book. It’s certainly an action novel, but there are smatterings of Science Fiction and Horror (albeit of the B-grade kind) as well. Conspiracy Theory. Murder Mystery. Hell yeah! It was actually quite a bit of fun, all told. Another plus: the villains in this book aren’t from Eastern Europe, Africa or the Middle East, which was kind of refreshing. Adler, Renata; Canby, Vincent; Thompson, Howard (1968-12-21). "The Screen: 'Ice Station Zebra' at the Cinerama". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-05-06 . Retrieved 2020-08-07.

So, why the 4 stars? So much potential. WOnderfully worked plot. Superb pace and, though I found some of it creative, the obstacles that Rielly dropped in front of Scarecrow and his team made for some exciting edge of your seat ride. Rielly also does everything the genre asks. Short of some gratuitus sex, it's all there. In 1973, MacLean was looking at moving to Jamaica. He also considered moving to Ireland, but decided to stay in Switzerland. [43]

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This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. ( July 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) All the various plot pieces revealed throughout the story were seamlessly woven together by the end, and Reilly's dastardly collection of marines, psychos and sadists were so astutely portrayed that I felt like I personally knew every one of them. MacLean followed it with South by Java Head (1958), based on his experiences in the seas off Southeast Asia in World War Two, and The Last Frontier (1959), a thriller about the Hungarian uprising of 1956. Film rights for Java Head were sold, but no movie resulted. [18] I know nothing about military technology, so had no idea how real the descriptions of weapons and various accessories used were. Mentions of real world resources like microfiche and paper atlases did show the book’s age though. The geopolitical machinations were depressingly believable however. I enjoyed the range of characters - and knowing that certain favourite individuals reappear in later books meant I wasn’t worried about what happened to them.

It is only at the ultimate ending when Carpenter rounds up the lot, and like a skilful cold-war era Hercule Poirot delivers the conclusion.

Ice Station Zebra: Alternative Cover

Gant and her team find what appears to be an alien ship, but which turns out to be a spy plane. Montana kills Santa Cruz, but is killed by mutated elephant seals. Schofield and the two others arrive and Hensleigh reveals herself to be an ICG agent, but is soon killed by a wounded Gant. Remembering the station is about to be destroyed, Schofield, Gant, Renshaw, Kirsty and her pet fur seal named Wendy escape on the spy plane and land on the USS Wasp. They later destroy the spy plane using a guided missile fired earlier. It is revealed that Mother had escaped Wilkes before its destruction and was saved by US forces. a b Johnstone, Jain (17 December 1972). "War Is Hell, but It Pays Off for MacLean". Los Angeles Times. p.1. MacLean was unhappy at the tax paid on earnings for his first two novels, so he moved to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, where he would pay less tax. He planned to write one novel a year. "It's all the market can stand," he said, adding it took him three months to write it. [17] Scarecrow and his team learn from the word go that nothing is easy on the butt-end of the world. The entire world seems to want a piece of the ice and for some reason they are treating the Scarecrow and his team as "persona non gratta?" If that ain't bad enough, only two of the scientists are hot babes. A new battlecry is born "NUKE THE WHALES!" It’s written in a style you’ll either love or you’ll hate, with a cliff-hanger at the end of virtually every paragraph. Sometimes this heralds a meaningful event, but often it doesn’t. I didn’t mind this, it just seemed to suit the book, but I can see it could become annoying. There are, though, other elements that didn’t quite gel for me: the glib language sometimes used by participants in a deathly encounter felt straight out of a Die Hard movie and Scarecrow is granted far in excess of the nine lives normally allotted to the nimble cat.

An Australian TV program, "Australian Story", caught up with Matthew in February 2014 to find out how he is doing. Attached below is a link to a very moving 30 minute interview with Matthew, his publishers and his family/friends. His later works include River of Death (1981) (filmed in 1989), Partisans (1982), Floodgate (1983), and San Andreas (1984). Often, these novels were worked on by ghost writers specializing in drama, with MacLean providing only the plots and characters. [53] His last novel was Santorini (1986), which was published after his death. [54] His estate left behind several outlines. One of them was filmed as Death Train (1993). [55] His later books were not as well received as the earlier publications, and in an attempt to keep his stories in keeping with the time, he sometimes lapsed into unduly improbable plots. [ citation needed] Death [ edit ] This is a solid action adventure read. It's more Ian Flemming and Alistair MacLean than Clive Cussler or James Rollins. It is pure action adventure in the same vein as "Where Eagles Dare" and "James Bond." If you want action, this book's got it. I bet you'll smell like gunpowder smoke and whale poop when you get done reading this book. Dempster, Nigel (19 January 1977). "Why my husband and I have parted—by Mrs Alistair MacLean". p.13. The survivors get to Hawaii where they are nearly killed by an ICG agent before being saved by Andrew Trent, Pete and Allison Cameron, and the captain of the USS Wasp. Renshaw assumes custody of Kirsty since he is her godfather, and Schofield doesn't leave Gant's side until she recovers.

Alistair MacLean was one of my late Dad's favourite authors & I read many of MacLean's books when I was young. My favourite was Where Eagles Dare. I'm fairly sure I haven't read this title before. I think I would remember the plot idea, as for me it was a very original one.