Saturday 25 April 2009

The Satan Bug

We were away in the caravan and by this point I'd run out of Biggles books to read. So I turned to an Alaistar MacLean I picked up, although I later realised I already had a copy of it unread at home. Still. The blurb on the back of this one was so totally different that I couldn't tell it was the same book until I was well over half way through. The blurb on the older version completely minimises how fascinating this book was.

The Satan Bug is an absolutely gripping thriller. The main character is fascinating, and as it's narrated from first person, you only get the occaisional hint of his actual physical description etc and his relation of his past. Wow he's an interesting guy. I know Alaistar MacLean never went in for serieses in a big way--the only one being the two books The Guns of Navorone and Force 10 from Naverone--but this one would totally work well as a series. Intrigue, plot, deadly biological weapons in fragile glass tubes, and nothing is what it seems. And I mean nothing. This really demonstrates just how much of a craftsman MacLean was, there are twists and turns everywhere, culminating in a dramatic final showdown in an unsteady helicopter that leaves you fearing for the safety of every person in London and, ultimately, the whole world. It's an incredible book and I strongly recommend it to anybody who wants to read a decent thriller which is actually within the realms of possibility and plausibility (unlike many others...).

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