Where Eagles Dare

I think I might actually have read this before New Year as well. If I did, it wouldn't have been much before. I was working quite a bit over the Christmas holidays, so the specific dates have gone a bit blurred. Did I even post about Christmas?

Anyway, Where Eagles Dare. Got my brother to record a film for me, thought it was this one. It was actually based on Jack Higgins' The Eagle Has Landed, not the Alaistar MacLean book of similar name. However, as the film was slightly disappointing, I decided that it was worth rereading Where Eagles Dare. I think this was actually the first Alaistar MacLean book I ever read. And it's still just as good as it was the first time. I have to say, that as far as these sort of 'inetellectual' thrillers, the sort of books where you have a million twists in the plot and that's what makes them exciting rather than just pure action, you can't beat Alaistar MacLean. Hmm, I was just looking on Fantastic Fiction to check I was spelling his name right (I am), and I actually seem to have all the books he actually wrote, with the exception of a book called Fire of Humiliation. Apparently it was published in 1993, but that's all I can actually find about it. Anyway, Where Eagles Dare is your standard brilliant book by Alaistar MacLean. You have no idea where it's going to end, and it seems that every page offers a new twist, culminating in a shocking conclusion in an aircraft at the very end. As usual, you don't really find out what's happening until the last page, as usual, you're gripped throughout. Brilliant action, brilliant plot, brilliant characters. What more can I say? Only that the library is foolish to hide these books away in storage because they're not brand new. They should be out on the shelves, so that these brilliant novels are not consigned to obscurity. This book (or, to be perfectly honest, any of the others) would make a much better must read classic than Jane Eyre.

Highly recommended. I have not yet come across a book from this author that I haven't enjoyed, and I've read all apart from the odd few that I have left to read. Oh, and of course this mysterious Fire of Humiliation. If anybody knows anything about it, I'd appreciate you letting me know. Could it be a different name for one of the others? After all, Aliastar MacLean died in 1987, this one came out in 1993. Hmm, I shall have to try and investigate a little more. Maybe one of the booksellers on the market knows something, though who knows when I'll be able to get in there again given the snow and the fact that more looks to be on its way.