Rating: 
Summary: Don't Think Too Hard
Review: Alistair MacLean was not famous for his subtlety. He wasn't even a very good writer (he hated the physical act of writing). But no one ever spun a more taut yarn than MacLean. His early books might be tiresome in spots (even the famous "Guns of Navaronne"), but by the time he wrote books like "When Eight Bells Toll", "Ice Station Zebra", "Breakheart Pass", and others, he whacked out all the fat and built aaction/suspense stories of amazing complexity, that grip from the first page and never let go. With "Where Eagles Dare" he was at the height of his storytelling abilities. It's an unremitting book. Oddly enough, though Clint Eastwood slaughters Germans in their thousands in the movie, in the book the characters are more restrained and only kill out of necessity. A great trait of MacLean's is the ability to coil stories through double and treble crosses -- and perhaps more! There's always a traitor in the midst in MacLean, and this slab of treachery is mind-boggling. This is a book that's difficult to put down. MacLean isn't Tolstoy -- but Tolstoy couldn't have written anything so full of hair-raising adventure, either.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Think Too Hard
Review: Alistair MacLean was not famous for his subtlety. He wasn't even a very good writer (he hated the physical act of writing). But no one ever spun a more taut yarn than MacLean. His early books might be tiresome in spots (even the famous "Guns of Navaronne"), but by the time he wrote books like "When Eight Bells Toll", "Ice Station Zebra", "Breakheart Pass", and others, he whacked out all the fat and built aaction/suspense stories of amazing complexity, that grip from the first page and never let go. With "Where Eagles Dare" he was at the height of his storytelling abilities. It's an unremitting book. Oddly enough, though Clint Eastwood slaughters Germans in their thousands in the movie, in the book the characters are more restrained and only kill out of necessity. A great trait of MacLean's is the ability to coil stories through double and treble crosses -- and perhaps more! There's always a traitor in the midst in MacLean, and this slab of treachery is mind-boggling. This is a book that's difficult to put down. MacLean isn't Tolstoy -- but Tolstoy couldn't have written anything so full of hair-raising adventure, either.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing World War Two Adventure!
Review: Alistair Maclean's novel, 'Where Eagles Dare,' is a great adventure story that takes the reader back to the desperate days of World War Two. The story centers around a crack British commando team infiltrating a Bavarian stronghold to rescue a high-ranking American officer. From start to finish this is riviting fiction. Maclean's protagonists are the kind of characters that make you want to cheer and the plot contains enough twists to keep you guessing right up to the end. The movie version of this novel, which stars Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, is one of the the most faithful film interpretations of a book ever made. Read the book and then see the film!
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite MacLean's still a page turner
Review: Growing up in the UK my reading material was an eclectic mixture of Enid Blyton children's adventure novels, Ian Fleming and John Gardner espionage tales and Alistair MacLean wartime escapades. It was in this environment that my love for well crafted tales of suspense, adventure and espionage was fostered and nowhere is this more apparent than in the MacLean thriller WHERE EAGLES DARE.
Second among my favorite MacLean works (my all-time favorite being WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL) the storyline for WHERE EAGLES DARE was faithfully recreated for the 1960s movie with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood (not surprising really since MacLean adapted his own novel for the screen).
A group of British Commando's along with an American Ranger parachute behind the German lines in World War 2. Their stated mission: the rescue of an American General who has been captured by the Nazi's and taken to a mountaintop fortress.
Of course like many I had seen the movie several times before finally settling down to read the book, but settle down I did and what a ride MacLean treated us to. The action is well described with white-knuckle realism and MacLean's complex and intricate plotting is both well structured and compelling. For those unfamiliar with either the book or the novel there is also a nice twist that to this day has me marveling at its pure ingenuity.
Okay so the dialogue may not be the best, but I for one do not read MacLean novels for their dialogue.
For adventure novels, MacLean is the master as much as Agatha Christie is the Queen of the whodunnit. I wish that the entire series of novels would be reprinted for a new generation to enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Are you a Worl War 2 fanatic
Review: Have you ever read a book that is thrilling? Well Allistar McLean has written many outstanding books and he is a very noticeable writer from the late 1960s, he has won many awards since his first books. One of the best books include "Floodgate", "the guns of Navarone". "HMS Ulysses" and of course "Where Eagles dare". Allistar McLean is a writer that puts a lot of enthusiasm in his books. He also is a very sentimental writer when he writes his books, expressing his feelings in the characters. He can do a better book of war than a war-thrilling author, because of his way of writing.
For me the best book he has written is "Where Eagles Dare", it is about 8 ally agents, 7 men and a woman land behind enemy lines during World War Two. Their mission: to rescue an American general held at the Gestapo HQ before the nazis making reveal information about the D-Day operations. The 8 ally agents suffer a lot of trama in this book, many of them die, and many betrade their own country and the rest keep up with the mission.
Love, death and betrade become the main themes of this awesome book. This book from the moment you start reading it, you feel a need to keep on the reading, it is a sensation that gives that I cannot explain, it is surely a page turning book. From the beginning to the end this book has special touch that will pump up[ your adrenaline veins, your eyes are going to be focused on every word you are reading. This is the first I read fro myself that no one tells me to get it form the library. This book leaves you a lot of things on your mind, like how can some secret agents betrade their own country on a top-secret mission. This is one of the millions of things that make Alistair McLean awesome writer and makes it on hell of a book.
Rating: 
Summary: The dialogue is awful and the plot is hard to believe
Review: I expected to enjoy this book, since I love military and suspense novels. However, I soon realized that this book wasn't what I thought it was. The dialogue is truly awful, unless you enjoy comic book tough guy language. The heroes use flippant humor when they are in grave danger, not just once or twice, but continuously. I almost stopped reading, it was so annoying. And a Brit writing American slang dialogue for one of the characters is almost as bad as an American writing British dialogue. It just doesn't sound quite right.The plot, although certainly creative, just wasn't believable. Maybe this type of novel isn't meant to be believable, but it sure is something I like to see. And there weren't just one or two instances of these improbable plot elements. They just kept coming and coming. For example: an escape from their German captors based on a brilliant improvisation. In another instance, an impersonation of a double agent based on unbelievable luck, gullibility of the SS (not generally known for this) and a few convenient added elements that seemed just too good to be true. Now I should say that this type of book might appeal to a teenage boy. I think I would have enjoyed it at that age. But as an adult, I would look for better writing and a more realistic plot. If you are looking for something in the way of a 20th century military novel, I would recommend the following authors: Jack Higgins, James Webb, Tom Clancy, Patrick Robinson, Herman Wouk, James Jones, Larry Bond, Dale Brown, and Anton Myrer. _The Eagle has Landed_, _The Caine Mutiny_ and _The Hunt for Red October_ are among the best of these novels that I have read. Jack Higgin's books are probably most similar to MacLean's, with exciting plots and heroic characters, but with more realism and better dialogue.
Rating: 
Summary: for world war fans
Review: I honestly do not like to read books, but the book:" Where Eagles dare," caught my interest very quickly. Anyway's if your into the hole World Wars, then this book will satisfy your senses. Eight allied agents, seven men and a single female where dropped out of an airplane into the mountains behind enemy grounds. Now seriously jumping out of a plane in a full blown out blizzard seams pretty stupid, but you cant tell me that you enjoy like to jumping out of a plane in a blizzard. The allied agent's mission was to rescue the general from behind enemy lines. The Nazis were forcing him to spill his secret plans for D-day. One of the most interesting points to the novel was the whole cliff haging Sean. But of course that was not the most interesting point of the whole book, because if it was then it would not be good at all. Finally the last part of the book is, well I won't spoil the ending for you so just go get the book and read it for your self. Trust me it is worth wile.
Rating:
Summary: MacLean's finest suspense work
Review: I read all of MacLean's books when I was a kid, and although Where Eagles Dare is not his best, it is easily his most exciting. I remember being up at 4 a.m., unable to stop reading. Unusually, this is MacLean's only book in which he wrote a screenplay first, then based the novel on his script (that's why the film seems such a faithful adaptation). As a result, the book is shorter and leaner then many of his novels, and it definitely works for the story. The suspense never stops building, the action sequences - especially atop the cable car - are some of the best he's ever written, and the characters have a very entertaining repartee between them, particularly Smith and Shaffer. Where Eagles Dare also features some of MacLean's sexiest female heroes, not always present in his books. The Guns of Navarone had a greater scope and deeper character development, H.M.S. Ulysses was harrowing, gritty and deeply humanistic, Ice Station Zebra had a plot with more twists and double-crosses, but Where Eagles Dare was MacLean's all-time action/suspense fest.
Rating:
Summary: How often do you read the same book twice or more?
Review: I seldom read the same book more than once, but the books by MacLean are an exception from that rule. You can have them in the shelf for years and every now and when you dust your books you will start to look at one of them. Before you know it you have finished of three or four of them. I can't recall any other author having the same effect on me. Today I just finished "The dark crusader" after reading "When eight bells toll"... I think I've read those two books three times by now. The MacLean books I rank to be among his very best are; "Where Eagles Dare", "Fear is the key", Ice station Zebra", "H.M.S. Ulysses", Circus", "The last frontier", "The golden rendevouz", "The satan bug", "The guns of Navarone", and "Puppet on a chain". The following books are also worth while reading: "Force 10 from Navarone", When Eight bells toll", "Night without end", South by Java Head", "Bear Island", "The dark crusader". Alistair MacLean mixes suspense, spy stories, heroism, plots, characters of good and evil, and humour like noone else. Thinking about it, its obvious why I keep coming back for the same books over and over again. If you buy and read them; you will agree with me. If you already have them; you know what I mean. Let me end this review by saying; Thank you, Alistair MacLean for having written so many good books! Finally; if you like Alistair MacLean you will also like the books of Desmond Bagley, the earlier books by Jack Higgins, and Dennis Lehane.
Rating:
Summary: How often do you read the same book twice or more?
Review: I seldom read the same book more than once, but the books by MacLean are an exception from that rule. You can have them in the shelf for years and every now and when you dust your books you will start to look at one of them. Before you know it you have finished of three or four of them. I can't recall any other author having the same effect on me. Today I just finished "The dark crusader" after reading "When eight bells toll"... I think I've read those two books three times by now. The MacLean books I rank to be among his very best are; "Where Eagles Dare", "Fear is the key", Ice station Zebra", "H.M.S. Ulysses", Circus", "The last frontier", "The golden rendevouz", "The satan bug", "The guns of Navarone", and "Puppet on a chain". The following books are also worth while reading: "Force 10 from Navarone", When Eight bells toll", "Night without end", South by Java Head", "Bear Island", "The dark crusader". Alistair MacLean mixes suspense, spy stories, heroism, plots, characters of good and evil, and humour like noone else. Thinking about it, its obvious why I keep coming back for the same books over and over again. If you buy and read them; you will agree with me. If you already have them; you know what I mean. Let me end this review by saying; Thank you, Alistair MacLean for having written so many good books! Finally; if you like Alistair MacLean you will also like the books of Desmond Bagley, the earlier books by Jack Higgins, and Dennis Lehane.
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