Fear Is the Key

Rating:
Summary: An underrated gem by MacLean
Review: A long time ago, I read all of Alistair MacLean's books, and "Fear is the Key" wasn't one that stood out in my mind. Recently, I've been re-reading all of them, and I've come to the conclusion that "Fear" is vastly underrated.

This is basically a revenge story: the narrator's wife and child are flying in a plane that gets shot down at the beginning of the novel. Two years later, the narrator has apparently been unhinged enough to have turned to a life of crime, for which he is now being prosecuted. Only he escapes from the courtroom, taking a young woman hostage. A reward is put out on his head, and he is captured by a thug who turns him in to the hostage's father. Instead of turning him over to the police, however, the father hires him for some not entirely legitimate tasks. The father, it turns out, has been consorting with some shady characters, who may or may not have been responsible for killing the narrator's family.

The reviewer below has hit it on the head when he states that the first-person narrated novels by MacLean are the best (and this is one of those). In case you are wondering, the other first-person narrated MacLean novels are: "Night Without End," "The Black Shrike," "The Satan Bug," "The Golden Rendezvous," "Ice Station Zebra," "When Eight Bells Toll," "Puppet on a Chain," and "Bear Island." Not coincidentally, those are the best MacLean novels; the only others that merit being put in the same category are "The Guns of Navarone," "Where Eagles Dare," "The Golden Gate," and maybe "The Secret Ways."

Rating:
Summary: A lesser work by MacLean
Review: At his best, MacLean is near the top of the pulp action genre with interesting locations and characters and a bit of romance. "Fear", a story of revenge, misses the mark. I never could quite connect with the protaganist and surprisingly, the ending was neither compelling or, to me, satisfying. Other MacLean books such as "Dusty Death" and "Caravan" better display his true abilities.

Rating:
Summary: A lesser work by MacLean
Review: At his best, MacLean is near the top of the pulp action genre with interesting locations and characters and a bit of romance. "Fear", a story of revenge, misses the mark. I never could quite connect with the protaganist and surprisingly, the ending was neither compelling or, to me, satisfying. Other MacLean books such as "Dusty Death" and "Caravan" better display his true abilities.

Rating:
Summary: Suspense is the key
Review: Great thriller. Perhaps the reason I disagree with some of the reviews is that I'm not generally a huge Maclean fan and have struggled to finish some of them. Most are a little too boys' own for my taste. I think this book as superb, though, mainly because it has a sense of personal motivation that many of his other books seem to lack, and the prologue and ending are brilliant. Particularly good are the sudden twists in the plot and the cold, methodical way the narrator goes about getting revenge. Exceptional page-turner.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books that I have ever read
Review: In my opinion "Fear is the Key" Is probably one of the on the top five of Alistair MacLean's novels. This novel is very difficult to predict which makes all the better, because in most books the outcome is obvious. The protagonist will overcome all obstacles and achieve his goal and live happily ever after. In this book the outcome is not so easily predicted. It's a great book...

Rating:
Summary: "Fear" Is a Winner
Review: It has been nearly 40 years since Alistair MacLean wrote "Fear Is the Key", and the novel hasn't aged all that well. Nonetheless, it is a top-notch adventure story and one of MacLean's most tightly constructed, focused stories. It tells the tale of a man's relentless pursuit of revenge that - in the end - leaves him as empty, lost, and inconsolable as he was before he started his angry quest.

In a prologue John Talbot's wife and best friend are killed in an air attack on the plane they are flying, while in frustrated impotence he listens on radio earphones to the ruthless destruction of everything that gave his life meaning. The next time we encounter Talbot he appears to have undergone an unpleasant but feasible change into a criminal who is being tried in a Florida court. In an excitingly told sequence, Talbot turns the tables on the law officers, kidnaps the daughter of the presiding judge, and makes his escape in a hair-raising car chase. The tension - and our curiosity and puzzlement - begin building as the revelations about Talbot's recent past come to light during the highly charged courtroom scene...and keep on building as our protagonist keeps one step ahead of his pursuers. The puzzle of Talbot's transformation acts like a hypnotist's twirling pocket watch, constantly drawing us back to a central mystery that keeps us turning pages in search of more clues to the truth.

The storytelling shows MacLean at his absolute best, making us gladly, almost gleefully, suspend disbelief and enjoy a rip-snorting adventure. Full of witty descriptions, well-drawn (albeit stereotypical) characters, self-deprecating wit, and MacLean's characteristic double- and triple-bluffs that leave us smiling in satisfaction at his skill in keeping us in suspense and guessing to the end.

A first-rate story with plenty of wit and bite - MacLean, in other words at his very best - which puts "Fear Is the Key" at the top of any adventure story must-read list.

Rating:
Summary: Speed is the key
Review: This is hands down the fastest MacLean i've ever read, and i've read
quite a few. There's no slackening of the pace anywhere - it's relentless.
You just keep turning the pages, and before you know, you've run out
of pages to turn !!

The plot is fairly unpredictable, just full of twists and turns that
keep one guessing, which is half the fun in such books. To begin with,
the chief protagonist is on the run, having escaped from the law, and
takes a young woman as hostage. All that, however changes pretty soon,
as each succeeding set of circumstances is rapidly replaced with a
new scenario, building up to an interesting climax.

All in all, ideal for a real quick read, eg in a journey or over a weekend.

Rating:
Summary: Speed is the key
Review: This is hands down the fastest MacLean i've ever read, and i've read
quite a few. There's no slackening of the pace anywhere - it's relentless.
You just keep turning the pages, and before you know, you've run out
of pages to turn !!

The plot is fairly unpredictable, just full of twists and turns that
keep one guessing, which is half the fun in such books. To begin with,
the chief protagonist is on the run, having escaped from the law, and
takes a young woman as hostage. All that, however changes pretty soon,
as each succeeding set of circumstances is rapidly replaced with a
new scenario, building up to an interesting climax.

All in all, ideal for a real quick read, eg in a journey or over a weekend.