Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987. The title of the book is derived from Shakespeare, where Macbeth laments the death of his wife.
Johnny Harlowe, a formula one race car driver is part of a violent accident. The flaming wreck maims his girl friend, Mary Macalpine and his friend and navigator, Issac Jathou. This accident makes Harlowe an emotional wreck and he drowns his sorrow in the bottle. But a lot of accidents happen in the racing circuit and the regularity arouses the suspicions in Harlowe. He undertakes an investigations on his own. But soon he realizes that many people he had trusted especially in the racing field colleagues are not to be trusted. He finds unlikely allies in a journalist and a teenage kid.

Harlowe’s adventure takes him across the racing car track and pushed him to the edge of him stamina. But he is shrewd and calculative and uses his alcoholism and depression as a mask to cover his real intentions. People do not take him seriously and this gives him a free rein ]in his investigations and unmask the villain.
This is a very simple and light read from MacLean, about 200 pages and may take just over a couple of hours. There are no subplots or reminisces which confuse the reader. This is fairly a single minded investigation till the end. Do not expect a superman with fancy gadget and stupendous power. Johnny Harlowe is a regular guy who works his way through the maze with a flash light and a rope.
MacLean has given a female lead called Mary again who is a pretty wooden character. She is told to be the girl friend but not much of the relationship angle is explored for the reader. Again do not expect romance, sex or even emotions. She is just a girl whom he is with, even ]the reason for his attraction maybe is the fact that she is a multimillionaire’s daughter!!!!!
What you get in this book is the details of Formula one car racing details. The car races are well described and the rules are presented well. But for this decade the rules sound outdated but the formula one races of the 70′s are well described. Again a little light book and good for a MacLean introduction. Old hands of MacLean ]books should not have any preconceived notions and comparison with HMS Ulysses or Guns of Navarone.
The Way to Dusty Death appeared as a TV movie, starring Simon MacCorkindale as Harlow, and Linda Hamilton as romantic interest Beth Macalpine.

This movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford was one of the biggest hits of the year. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and was highly influenced by Hitchcockian movies.
The movie starts with the troubles of Claire and Norman a well-to- do couple who move to Vermont. After her daughters departure for college Claire who suffers from memory lapses start feeling uneasy at their home. She spies one of their neighbors Warren dragging a heavy body bag and concludes that he has murdered his wife Mary. Claire confronts and accuses Warren of murder and is in turn proved false when Mary is found alive in the house. Norman, Claire’s husband, a distinguished professor thinks that Claire is going senile.
Unconvinced Claire conducts a séance to channel the spirit with her friend. Soon mysterious things starts happening in her house, like things falling down, the doors slamming etc. Claire finds a missing report of Madison Frank behind one of the picture frames. She visits Madison’s mother and finds out that Madison was Norman’s student int the university. She comes back with a lock of Madison’s hair and performs a ritual to allow the spirit to possess her. A possessed Claire seduces Norman and during the act he sees the change in her appearance. A scared Norman pushes Claire which makes her loose contact with the spirit. Slowly Claire’s memory returns and she remembers her husband’s affair with Madison.

Norman confesses of the affair; telling Claire that he told Madison her that he loved Claire very much and could not leave her for Madison. This forced the unstable Madison to commit suicide. Norman says that he had seen her corpse with a letter written to Claire which was burnt by him. He also acknowledges of pushing the body in to the lake to make it disappear. Claire asks him to confess everything to the authorities. Norman pretends to do so and is found out.
To get rid of Claire Norman gags and places her in the tub and fill sit up with water to facilitate her drowning. He leans forward to give her a kiss that Claire’s face morphs in to Madison’s corpse like face. A scared Norman hits his head on the mirror and is rendered unconscious. Claire escapes in her car to reach the authorities. Norman follows her and forces her car in to the lake where he had pushed Madison’s body.
As they struggle to get out of the lake Norman Grabs Claire’s legs to prevent her from escaping. But Madison’s ghost appear to drag Norman down allowing Claire to surface. She escapes and Norman is drowned to pay for his sins. Claire pays her respects at Madison’s grave and leaves for a new life.
This movie is so highly influenced by Hitchcock’s dramatization that the critics have drawn several parallels to Hitchcock’s various movies. This film was the first film for Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a pair. Harrison Ford has gone on record saying that Michelle Pfeiffer’s presence was the motivating factor for his signing the film. The movie went on to become the block buster of 2000. A good spooky horror movie for all.

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Puppet on a Chain is Alistair MacLean’s detective thriller set in the Netherlands. This book describes the underbelly of the city where drugs and devastation rule. The protagonist is Paul Sharman who is an ex army officer now head of the interpol Narcotics bureau and is based in London. He comes to the Netherlands to investigate a series of disappearances and drug offenses. The drug king pin rules the narcotic ring covering the entire continent. They use a wide range of torturous tactics to keep their hold on the empire. The title of the story gives away the method of torture applied by these drug lords to shut off dissidence.

As soon as he lands in Amsterdams Schipol Airport, he is ambushed and knocked down injuring his solar plexus. His only contact in Netherlands is shot down before his own eyes. The police seem very reluctant to pursue the assailants, but try to fix charges against him. Paul Sharman with him dry and sarcastic humor however decides to go ahead with the investigations. He is aided by two female operatives. One of them is an experienced agent and the other is a rookie. MacLean describes them as breathtakingly beautiful and I find this very uncharacteristic of him. His careless banter with these female operatives add zing to the proceedings.
Soon Sharman realizes that his presence is not desired in Holland and many times he is followed and ambushed. He is beaten and left to die and it is a wonder for many a reader how he escapes. Sometimes it almost borders on absurd, but he is the hero and the story must go on. So the nine lives that Sharman seems to leads saves him time and time again, and he follows his follower who lead him to a ware house which is filled with rubber toys and neatly stacked books. The books are called the Gabriel Bible and are scooped up from inside. Thee inscription outside the book reads “With the Compliments of the First Reformed Church of the American Huguenot Society”. This sets his thinking process along the methodology adopted by the smugglers to smuggle drugs across the border.
The high adrenaline chase is full of boat chases and murders across Amsterdam. Sharman is a no nonsense thug who does not feel any qualms of bumping anybody. Soon he is fighting the war in the Netherlands and must save him and his associate. So who wins this cat and mouse game? No answerer’s for guessing that! but there are many surprises while on the way. A great book for thrill seekers.

A thriller directed by Peter Weir starring Harrison Ford, Kelly Macgillis and Lukas Haas, it was released in 1985 to critical and box office acclaim.
The plot involves a young Amish widow Rachel Lapp who is taking her son Samuel for a trip to Baltimore to see the outside world. Samuel in the rest room witness a murder of a police officer Zenovich. Samuel sees only one of the murderers who happens to be a tall black man. Rachel and Samuel are taken by the police as witnesses and are introduced to captain John Book and Sergeant Carter. Samuel as the principal witness has to identify the killer and fails to find the right man in the police line-up. As he saunters around in the police head quarters he sees a newspaper clipping of a police officer Mcfee and recognizes him as the killer.
Book reports this development to his superior, Captain Paul Schaffer and is asked to investigate further. He informs Book, that Mcfee had raided a drug hideout and did not report his findings. Zenovich was killed for investigating Mcfee’s drug offenses. Schaffer advices Book to keep the report a secret, till they can find some clinching evidence.

Book escorts Rachel and Samuel to a safe hotel where they are ambushed by Mcfee. Book shoots Mcfee and realizes that Schaffer would be the traitor. Book seriously wounded decides to go in to hiding with the Lapps. He calls up Carter and asks him to remove all the files relating to the Lapp’s and his investigations. Book informs Rachel about the situation and escorts them to their home in Lancaster city.
A severely wounded Book, tries to leave the Amish colony after he ha safely escorted the Lapps. But he faints having lost a lot of blood and Rachel’s father in-law reluctantly agrees to keep him there. As he recovers he helps Eli, Rachel’s father-in-law around the house doing small carpentry and other odd jobs. He finds it difficult to adjust to the Amish way of life, but soon it grows on him. He takes Samuel under his wing and bond starts to develop between them.
Various culture clashes happens as Book adjusts himself to the Amish way. He is forced to surrender his fire arm as the Amish believe in non violence. He does the community jobs like building towers for residents and Samuel helps him to work the machines like a silo. Book enjoys his life with the Amish and also develops a soft corner for Rachel. He also fights others who mock the Amish. Rachel and Book are attracted to each other to the discomfiture of her suiter Hockleitner. Eli and other residents also disapprove of this alliance.
Book in the mean time telephones Carter for information and the villains kill him. Realizing that the game has gone too far, he calls up Schaffer and challenges him. Soon Schaffer and Co reach Lancaster and both Mcfee and Fergie are killed. Schaffer holds Rachel hostage, but the arrival of all residents, make him realize that his game is up. Book arrests and hands him to the Sheriff. But he also comes to the understanding that he cannot be part of the Amish for ever, and returns to the world with his love for Rachel.
Witness was a box office winner and was also nominated for 8 academy awards wining two for the best screen play and editing. It was also a toast at the BAFTA Awards. A good simple movie.