Irving Wallace was born in Chicago, to Jewish parents,Bessie and Alexander Wallace, who had Emigrated from Russia. He completed his studies in California and started out as a journalist at a tender age of 15. He studied creative writing at the Williams Institute in Berkley and from the mid-30s he worked as a free-lance correspondent. In 1941 he married Sylvia Kahn; they had two children. Irving Wallace served in the air force during world war two and later collaborated in several movies as a writer. His first book “Sins of Peter Fleming” did not attract much attention. But his second book influenced by the Kinsey report was abest seller. He has been a prolific churner of best sellers and his books have been adapted as major movies. He died on June 29, 1990.
The Seventh Secret is a book on the Nazi past and present with a question mark over the death of Hitler. A well written action thriller, it presents the scenario where Hitler is alive and still heading the SS. Dr. Harrison Ashcroft, a well known historian travels to Germany to excavate the bunker where Hitler has committed suicide. He gets a phone call which informs him that Hitler is alive and well in Germany waiting for the winds to change. But he is killed before he can complete his work. His daughter Emily Ashcroft travels to Germany determined to complete her fathers assignment. She is joined by Rex Foster a dashing Architect, Tovah Levine, a beautiful Mossad agent and Nicholas Kirvov, curator of the Hermitage of Leningrad.

Emily is dogged by unknown assassins as soon as she lands up in Germany and is gallantly saved by Rex Foster. Here Wallace deviates from the plot with the attraction subplot between Emily and Rex. This sexed up encounter take the sheen out of the story. Emily soon in search for clues meets up with Hitler’s dentist who gives her information about a lucky charm worn by Hitler and his latest dental caps which not found by the Russians. Soon with the help of Levine, Kirvov and Foster she comes to the conclusion that Hitler had survived the War and used the death of his double to blind fold the world.
Soon the plot unravels with the disappearance of Emily who seems to have been kidnapped. Foster looking for clues in the sixth bunker comes across a thin crack which on further investigation reveals to be the opening to the seventh bunker. There he finds Emily who informs him that it leads to a cafe run by Evelyn Hoffman. Foster drugs Evelyn who spills the truth that she in fact is Eva Brown, the wife of the German despot. Hitler did survive the war and was waiting for the opportune moment to assume power and unite Germany. He died on the same year as JFK and Evelyn has assumed the command of the Nazi’s. The story further throws in astonishing details of Hitler’s child who leads a peaceful life. Well all this digging for truth is useless because, the entire bunker detonates and Eva and her child escape. So with the proof gone Emily and Rex have only each other to cling to.
The story is loosely written with lot of loopholes fort the reader to latch on. The premise is good but the details are jarring. It is difficult to accept that the proof uncovered by the protagonists are not found by the leading investigative agencies. But still worth your free time if you have a lots of it.

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.
Athabasca published in 1980 is a action thriller which happens in the Arctic oil refinery. In many ways it is similar to night with out an End, with murder, sabotage and rescue undertaken by tough men in an unforgiving terrain and environment.
The operation manager of an oil company operating in Prudhoe Bay Alaska gets a ransom note to pay a billion dollars to avoid any damage to the installation. The criminal threatens to blast the oil pipelines in Alaska and another one in Canada, thus plunging the world in to a crisis.

So the company directors bring in Jim Brady Enterprises who are specialist in oil field operations. They also double as anti- sabotage experts. Dermot and Mackenzie, the best in the field arrive at Alaska to foil the criminal designs of the saboteur. But their investigations lead them haywire and the unthinkable happens. The operations manager is murdered and one of the petrol pumps in the Trans-Alaskan pipeline is damaged. So they call their boss, Jim Brady to help them with the investigations, but to no avail. The body count keeps on increasing and the criminals keep striking at will.
In these difficult times humor is something which keeps the whole action going. The investigators engage in friendly banter and keep swigging spirits. MacLean is said to have written this book during his whiskey dependent days and it sure shows. Dermot is severely injured and a lot of twists in the plot happen. In the end the criminals who include Bronwski and co are arrested and the king pin Reynolds who was using them as a cover is unmasked in a public meeting. All is well with the bashful Jim Brady and his motley group of investigators. Dermot finds love and escorts her home while Jim Brady again calls another round of drinks.
This is not one of McLean’s well known effort and in fact it has been pilloried by all sections of readers. The action and the suspense which sustains in his earlier book is missing. Dermot and Mackenzie are pretty laid back in their investigations and loose their grip on the proceedings. The wry humor exhibited by many MacLean leading men is also missing. MacLean is famous for compressing his action in few pages that the readers are at the edge of the suspense. He usually writes the plot in a taut and water tight manner that the reader never puts the book down. But in Athabasca the plot meanders a lot and the reason for the sabotage itself becomes clearer after 60 odd pages. If you are a first time reader, MacLean has written wonderful tales, so try it after this.

This is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow. It was directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Harrison Ford, John Spencer, Brian Dennehy, Raul Juliá, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield and Greta Scacchi.
The lead character is Rozat “Rusty” Sabich who is a prosecutor of Kindle county and the right hand man of the chief prosecutor Raymond Horgan. He is shocked by the murder of his ex-mistress Carolyn Polhemus and is put in charge of the investigation by Horgan. Polhemus had dumped Sabich after learning about his friend ship with Horgan and his lack of ambition. Sabich had since made up with his wife Barbara but could not erase Polhemus from his mind. The head of homicide Tommy Molto has left to assist Nico Della Guardia in his election campaign. Both Molto and Della Guardia are enemies of Sabich.
As the investigation progresses incriminating evidence come up against Sabich. This included Beer glasses with his finger prints, Carpet threads from his home and sperm recovered from the body of Polhemus are incriminating evidences. These proofs even turns Horgan against Sabich and he feels that Sabich had taken charge to in the case to cover up the investigation trail against him. Sabich is truly trapped and calls his friend Lipranzer to narrow the investigation to keep his affair with Polhemus away from the case. But more bad news arrive with Della Guardia’s victory. Both Guardia and Molto aggressively pursue the evidence and try to frame Sabich.

In his desperation Sabich enlists the help of his rival attorney Stern to help him. Stern soon starts chipping at the evidence. He notices that the beer glass has been missing as evidence and persuades the Judge Lyttle to keep this from the Jury. Lipranzer also find evidence that Polhemus was acting as a courier for an high official in a bribery scandal. The high official turns to be Judge Lyttle. The missing beer glass and other evidences make the defense arguments weak and Lyttle fairly dismisses the case against Sabich. Stern tells Sabich about the bribery scandal and tells him that Lyttle is essentially a good judge and deserves a chance.
Sabich is highly bitter as he feels that the stain of murder is not completely not washed from his head. But in an unusual twist while gardening he comes across vials of Blood and Polhemus’s hair. He confronts his wife Barbara with the evidence. Barbara confesses that she had fallen in to depression after his affair with Polhemus and had killed the mistress to avenge her shame. She had planted the beer glasses and the carpet threads to frame Sabich.
Sabich is stunned but cannot bring himself to to separate Barbara from their son and he tosses the evidence out. This movie did an average business at the box office. It won the Edgar Allan Poe award for best film and was favorite with the critics. A good movie if you are a action buff and are interested in court room intrigues.

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.
Breakheart Pass is a fast paced western by MacLean. Alistair Maclean departs from his usual world war two environments to reach the out backs of America. He creates a fast paced thriller involving the US Marshalls and the army. So there is nothing British about this story except for MacLean’s language.
The novel is set in the 1870′s in Nevada. A train starts its journey from Reese city to Fort Humbolt. The passengers include, the governor Fairchild and his niece Marica, the governors Aide, Reverend Peabody, Dr. Molyneux and an assortment of soldiers commanded by Colonel Claremont and US Marshall Pearce. Pearce is in charge of the prisoner John Deakin who is convicted of de-railing a train loaded with supplies for the army. So he is not a very popular man with the soldiers. Dr. Molyneux is a tropical diseases expert going to help with the cholera outbreak.

The passengers are going to fort Humbolt because of the cholera epidemic which has decimated the camp. They are going to relieve the men and provide medical supplies and food. Marshall Pearce is an honorable man who wrangles a ticket just to get to the fort to check on another outlaw.
As the trains chug along the mountainous ravines they encounter murders, a blizzard and villainous Indians. But MacLeans characters are not what they seem. As the novel picks up pace one by one the passengers start to get killed. They are discovered in boxes, among the coal, hanging outside and every gruesome positions. So who turns out to be the unlikely hero, but the outlaw Deakin. He starts investigating.
Soon as the corpses tumble out they realize that all is not well at the fort and cholera is not to be blamed. Deakin is not really a convict but a criminal investigator with the reverend being his boss. Deakin also has a soft corner for Marica, but in MacLean’s true style the romance is for names sake only. After reading MacLean I have come to the conclusion that the hero is a man named John and the love interest is always Marie. Is it coincidence or just plain fixation?
There are lot of twists in the plot and in the end the most honorable man turns out to be the despicable fiend and the least honorable the most respected. This book is adapted in to a movie starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Ben Johnson and others. The movie is much different form the book, but the pace is fine. So would like to pick up both for the weekend for time-pass.