Satan Bug [Hardcover]

Alistair MacLean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1972

Gripping and tense story of secret agents, even more secret government facilities, and a deadly virus, from the acclaimed master of action and suspense.HELL IS ABOUT TO BE UNLEASHED…Five strands of high-voltage wire, 200 yards of bare ground and double barbed wire fences patrolled by armed guards with dogs separated Mordon Research Centre from the outside world.Yet behind the locked doors of E block, a scientist lies dead, and a new toxin of terrifying power has vanished…

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Utterly compelling' Punch'Spine-chilling, throat-clutching' Books and Bookmen --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books (April 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568493053
• ISBN-13: 978-1568493053
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,757,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alistair MacLean's most exciting adventure story, July 3, 2000

By 

Duane Schermerhorn - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Satan Bug (G K Hall Audio Series) (Audio Cassette)

Alistair MacLean is one of the great adventure storywriters. His early books were solid stories, with enough serious content and character insights that they bordered on serious novels. Bordered, but never quite made it out of the adventure-story category. "H.M.S. Ulysses" and "The Guns of Navarone" are the two best examples of MacLean in "serious" mode.

These two stories are very good, and quite well told, but both suffer in different degrees from MacLean's unfortunate tendency to hyperbole: in the end the characters are too heroic, the situations too melodramatic, and the telling of the tale a bit too formulaic in its unfolding of carefully timed "surprises" and reversals of fortune.

MacLean achieves his greatest effects when he puts his protagonists into suicidally perilous situations, and when he describes the extremes of environmental conditions that push his protagonists close to physical, emotional, and psychological exhaustion. A raging sea, hurricane-strength winds, torrential rain, bone-chilling snow and cold - his writing is genuinely gripping when he describes such extreme conditions, and the toll they take on his protagonists.

Because of his fatal attraction to hyperbole, his stories are most effective when narrated from the first person, where the exaggerated descriptions and wry, self-deprecating humor can be read as peculiarities of the protagonist. (In this regard, he has something in common with Raymond Chandler and other writers of private detective stories.)

So, the general rule of thumb is that all of the first-person books are superior to the third-person books, and with a few exceptions, the third-person books aren't worth the time or effort it takes to read them. The only exceptions: "H.M.S. Ulysses", "The Guns of Nararone", and "Where Eagles Dare". The first two hold their own with his best books; "Where Eagles Dare" is certainly the best of the rest, but it doesn't amount to much more than a screenplay with some perfunctory narrative added to "novelize" it.

"The Satan Bug" is a first-rate adventure story, as tense and exciting as any book in the genre, and is my personal favorite among his books. MacLean puts the story into high gear in the opening paragraphs, and keeps the pedal to the floor the rest of the way. There is outstanding detective work done by the protagonist, Pierre Cavell, and MacLean plays fair with the reader through each step of deduction, presenting the clues honestly, so that we can match wits with Cavell. The action is plausible, and non-stop, the tension builds with each revelation about the crime and the perpetrator's motive, and to top it off there is the best cliff-hanging chapter-end that you're ever likely to come across.

Someone has broken into England's top-secret biological research lab, and made off with a number of vials of deadly germs, including the most lethal of biological weapons, the Satan Bug. Our narrator, Pierre Cavell, former head of security at the lab, is the prime suspect until he clears himself, at which point he takes over the investigation into the break-in. Unlike the MacLean of the later books, the author here does not lecture us on the obvious moral implications of bacterial research. Although this is a serious subject, there is no seriousness to the book: the biological warfare angle is strictly an event to prop up an exciting, and excitingly told, story.

MacLean pushes Cavell to the extremes of physical and psychological endurance, forcing him to rise against all odds to the heights of heroic action. The story is very fast-paced and the writing crisp and witty - genuinely funny in some of the wry descriptions and self-deprecating asides. This MacLean book is top-notch in every regard, and a must-read for any fan of the genre.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate bio-weapon nightmare, February 5, 2006

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Satan Bug (Paperback)

Alistair Maclean's "The Satan Bug" is a first rate page-turning thriller about bio-weapons that holds up very well in spite of a 1962 publication date.

Pierre Cavell, private detective and late head of security for Britain's Mordon Bio-weapon laboratory, is called back to public service to investigate the murder of the head of the laboratory. Cavell quickly discovers that an incredibly virulent virus code-named the Satan Bug has been stolen. His investigation determines that the theft was an inside job by a ruthless criminal ready to run insane risks for his goals. Cavell and the police must quickly find this man and the hostages he takes before he can escape or use the deadly virus. The chase takes Cavell and his police allies to London for a final showdown with the master criminal and his gang, where the stakes may include the destruction of the City of London.

"The Satan Bug" features the twisting plot, excellent and sometime ironic dialogue, and nail-biting finale typically found in Maclean's novels. Fans of Alstair Maclean will not be disappointed.

This book is highly recommended to the reader looking for a good adventure story with a timely topic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best read in quite a while, July 14, 2010

By 

Bluewater cruiser (san diego, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Satan Bug (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was written in 1962, but it comes thru the 48 years of techno changes with flying colors. I've read a few others of his - mostly thought they were mediocre to medium - turns out like a lot of other authors, their earlier works are their best. Guns of Navarone was #2, this is #9.