Seawitch [Hardcover]

Alistair MacLean (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1978

The massive oil-rig is the hub of a great empire, the pride of its billionaire owner. Lord Worth, predatory and ruthless, has clawed his way to great wealth. Now, he cares for only two things - Seawitch and his two high-spirited daughters. One man knows this: John Cronkite, trouble-shooter for the world's top oilmen and Worth's ex-victim, is spoiling for revenge. In one terrifying week, Worth's world explodes.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Told with all MacLean's famous gusto' Evening News 'MacLean has gone back to sea - good news for anyone who likes a rip-roaring story' Evening Standard 'A magnificent storyteller' Sunday Mirror 'The most successful British novelist of his time' Jack Higgins --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alistair MacLean, the son of a Scots minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a schoolmaster. The two and a half years he spent aboard a wartime cruiser were to give him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: G. K. Hall; First edition. edition (1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816165386
• ISBN-13: 978-0816165384
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,801,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good enough to get you hooked on MacLean, but not his best, December 23, 2002

By 

Tung Yin (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seawitch (Hardcover)

"Seawitch" was the first Alistair MacLean book that I ever read, and it was good enough to get me hooked on him. To my delight, I discovered that most of his earlier books were even better.

The plot of "Seawitch" is a little less convoluted than typical MacLean: Lord Worth, fabulously wealthy and quite ruthless, has made a lot of enemies in the oil business because of his cutthroat attitude. His drill rig, named Seawitch, will put the final nail in the coffin of his competitors, as it will allow him to drill at will in the ocean. His competitors decide that while they hate one another, they all hate Lord Worth even more. So they hire a ruthless "troubleshooter" to fix their problem. They don't need to know how, don't even want to know how, they just want it done.

Fortunately for Lord Worth, his two daughters (one blonde, one brunette) are in love and loved by two former police detectives/now private investigators. These two guys are your usual MacLean heroes: tough, resourceful, insubordinate (which is why they are ex-police detectives), hopelessly upright. From there, it's a cat and mouse game between the two sides to see if Seawitch gets destroyed. There's a lot of sneaking around, some violence, and a satisfying climax.

Still, by 1977, when he wrote "Seawitch," MacLean was starting to lose his talent, and after this, his books range from mediocre ("Athabasca") to dreadful ("River of Death", "Partisans"). You would do yourself a favor to go back to read books MacLean wrote between 1959 and 1971, when he kicked out an amazing string of mostly Cold War thrillers, the best of which are "Ice Station Zebra," "The Golden Rendezvous," "The Black Shrike," "The Satan Bug," "Bear Island," "Puppet on a Chain," "Where Eagles Dare," and "Night Without End." Those books -- many of which were made into movies -- are tight, tension-filled, unpredictable reads.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily one of his most-readable!, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Seawitch (Hardcover)

This book is about oil rigs and one man, Lord Worth, who owns one of the biggest, the Seawitch. To destroy it and therefore be able to inflate the price of oil, the competitors get together and send one man to deal with Lord Worth. He, unfortunately (for him, that is), has a personal score to settle with Worth and sets about kidnapping his daughters. Enter our heroes, Mitchell and Roomer, former cops and betrothed of the girls. They set about foiling the villain's plans and try and save Worth and his daughters from certain death. Why, you ask? Oh, I must have forgotten to mention that the Villain robbed a nuclear weapons armory, and that he intends to leave Worth and all his people on the rig when he destroys it with the nuclear weapon! A first-class book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not your typical MacLean story, unfortunately., April 26, 2006

By 

Mammoth Films "magellan333" (Chattanooga, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seawitch (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read Night Without End, Ice Station Zebra and Bear Island, Alistair MacLean seems to have tried something new with Seawitch. Unfortunately it doesn't work out. This book breaks from his usual mystery/action/drama formula. There is no "traitor amongst them" story, no mystery and dull action. The characters have no depth. Two fired cops, a billionaire with his two daugthers and a disgruntled oil well fire-fighter. This doesn't make for a gripping story. It looks like Alistair MacLean had a bill due so he churned out this snoozer in a week's time. I really like Alistair MacLean (so far), but Seawitch lacks in so many ways.