Customer Reviews

The Secret Ways

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"The Secret Ways" is Alistair Maclean's well-written novel about a British secret agent on a mission inside Hungary at the height of the Cold War. Many readers have forgotten how hard-fought the Cold War was for the United States and its Western Allies; very few ever knew how much more desperate it was for the inhabitants of countries under the thumb of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe in the late 1950's.

Michael Reynolds, Maclean's protagonist, is no superman. He doesn't have any fancy technology but he is well-trained and resourceful. His biggest advantages against a cruel and efficient Hungarian Secret Service are an ability to make commonsense decisions and the heroic help of dedicated friends in the Hungarian underground. The plot has the twists, turns, and betrayals in which Maclean specialized. Maclean's characters are often cynical and without illusion about the causes they serve, yet they are sympathetic and interesting people. The suspense is good to the very last page as Reynolds scrambles to complete his mission and escape to the West.

This book is highly recommended to fans of Cold War spy fiction and to fans of Alistair Maclean.

Maclean knows how to write a story. He takes you along, fast, with a man deep in enemy space, on a vital mission at long odds: yet you can tell right away that this is the kind of man you'd want by your side in such circumstances. When the page-turner is done, you feel priviledged to have been there: you've been given a portrait of heroism: maybe even one of manhood

A typical MacLean novel with a typical invincible hero who seems to make a mistake at every move, but is saved time and again by his friends. I found the book being slightly boring until I was two thirds through it, then the action picked up rapidly and didn't stop until the very end - a very typical MacLean end with the hero and the beautiful lady happy and safe. The book is a great read, if only for the way he shows the life in a Communist country and for the highly pacifistic views expressed by one of the main characters

Alistair MacLean combines psychology, action, history, sociology, and intrigue into a wonderful spy story. The hero potrtays a tried and true James Bond without the condescending attitude. There's none better.

Quite simply, I think this is one of the best novels of Cold War espionage ever written.

It has vivid writing, well-drawn characters, and some sardonic commentary on the insanity of the Cold War itself.

Highly recommended.

not read this yet ... but am sure this will be a great read ... like all his books!!! ............DR J