Where Eagles Dare (Adrenaline Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The vibrating clangour from the four great piston engines set teeth on edge and made an intolerable assault on cringing eardrums..." (more)
Key Phrases: Schloss Adler, Where Eagles, Colonel Kramer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Forbidding peaks, resourceful commandos, beautiful spies, nonstop action, and neck-snapping plot twists make this the classic adventure thriller—the kind of page-turner that readers actually will find impossible to put down. A team of British Special Forces commandos parachutes into the high peaks of the Austrian Alps with the mission of stealing into an invulnerable alpine castle—accessible only by aerial gondola—the headquarters of Nazi intelligence. Supposedly sent in to rescue one of their own, their real mission turns out to be a lot more complicated—and the tension climbs as team members start to die off, one by one. Written by Alistair Maclean, author of the Guns of Navarone, this is the novel that set the pace for the modern action thriller (the film version, with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, also helped), and it still packs twice the punch of most contemporary best-selling thrillers. What’s more, the cast of spooks, turncoats, and commandos who drive this story are more relevant than ever in our new era of special forces, black ops, and unpredictable alliances.

From the Inside Flap

Eight Allied agents -- seven men and a woman -- parachute onto a mountainside behind enemy lines in wartime Germany. Their mission: to rescue an American general before the Nazis can force him to reveal secret D-Day plans. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560254556
• ISBN-13: 978-1560254553
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,349 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite MacLean's still a page turner, November 9, 2004

By	Darren Harrison "DVD collector and reviewer" (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Growing up in the UK my reading material was an eclectic mixture of Enid Blyton children's adventure novels, Ian Fleming and John Gardner espionage tales and Alistair MacLean wartime escapades. It was in this environment that my love for well crafted tales of suspense, adventure and espionage was fostered and nowhere is this more apparent than in the MacLean thriller WHERE EAGLES DARE.
Second among my favorite MacLean works (my all-time favorite being WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL) the storyline for WHERE EAGLES DARE was faithfully recreated for the 1960s movie with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood (not surprising really since MacLean adapted his own novel for the screen).
A group of British Commando's along with an American Ranger parachute behind the German lines in World War 2. Their stated mission: the rescue of an American General who has been captured by the Nazi's and taken to a mountaintop fortress.
Of course like many I had seen the movie several times before finally settling down to read the book, but settle down I did and what a ride MacLean treated us to. The action is well described with white-knuckle realism and MacLean's complex and intricate plotting is both well structured and compelling. For those unfamiliar with either the book or the novel there is also a nice twist that to this day has me marveling at its pure ingenuity.
Okay so the dialogue may not be the best, but I for one do not read MacLean novels for their dialogue.
For adventure novels, MacLean is the master as much as Agatha Christie is the Queen of the whodunnit. I wish that the entire series of novels would be reprinted for a new generation to enjoy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MacLean's finest suspense work, February 6, 2003

By	S. A. Keister (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read all of MacLean's books when I was a kid, and although Where Eagles Dare is not his best, it is easily his most exciting. I remember being up at 4 a.m., unable to stop reading.

Unusually, this is MacLean's only book in which he wrote a screenplay first, then based the novel on his script (that's why the film seems such a faithful adaptation). As a result, the book is shorter and leaner then many of his novels, and it definitely works for the story. The suspense never stops building, the action sequences - especially atop the cable car - are some of the best he's ever written, and the characters have a very entertaining repartee between them, particularly Smith and Shaffer. Where Eagles Dare also features some of MacLean's sexiest female heroes, not always present in his books.

The Guns of Navarone had a greater scope and deeper character development, H.M.S. Ulysses was harrowing, gritty and deeply humanistic, Ice Station Zebra had a plot with more twists and double-crosses, but Where Eagles Dare was MacLean's all-time action/suspense fest.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High Adventure in the Bavarian Alps, January 31, 2006

By	D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Where Eagles Dare" may be author Alistair Maclean's best known novel, thanks to the exciting movie version starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. The novel, in this case, is even better than the movie.

Eight Allied agents parachute into the snowy Bavarian Alps deep inside Nazi Germany. Their hastily-organized mission is to rescue a captured American general from a practically inaccessible castle before he can be tortured into revealing the plans for the D-Day invasion. Their nearly suicidal mission is made infinitely more complicated by the quick discovery that someone on the team is a traitor.

What follows is a succession of hair-raising, white knuckle adventures as the team struggles to enter the castle, rescue the general, identify the traitor or traitors, and escape Germany. "Where Eagles Dare" is Maclean in his prime, providing a challenging and suspenseful plot whose last twists come in the very last scene. The dialogue is brisk, sardonic, and occasionally humorous. The team leader, Major Smith, and his deputy, Lieutenant Schaffer are the archtypal buddy team, easily outdoing their counterparts in the movie.

This novel lacks some of the emotional punch found in Maclean's earlier novels such as "The Guns of Navarone" but excels in MacLean's clear mastery of his craft as a entertaining story-teller. The descriptions of Bavaria add the necessary sense of place to each scene, well-supported by a tautly drawn supporting cast of characters.

This book is highly recommended to fans of Alistair Maclean and to those looking for a very enjoyable reading experience.