Do You like book Puppet On A Chain (1971)?
Another I read because it's set in Amsterdam. Suspense is not my preferred genre - I'm not sure why, but I've never loved the genres of suspense or mystery. So I find it difficult to get into under the best of circumstances, and with this book, I felt only a mild sense of curiosity. When the whole thing was explained at the end, that was interesting in an intellectual way, but not exactly satisfying. On another note, this is possibly one of the most sexist novels I've ever read (at least in the top 10). The main character has two young, attractive female assistants, whom he continuously talks down to, treats as inferiors and generally denigrates their intelligence. Except for the end when suddenly he's in love with one of them and wants to marry her. Sigh. The novel is in first person, so it could just be that this particular character was meant to feel that way, but it certainly didn't help me feel for him. On the other hand, the book has its funny moments - the main character is always letting others take his gun from him (mostly because he screws up) and he can be endearingly forward about his faults, which include sometimes not being very good at his job. I probably won't be reading any more Alistair MacLean novels, although HMS Ulysses has been sitting on my shelves since college, and I have to admit I'm slightly more interested now, if only to see if it's any better.
—Anne Earney
There are other Maclean books I prefer but this is a little classic. A book is forever set in its time and setting these may change but fine writing endures. So here you do not have the gadgets of Bond or the ingenuity of Bourne but in Paul Sherman you have a determined investigator who remains credible in all his efforts, in an account that carries a threat and conveys a sense of danger still to a modern day reader. There is a menace in the pages that can disturb, a beautiful backdrop of Amsterdam and its environs set against a seedy and frightening world of corruption and greed. The pleasure some seem to take in destroying human life is a chilling sensation that remains with you long after you finish the book. Perhaps it is the violence within a tourist setting that unsettles still when we are now familiar with drug related incidents and its gun crime culture in our modern cities.
—Richard
