When Eight Bells Toll

A beautifully written and exciting thriller of action above - and below - the sea.

fantastic book from the acclaimed master of suspense

Gripping till the end

GOOD

I was a bit late in reading this book after purchase, thinking amazon would be good at least for books, but alternate pages from page 91 to 117 are blank. This spoils the whole story

Good read

A clever thriller featuring villains with a very clever plan (one of MacLean's best IMO - I think it's a fantastic concept). There's quite a good sense of place - the West Coast of Scotland is not where you'd expect to set an action thriller. I liked the characters, although I didn't feel the villains were particularly well-developed.It was made as a movie in the early 1970s with Anthony Hopkins as the hero. To be honest, I think the film tells the story better, especially in the final quarter. There's an underwater fight that's much better realised and frankly more dramatic on screen than in the book. And the final climatic sequence is definitely better on screen, as far as I'm concerned.Worth reading for the villain's ingenious plan - but check out the film as well.

This is my 6th Alistair MacLean novel and one that I'd been looking forward to for sometime. It's fairly short and concise but very enjoyable, I do like MacLeans protagonists and this story is no different.Calvert is a likeable, roguish character and his interaction with his superior whom he refers to as Uncle Arthur is charming and endearing.Highly recommended.The service from Brit_Books was very good, I received a copy printed in the 1980s, which had that compact old school, paperback feel, which I like.

The master story teller Alistair Maclean has you freezing in the icy waters of Loch Huron and cheering for Philip Calvert, the main character, to get his man and win the girl. Such is the power of Maclean’s writing taking you along for the ride with beautifully drawn characters and description you can’t fail to love

I love the story and have read the paper edition numerous times (film is rubbish) but just re read it on Kindle and it is absolutely FULL of typo's and layout problems. This is NOT acceptable! I have reported typo's and yet no seen an email or anything from Amazon/Kindle to acknowledge this. It is a travesty that one of the best British authors should be treated so shabbily in digital form. Buy the book and not the kindle version in its present form.

A favourite book 50 years ago, but sadly it is now very dated.