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From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic Millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated in the Irish Sea. Investigations by the British Secret Service, and a sixth sense, have bought Philip Calvert to a bleak, lonely bay in the Western Highlands. But the sleepy atmosphere of Torbay is deceptive. The place is the focal point of many mysterious disappearances. Even the unimaginative Highland Police Sergeant seems to be acting a part. But why? This story is Alistair MacLean at his enthralling best. It has all the edge-of-the-seat suspense, and dry humour that millions of readers have devoured for years.… (altro)
When you fondly remember a book for years, you can be assured it was good. A classic and highly recommended.
FROM AMAZON: Millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated in the Irish Sea--and investigations by the British Secret Service, and a sixth sense, have brought Philip Calvert to a bleak, lonely bay in the Western Highlands. But the sleepy atmosphere of Torbay is deceptive: many mysterious disappearances have occurred there, and even the unimaginative Highland Police Sergeant seems to be involved. But why? This high-stakes heist story shows Alistair Maclean at his enthralling best, with all the edge-of-the-seat suspense and dry humor that millions of readers have devoured for years. ( )
"When Eight Bells Toll" is a spy novel. It is characteristic of that genre written in the 50's. If you replaced the main character Calvert with James Bond, you would get a similar take on the book. It involves piracy on the coast of Scotland with the Secret Service to the rescue. The first part reminds me of the opening of a Bond film, instant excitement before the credits start rolling. Although the action was fairly fast paced, I was not too excited about the ending. The explanation for the sequences of events was long drawn out and tiring. Four stars for me. ( )
Philip Calvert and his fellow agent Hunslett are on a case in the Western Highlands of Scotland—ships with valuable cargo keep disappearing, and modern-day pirates are suspected. Over a highly eventful 72 hours, he will risk his life and those of others to uncover the plot and figure out who he can trust and who is in the conspiracy.
Calvert is a down-to-earth, downtrodden sort of bloke, a civil-servant spy with dry humour and a realistic view of his profession. His narration made the book work well. I loved the setting, too, and the story was certainly a thumping good read. I could have asked for less patronizing attitudes toward the main female character in the book, and it got a bit “detective-story-style summarizing how the criminals did it” at the end, but overall this is a good thriller if you’ve enjoyed previous works by MacLean. ( )
This is my favorite of all of MacLean's thrillers, and not just because it is set in my native Scotland.
MacLean's books often rely of a big twist near the end. In many of the lesser books, Bear Island for example, you can see it coming from far away. But in WEBT, he keeps things taut, and the action moves so fast and furiously it doesn't give you time to think.
The other great thing about this one is the beginning. It starts right in with a great suspense scene, and just ranks up the tension from there. ( )
Enjoyed this adventure quite a bit. Of course, I had to guess where it was taking place, and eventually figured it out.....but MacLean has a way of creating a main character that you feel you know very well by the end, and more importantly, you really like him. Calvert does not take himself too seriously, unless his survival demands it. There are many things that luckily go his way, but then again, there are many that do not! The British take their crime fighting very seriously, and one wonders whether one guy should have to battle a dangerous gang of gold thieves single-handedly. Certainly not the greatest espionage book ever, but i could not put it down near the end.....a very good endorsement for me. Oh, and one more thing.....can someone tell me what the title means??? If i am not mistaken, there was not a single reference to 'When Eight Bells Toll' in the book.....so why???? ( )
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to Paul and Xenia
Incipit
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The Peacemaker Colt has now been in production, without change in design, for a century.
Citazioni
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I’ve never paddled along the nighttime Orinoco in a dugout canoe and had a thirty-foot anaconda drop from a tree, wrap a coil around my neck and start constricting me to death and what’s more I don’t have to go there now to describe the experience for I know exactly what it feels like. The sheer animal power, the feral ferocity of the pair of huge hands that closed round my neck from behind was terrifying, something I’d never known of, never dreamed of. After the first moment of blind panic and shocked paralysis, there was only one thought in my mind: it comes to us all and now it has come to me, someone who is cleverer and stronger and more ruthless than I am. I lashed back with all the power of my right foot but the man behind me knew every rule in the book. His own right foot, travelling with even more speed and power that mine, smashed into the back of my swinging leg. It wasn’t a mane behind me, it was a centaur and he was shod with the biggest set of horseshoes I’d ever come across. My leg didn’t feel as if it had been broken, it felt as if it had been cut in half. I felt his left toe behind my left foot and stamped on it with every vicious ounce of power left in me by when my foot came down his toe wasn’t there anymore. All I had on my feet was a pair of thin rubber swimming moccasins and the agonizing jar from the steel deck plates shot clear into the top of my head. I reached up my hands to break his little fingers but he knew all about that too for his fingers were clenched into iron-hard balls with the second knuckle grinding into the carotid artery. I wasn’t the first man he’d strangled and unless I did something pretty quickly I wasn’t going to be the last either. In my ears I could hear the hiss of compressed air escaping under high pressure and behind my eyes the shooting lines and flashes of color were deepening and brightening by the moment. What saved me in those first few second were the folded hood and the thick rubberized canvas neck ruff of the scuba suit I was wearing under my coat. But it wasn’t going to save me many seconds longer, the life’s ambition of the character behind me seemed to be to make his knuckles meet in the middle of my neck. With the progress he was making that wouldn’t take him too long, he was halfway there already.
Ultime parole
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I hoped to God old Donald MacEachern had remembered to change his shirt.
From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic Millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated in the Irish Sea. Investigations by the British Secret Service, and a sixth sense, have bought Philip Calvert to a bleak, lonely bay in the Western Highlands. But the sleepy atmosphere of Torbay is deceptive. The place is the focal point of many mysterious disappearances. Even the unimaginative Highland Police Sergeant seems to be acting a part. But why? This story is Alistair MacLean at his enthralling best. It has all the edge-of-the-seat suspense, and dry humour that millions of readers have devoured for years.
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FROM AMAZON: Millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated in the Irish Sea--and investigations by the British Secret Service, and a sixth sense, have brought Philip Calvert to a bleak, lonely bay in the Western Highlands. But the sleepy atmosphere of Torbay is deceptive: many mysterious disappearances have occurred there, and even the unimaginative Highland Police Sergeant seems to be involved. But why?
This high-stakes heist story shows Alistair Maclean at his enthralling best, with all the edge-of-the-seat suspense and dry humor that millions of readers have devoured for years. (