That title does my head in. This starts off well with a chat among men about sabotage on oil fields with some interesting research at how oil is made - and similar research is littered through the book. But I got the impression MacLean hired a researcher and cut and pasted it in.
I guess it is faced paced and there's plenty of action - the baddies kill people at regular intervals, the hero have a wife and daughter who are kidnapped, there is a traitor I couldn't pick.
But it's not very good. Too many of the characters drink - it feels written by a boozer - and they lead was this tubby boozer who was meant to be smart but came across as an idiot and he's got two investigators who feel like Hitchcock and Scully out of Brooklyn Nine Nine. Once I got that picture in my head I couldn't get it out.
I think at this stage MacLean was reluctant to go for the drama - his leads don't really suffer. Even when the wife and daughter are kidnapped the hero isn't too worried or is anyone else. For a bright moment it ilooked as though someone was going to have to have his arm chopped off to get out of a tight spot - the 50s MacLean would have done that. Not this guy.
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