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    Fear is the Key
    Fear is the Key
    Fear is the Key
    Audiobook10 hours

    Fear is the Key

    Written by Alistair MacLean

    Narrated by Jonathan Oliver

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A classic novel of ruthless revenge set in the steel jungle of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico – and on the sea bed below it.

    A sunken DC-3 lying on the Caribbean floor. Its cargo: ten million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in gold ingots, emeralds and uncut diamonds guarded by the remains of two men, one woman and a very small boy.

    The fortune was there for the taking, and ready to grab it were a blue-blooded oilman with his own offshore rig, a gangster so cold and independent that even the Mafia couldn’t do business with him and a psychopathic hired assassin.

    Against them stood one man, and those were his people, those skeletons in their watery coffin. His name was Talbot, and he would bury his dead – but only after he had avenged their murders.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 25, 2017
    ISBN9780008224356
    Author

    Alistair MacLean

    Alistair MacLean, the son of a minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a teacher. Two and a half years spent aboard a wartime cruiser gave him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.

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    Reviews for Fear is the Key

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Pure Alistair McClean. Detailed and full of suspense. I wonder about his knowledge of undereater ecploration and in Ice Station Zebra...ice cap exploration; then Caravan to Vaccarres the world of racing cars. I have been a fan for the last 30 years and I have never been disappointed.
    • 4/5
      MacLean writes a really really gripping tale. He grips you from the get-go and never lets you breathe. The twists and turns, the almost rescues and certain deaths avoided come in steady, breathtaking flow. You care—even though you’re wondering if they are really good guys—so much about the people. He’s so clever. There’s no formula. There’s just lots of suspense with sharp turns in a unique story that is different than anything else you’ll read—with only G-rated language and content, which is impossible for me to find in this genre today.
    • 4/5
      Nice twisty tale of a sadistic killer hired to recover underwater treasure...but don't assume anything. This one did surprise me and had me guessing to the end.
    • 4/5
      Although it got off to a slow start, almost a confusing start, I now know that was on purpose....the bulk of the book was unraveling all of the confusion concerning underwater treasure, an oil rig on the Gulf of Mexico, a bevy of bad guys seeming to have control over a very wealthy oil family, and the unfortunate guy thrown into the middle of it all trying to save the day against all odds. As with most of Maclean's work, there are some nail-biting, split-second-timing adventures that keep the wheels turning on this one. Slowly, the reader gets to those revelatory moments where the confusion begins to clear, and it takes practically to the bitter end to get it all figured out....just the way i like it. Nicely done - and with a perfect title!
    • 4/5
      USA, 1961Forhistorien er at et Trans Cariib Air Charter Company fly i maj 1958 bliver skudt ned og mindst fire bliver dræbt, Pete, Elizabeth, John og Barry. Flyet havde en formue i guld med. Elizabeths mand lytter med på radio, da det sker.Så klipper vi til den egentlige handling tre år senere, hvor en mand John Montague Talbot (som vi aner er identisk med Elizabeths mand) flygter fra en retssal og efterlader en dødeligt såret politimand. Han tager et gidsel Mary Ruthven med sig. Hun er datter af den stenrige General Blair Ruthven. Talbot og pigen bliver fanget af en mand Herman Jablonsky, der bringer dem til generalen i stedet for til politiet, fordi han har tænkt sig at tage sig godt betalt for tjenesten. En af generalens mænd genkender Jablonsky som en tidligere politimand, der er røget i uføre. De hyrer Jablonsky til at passe på at Talbot ikke stikker af.I virkeligheden er Talbot og Jablonsky i gang med at afsløre generalen og den bande, han er med i. Banden ser ud til at blive ledet af Vyland, hans narkomansøn Larry og en lejemorder Royale.Jablonsky slipper Talbot fri, så han kan udspionere en boreplatform X13 som generalen har planer for, men da Talbot vender tilbage er Jablonsky død. Til gengæld får Talbot overbevist både Mary og hendes chauffør Simon Kennedy om at han er god nok. Hele menagen tager ud til boreplatformen, hvor det er meningen at Talbot skal få gang i motorerne på en hævningsubåd og redde en guldskat op. Han får med hjælp fra Kennedy og Mary forpurret planen, slået Larry Vyland ihjel og fremskaffet en tilståelse fra Royale og Vyland.Vyland begår selvmord inden retsagen, men Talbot har alligevel fået hævnet sin tvillingebror Peter, sin kone Elizabeth og deres lille søn John. Men det er ikke happy ending, for nu er hans liv helt tomt og på sidste side går han stille hjem efter at have siddet og gloet på solnedgangen.Urealistisk knaldroman men med mindre papagtige karakterskildringer end sædvanligt.