Ice Station Zebra

MacLean was a contemporary of Desmond Bagley, so a natural candidate when it came to following up potential leads in the Bagley vein. He’s better remembered than Bagley, possibly because quite a few of his books were made into films, but he always acknowledged Bagley as the superior writer.

This book is a good example of classic MacLean–raw action in a location that plays as much a part as any of the living characters–and his ability to create a claustrophobic atmosphere is simply terrific.

I am a huge fan of MacLean’s work and in Ice Station Zebra he crafted a wonderful novel that pitted the protagonists against not just the antagonists, but also the weather.

As he so often does, MacLean has created a take of high-stakes derring-do, but with this novel he added an extra foe, the frigid weather of the Arctic Circle. Can you imagine battling to catch a killer when there are ice spicules being blown across a frozen tundra? Whether you can or can’t, you need to read this fantastic novel. 

I know an action-adventure novel by Alastair Maclean is an odd choice for someone who thrives on romantic suspense, but I have loved his books since I came upon them in the library. His words, his stories grabbed me from the first sentence. The hard part was picking which book to recommend. I have loved most of his books, but Ice Station Zebra holds a special place in my heart. I grew up in Northern Wyoming, where the winters are cold and “ice station zebra” became a catchphrase for really cold in my family. And every time I used the… show more.