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Bear Island
New
455 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
152 people are currently reading
1007 people want to read
About the author
Alistair MacLean
344 books1,206 followersAlistair Stuart MacLean (Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacGill-Eain), the son of a Scots Minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941, at the age of eighteen, he joined the Royal Navy; two and a half years spent aboard a cruiser were to give him the background for HMS Ulysses, his first novel, the outstanding documentary novel on the war at sea. After the war he gained an English Honours degree at Glasgow University, and became a schoolmaster. In 1983, he was awarded a D. Litt. from the same university.
Maclean is the author of twenty-nine world bestsellers and recognised as an outstanding writer in his own genre. Many of his titles have been adapted for film - The Guns of the Navarone, The Satan Bug, Force Ten from Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and Bear Island are among the most famous.
Maclean is the author of twenty-nine world bestsellers and recognised as an outstanding writer in his own genre. Many of his titles have been adapted for film - The Guns of the Navarone, The Satan Bug, Force Ten from Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and Bear Island are among the most famous.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
June 21, 2018
TO BORE OR NOT TO BORE, THAT IS THE QUESTION!
"thriller" plot: Not Boring
murder mystery elements: Not Boring
the answer to the mystery: Not Boring!
doctor/secret agent protagonist: Sorta Boring except when he's being sarcastic, which happens a lot fortunately, so maybe Not Boring?
endearing sidekick/character to be sacrificed: Sorta Boring
various redshirts, some who die and some who don't: Boring
70s-style chauvinism towards women: Quite Boring
mockery of Hollywood machine and the egos of certain directors named "Otto" who have organized this expedition to make a film on Bear Island but maybe that's not the real reason but who knows or dare question him because he's such a ruthless egomaniac prick: Not Boring and then Boring because repetition does not make the heart grow fonder
so many descriptions of Arctic weather conditions: Boring
tension on a ship during a storm with a murderer lurking around: Not Boring
tension on wintry Bear Island during a blizzard with a murderer lurking around and a dead body or two turning into a corpsicle: Not Boring
adaptation of the book into a film by the usually dependable Don Sharp: Incredibly Boring
"thriller" plot: Not Boring
murder mystery elements: Not Boring
the answer to the mystery: Not Boring!
doctor/secret agent protagonist: Sorta Boring except when he's being sarcastic, which happens a lot fortunately, so maybe Not Boring?
endearing sidekick/character to be sacrificed: Sorta Boring
various redshirts, some who die and some who don't: Boring
70s-style chauvinism towards women: Quite Boring
mockery of Hollywood machine and the egos of certain directors named "Otto" who have organized this expedition to make a film on Bear Island but maybe that's not the real reason but who knows or dare question him because he's such a ruthless egomaniac prick: Not Boring and then Boring because repetition does not make the heart grow fonder
so many descriptions of Arctic weather conditions: Boring
tension on a ship during a storm with a murderer lurking around: Not Boring
tension on wintry Bear Island during a blizzard with a murderer lurking around and a dead body or two turning into a corpsicle: Not Boring
adaptation of the book into a film by the usually dependable Don Sharp: Incredibly Boring
November 17, 2025
This suspenseful mystery begins at sea aboard a storm-tossed ship in Arctic seas where we meet the passengers and crew. Seemingly accidental deaths mount as the ship's doctor treats both seasickness and food poisoning. More deaths occur at the frozen island destination where we learn that there is much more to this story than just a murder mystery. The plot unwinds slowly but it's worth the trip to Bear Island on a journey where more alcohol is consumed than in any other novel. An eponymous movie in 1979 starring Richard Widmark, Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave was nothing like the book.
October 5, 2017
Description: A converted fishing trawler, Morning Rose carries a movie-making crew across the Barents Sea to isolated Bear Island, well above the Arctic Circle, for some on-location filming, but the script is a secret known only to the producer and screenwriter. En route, members of the movie crew and ship's company begin to die under mysterious circumstances. The crew's doctor, Marlowe, finds himself enmeshed in a violent, multi-layered plot in which very few of the persons aboard are whom they claim to be.
Marlowe's efforts to unravel the plot become even more complicated once the movie crew is deposited ashore on Bear Island, beyond the reach of the law or outside help. The murders continue ashore, and Marlowe, who is not what he seems to be either, discovers they may be related to some forgotten events of the Second World War.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVDi5...
Marlowe's efforts to unravel the plot become even more complicated once the movie crew is deposited ashore on Bear Island, beyond the reach of the law or outside help. The murders continue ashore, and Marlowe, who is not what he seems to be either, discovers they may be related to some forgotten events of the Second World War.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVDi5...
August 9, 2016
From the 1950s through to the 1980s, Alistair MacLean had a spectacularly successful run as an adventure/thriller writer. Starting with the serious "H.M.S Ulysses", about the Murmansk Run of convoy ships during WWIl, and the excellent WWII adventure "The Guns of Navarone", Maclean then produced 25 books of varying degrees of quality, all characterized by complicated ( if sometimes improbable) plots, exotic locations, double and triple crosses, and some suspenseful action. MacLean took the James Bond model from Ian Fleming, removed the sex, the sadism, and the misogyny, and produced a kind of " boy's own adventure " ,"ripping yarn" for the Cold War. Many of his books were filmed( some well, most badly), and his later books began to feel like movie treatments filled with contrived stories, wooden, stereotypical characterizations, and leaden dialogue. Success, easy money, and alcohol all took their toll, until he died in the mid 1980s. Since then, he is remembered, if at all, for the film versions of his books, most notably "Guns of Navarone", "Ice Station Zebra", and "Where Eagles Dare".
"Bear Island" was written in 1971, and is probably the last decent book he wrote. The plot is intriguing, with some genuinely original twists, and the Arctic setting does provide for some interestingly claustrophobic suspense. The characters are stereotypes and the dialogue is at best flat and at worst atrocious, but the story does move until the climax, where it suddenly wraps up conveniently in a revelation scene Hercule Poirot would have been proud of. It's most interesting feature is that it is about a film shoot, and allows MacLean the opportunity to take potshots at an industry he both detested and depended on. (When "Bear Island" was filmed, the screenwriters jettisoned the film shoot completely and made a completely different movie than what MacLean had written.) Also of interest is the amount of alcohol all the characters consume throughout the story; MacLean's own demon seems to be taking over his story telling.
Still, for those who are interested in a now quaint form of popular fiction, or who just want to spend some time in the Arctic while reading on a beach, 'Bear Island", for all its faults, is a pleasant diversion.
"Bear Island" was written in 1971, and is probably the last decent book he wrote. The plot is intriguing, with some genuinely original twists, and the Arctic setting does provide for some interestingly claustrophobic suspense. The characters are stereotypes and the dialogue is at best flat and at worst atrocious, but the story does move until the climax, where it suddenly wraps up conveniently in a revelation scene Hercule Poirot would have been proud of. It's most interesting feature is that it is about a film shoot, and allows MacLean the opportunity to take potshots at an industry he both detested and depended on. (When "Bear Island" was filmed, the screenwriters jettisoned the film shoot completely and made a completely different movie than what MacLean had written.) Also of interest is the amount of alcohol all the characters consume throughout the story; MacLean's own demon seems to be taking over his story telling.
Still, for those who are interested in a now quaint form of popular fiction, or who just want to spend some time in the Arctic while reading on a beach, 'Bear Island", for all its faults, is a pleasant diversion.
August 26, 2023
I've been a fan of Alistair MacLean for years. I admire how so many of his books have been made into movies. There are 'The Guns of Navarone,' 'Ice Station Zebra,' 'Where Eagles Dare,' to name a few of my favorites.
I purchased this book at a long ago out of business three-story high Used Book store in downtown San Diego. It was called Wahrenbrocks Book House and t was one of our oldest bookstores. I was sad to see them go out of business in 2006 amid book readers turning to internet sales. I used to love going there and taking my time perusing the three floors of books. I spent so much time there it was amazing I got anything done.
I've had 'Bear Island' in my personal library all this time and decided to read it. Although I admire MacLean's success as a writer, this book for me was a disappointment. I remember when the movie came out in 1979. It had an all-star cast and I liked it, despite it not doing well in the box office. Sadly, the book was not as good or even close to better than the movie. It's written in the first-person narrative (his last in this style, I believe). Although MacLean's writing is tongue-in-cheek and contains snappy dialogue, the book is slow and quite boring at times. I only finished reading it because I dislike not finishing a book once I begin reading it. Makes for bad habits.
The plot:
Dr. Marlowe is hired as the company physician for a film company setting sale on a converted trawler from England. It's called the 'Morning Rose,' and it's anything but. The captain is an old sea hand hired to take a film crew to the remote island of 'Bear Island,' isolated from the coast of Norway. Fortunately for the actors, film crew, director, ship's crew, and Dr. Marlowe, the company director had the trawler converted with plenty of food, drink, and comfortable cabins. This was necessary seeing how the privations along the way are many, and even more so on 'Bear Island.'
When a crewmember dies of food poisoning, it is soon learned it was deliberate. Dr. Marlowe is asked to investigate, and what he learns along the way becomes something of a mystery unfolding. The characters each seem to have a plan, but for what? And why is a film director interested in making a movie on a remote island instead of film stage with props? When the crew arrives on 'Bear Island' their situation becomes bleaker as it appears a group among them have an interest of something other than moviemaking. Will Dr. Marlowe learn what it is, or become a victim of the murderer, or murderers himself?
My rating is 3 stars out of respect for the author. This book sold 8 million copies upon its release, and I find that truly astounding considering it was slow and unimpressive. Not one of his best works, I think. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with his book, 'Where Eagles Dare,' also a book of his I've had in my private library for some time, and the movie was great!
I purchased this book at a long ago out of business three-story high Used Book store in downtown San Diego. It was called Wahrenbrocks Book House and t was one of our oldest bookstores. I was sad to see them go out of business in 2006 amid book readers turning to internet sales. I used to love going there and taking my time perusing the three floors of books. I spent so much time there it was amazing I got anything done.
I've had 'Bear Island' in my personal library all this time and decided to read it. Although I admire MacLean's success as a writer, this book for me was a disappointment. I remember when the movie came out in 1979. It had an all-star cast and I liked it, despite it not doing well in the box office. Sadly, the book was not as good or even close to better than the movie. It's written in the first-person narrative (his last in this style, I believe). Although MacLean's writing is tongue-in-cheek and contains snappy dialogue, the book is slow and quite boring at times. I only finished reading it because I dislike not finishing a book once I begin reading it. Makes for bad habits.
The plot:
Dr. Marlowe is hired as the company physician for a film company setting sale on a converted trawler from England. It's called the 'Morning Rose,' and it's anything but. The captain is an old sea hand hired to take a film crew to the remote island of 'Bear Island,' isolated from the coast of Norway. Fortunately for the actors, film crew, director, ship's crew, and Dr. Marlowe, the company director had the trawler converted with plenty of food, drink, and comfortable cabins. This was necessary seeing how the privations along the way are many, and even more so on 'Bear Island.'
When a crewmember dies of food poisoning, it is soon learned it was deliberate. Dr. Marlowe is asked to investigate, and what he learns along the way becomes something of a mystery unfolding. The characters each seem to have a plan, but for what? And why is a film director interested in making a movie on a remote island instead of film stage with props? When the crew arrives on 'Bear Island' their situation becomes bleaker as it appears a group among them have an interest of something other than moviemaking. Will Dr. Marlowe learn what it is, or become a victim of the murderer, or murderers himself?
My rating is 3 stars out of respect for the author. This book sold 8 million copies upon its release, and I find that truly astounding considering it was slow and unimpressive. Not one of his best works, I think. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with his book, 'Where Eagles Dare,' also a book of his I've had in my private library for some time, and the movie was great!
June 16, 2016
Started this last night. Reading based on a recommendation from a movie book that said that this was one of AM's best books though the movie made from it was a turkey. It was already on my shelf(rescued from somewhere) so ... The book opens on board a storm tossed old fishing trawler(refitted) in the North, North Atlantic heading for the title location for "atmospheric" filming. Could've been an old dark house I suppose. Nevertheless, here we are and one body has already turned up - the mystery and suspense are off and running. Our narrator is named Marlowe and one of the cast of characters is named Conrad and still another is called "Mary dear"!!! Very salty ...
Well, it's been a very busy night aboard the ... whatever it is ... not only is a nasty artic gale a-blowin' but there's all sorts of the nastiness that humans get up to as well. And we haven't even reached the titular locale yet! Lots of characters to keep track of - kind of confusing for my old brain. Still, it's one of those "can't put downers" that I had to put down and go to bed. More tonight.
- So far the characters seem to have drunk up a whole warehouse full of alcohol - and its only one night. I hope the booze supply will hold out!
Now everybody's on shore at big, bad Bear Island and more mayhem has ensued. My earlier suspicions about a couple of characters has been confirmed and both the hero and I are wondering about the dropping of one little word earlier in the story. But ... his memory can't find and my eyes can't either. Needle in a haystack... So, the whole literary set-up is a BIT contrived as the narrator neglects to omit one teensy-weensy detail about himself, but - whatever. It's all fairly engrossing anyway. My earlier comment about the old, dark house is ever more appropriate. These characters and this plot are little more than a part of a standard "Clue"-type mystery dressed up as an arctic adventure.
Finished last night with this reasonably affecting adventure-mystery. The harsh setting for the story adds to the overall effectiveness though once again(last time), I point out that at its heart its just another version of Agatha Christie, complete with the lengthy explanation from Marlowe of who was doing(and did what) to whom and why. All very convoluted with a couple of the deaths kind of casually tossed off for the sake of brevity.
- 2.75 rounds up to 3*.
Well, it's been a very busy night aboard the ... whatever it is ... not only is a nasty artic gale a-blowin' but there's all sorts of the nastiness that humans get up to as well. And we haven't even reached the titular locale yet! Lots of characters to keep track of - kind of confusing for my old brain. Still, it's one of those "can't put downers" that I had to put down and go to bed. More tonight.
- So far the characters seem to have drunk up a whole warehouse full of alcohol - and its only one night. I hope the booze supply will hold out!
Now everybody's on shore at big, bad Bear Island and more mayhem has ensued. My earlier suspicions about a couple of characters has been confirmed and both the hero and I are wondering about the dropping of one little word earlier in the story. But ... his memory can't find and my eyes can't either. Needle in a haystack... So, the whole literary set-up is a BIT contrived as the narrator neglects to omit one teensy-weensy detail about himself, but - whatever. It's all fairly engrossing anyway. My earlier comment about the old, dark house is ever more appropriate. These characters and this plot are little more than a part of a standard "Clue"-type mystery dressed up as an arctic adventure.
Finished last night with this reasonably affecting adventure-mystery. The harsh setting for the story adds to the overall effectiveness though once again(last time), I point out that at its heart its just another version of Agatha Christie, complete with the lengthy explanation from Marlowe of who was doing(and did what) to whom and why. All very convoluted with a couple of the deaths kind of casually tossed off for the sake of brevity.
- 2.75 rounds up to 3*.
May 16, 2015
Alistair MacLean, to me, is one of those never-can-go-wrong authors whose works are quite decent at worst and extremely satisfying at best... This one's end felt a little tame, considering the mounting suspense through the previous ninety percent of the novel. Nevertheless, chilling & thrilling, this one is a highly enjoyable, trademark MacLean book!
August 14, 2010
Hm...what I learned from this book. Well, first of all, I like the movie "Bear Island" much better than I liked the book. I suppose that's unusual to begin with. Anyway, as for the book goes, it is a pretty typical Alistair MacLean offering. Though I've read only a few of his books, maybe this is the second, they seem to follow a similar pattern of presentation. It goes something like this...
The first 100 pp or so of the book are spent introducing characters, seeing some of them drop off right and left to a variety of villanous acts, and some just disappear. There seems to be no common thread amongst these deaths, and the reader is left wondering, perhaps wallowing, in an effort to make sense of things. Before long, however, one character emerges as being quite clever, and not who he is painted to be in the beginning. Then, once you hit about 3/4 of the way through the story a few, then a building momentum of revelations start to be offered. Finally, at the end, one of the characters engages in a prolonged monologue (15-20 pp) that explains what happened, who did it, and why, to the readers who are not at all likely to have figured it out on their own. I know I couldn't have come up with the whole story without the monologue.
If you like mysteries you may like this one, but I plowed through, mainly because I wanted to see how the book ended up, compared to the movie of the same name (starring Donald Sutherland). Thus the luke-warm rating of three stars...it was "OK". Cheers.
The first 100 pp or so of the book are spent introducing characters, seeing some of them drop off right and left to a variety of villanous acts, and some just disappear. There seems to be no common thread amongst these deaths, and the reader is left wondering, perhaps wallowing, in an effort to make sense of things. Before long, however, one character emerges as being quite clever, and not who he is painted to be in the beginning. Then, once you hit about 3/4 of the way through the story a few, then a building momentum of revelations start to be offered. Finally, at the end, one of the characters engages in a prolonged monologue (15-20 pp) that explains what happened, who did it, and why, to the readers who are not at all likely to have figured it out on their own. I know I couldn't have come up with the whole story without the monologue.
If you like mysteries you may like this one, but I plowed through, mainly because I wanted to see how the book ended up, compared to the movie of the same name (starring Donald Sutherland). Thus the luke-warm rating of three stars...it was "OK". Cheers.
November 14, 2014
Classic MacLean (author Alistair, not Die Hard John) set in the frozen north with the usual one man against the odds (perhaps he should have written Die Hard scripts?)
As usual he really brings the surroundings to life, and the chill of the wind can be felt by the reader. Good plot. Interesting characters. Good twists.
A perfect thriller, beautifully executed.
As usual he really brings the surroundings to life, and the chill of the wind can be felt by the reader. Good plot. Interesting characters. Good twists.
A perfect thriller, beautifully executed.
November 13, 2011
Bear Island is an entertaining mystery/adventure. Right from the start, the suspense bubbles beneath the action. Characters great. Setting vivid. Island remote. The pace a is bit slow at times, but the mystery kept me reading and guessing. MacLean’s best that I’ve read still The Guns of Navarone.
May 12, 2011
I found this a very difficult book to get into. Lots of really uninteresting stuff going on and it took about 120 pages before I was given even a hint of why people were being murdered. I do not recommend this book.
August 19, 2020
The Morning Rose has been chartered to take a film crew to the remote Arctic Bear Island. Christopher Marlowe, the ship's doctor, in addition to treating sea sick passengers has to deal with a murder among the crew. There is a secret on Bear Island worth killing for.
December 2, 2024
Apparently MacLean can write a boring book.
May 20, 2024
This book is very boring, this is not my cup ot tea.
4* Ice Station Zebra
5* The Guns of Navarone
4* Where Eagles Dare
2* Bear Island
TR Lawrence of Arabia
TR HMS Ulysses
4* Ice Station Zebra
5* The Guns of Navarone
4* Where Eagles Dare
2* Bear Island
TR Lawrence of Arabia
TR HMS Ulysses
June 11, 2013
I can't say I loved this book, but I enjoyed it for the most part. I read quite a few of Alistair MacLean's novels years ago, and I remember Ice Station Zebra being one of my favourites. Mysteries that take place in remote, isolated places where the cast of characters is fairly small and diverse and the plot is complex enough to get your little gray cells working really appeal to me.
The mystery in this one was almost too complicated, though, and it required a rather lengthy explanation by the narrator, Dr. Marlowe, to unravel it. Mr. MacLean did a pretty good job of creating suspense, drama, and chills (literally, as one could almost feel the Arctic wind and snow plaguing the trawler and Bear Island). It seemed that nearly everyone in the film making crew had secrets and were not who they claimed to be, not even the good doctor, which made for some very interesting conversations and revelations.
Perhaps not one of Mr. MacLean's best, as the pace dragged a bit in places, but quite an enjoyable offering nevertheless for those who are fans of these types of mysteries.
The mystery in this one was almost too complicated, though, and it required a rather lengthy explanation by the narrator, Dr. Marlowe, to unravel it. Mr. MacLean did a pretty good job of creating suspense, drama, and chills (literally, as one could almost feel the Arctic wind and snow plaguing the trawler and Bear Island). It seemed that nearly everyone in the film making crew had secrets and were not who they claimed to be, not even the good doctor, which made for some very interesting conversations and revelations.
Perhaps not one of Mr. MacLean's best, as the pace dragged a bit in places, but quite an enjoyable offering nevertheless for those who are fans of these types of mysteries.
May 16, 2012
MacLean not at the peak of his class here. A film crew is on a voyage to Bear Island in the Arctic when the ship and film crew members mysteriously start getting killed. First-person narrative without much character development leads to mediocre suspense. This is a thriller but without getting the reader involved at first.
This germ of plot in thrillers where a group of people in isolated situations start getting killed mysteriously one after the other, was perfected and reached its zenith in Christie's "And Then There Were None". Bear Island is nowhere near that class.
Also, there is a Bollywood film "Khamosh" (1985) loosely adapted from the plot of Bear Island. This movie was hailed by many as a classic thriller. Just goes to show how powerful the original germ is, that despite its rehashing and readaptation, it still excites audiences & readers.
This germ of plot in thrillers where a group of people in isolated situations start getting killed mysteriously one after the other, was perfected and reached its zenith in Christie's "And Then There Were None". Bear Island is nowhere near that class.
Also, there is a Bollywood film "Khamosh" (1985) loosely adapted from the plot of Bear Island. This movie was hailed by many as a classic thriller. Just goes to show how powerful the original germ is, that despite its rehashing and readaptation, it still excites audiences & readers.
July 20, 2025
Фильм «Остров Медвежий» (Bear Island, 1979) с Дональдом Сазерлендом и Ванессой Редгрейв я не смотрела, да и с творчеством Алистера Маклина до этого не была знакома. Но, как выяснилось, по его книгам снято такое количество экранизаций, что не познакомиться — почти упущение.
Роман оказался удивительно увлекательным — с элементами детектива, шпионского триллера и фантастики. Загадочная экспедиция на огромном корабле движется к холодному острову, но по пути начинают происходить странные и смертельные инциденты с членами экипажа и пассажирами. Атмосфера тревожная и напряжённая, интрига держится до самого конца.
Теперь хочется прочесть что-нибудь ещё у Маклина. Посоветуете?
Роман оказался удивительно увлекательным — с элементами детектива, шпионского триллера и фантастики. Загадочная экспедиция на огромном корабле движется к холодному острову, но по пути начинают происходить странные и смертельные инциденты с членами экипажа и пассажирами. Атмосфера тревожная и напряжённая, интрига держится до самого конца.
Теперь хочется прочесть что-нибудь ещё у Маклина. Посоветуете?
Видите ли, все завтра, как я заметил, до унылости похожи на сегодня. Единственно, что хорошо в сегодняшнем дне, что в каждый данный момент частица его безвозвратно уходит в прошлое.
March 16, 2014
I actually finished this book two months ago. I've read some of MacClean's books before and enjoyed each one. However, this book was a huge chore to slog through. The critics raved that this was one of his best stories. ??? I beg to differ. I really didn't enjoy this story at all. Not only was it hard to follow but there were two characters with the same first name. This made it exceptionally tiring trying to figure out which Mary was being talked about. And when the two characters were in the same scene I had no idea what was going on. I cannot recommend this book.
February 24, 2016
This was one of the first Alistair MacLean books that I read back as youngster in the 1970's. I enjoyed it then and having just re-read it I still find it as enjoyable. I know some criticize MacLean for being dated but what do they expect, this book was written in 1971 and he was a product of his time and that is going to be reflected in his work so cut him some slack and enjoy the tale. This is a particular favourite of mine, fast moving with plenty of twists and turns.
August 31, 2011
A pot-boiler thriller about a film crew going to an Artic island. Really they are a Nazi group of criminals trying to recover stolen items left over from WWII. Plotting is good enough if the story is trite. I loved MacLean as a kid so I thought I'd read some now to see if I still liked them. Not as much as before, but still pretty good stuff.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2013
Not MacLean's best work, and a pretty poor movie with Donald Sutherland, by the way.
April 21, 2014
Gripping story ...
August 21, 2017
Unable to get "into" this novel...too many extraneous details, not enough "meat". Sorry. After 50 or so pages I had no interest in continuing.
October 8, 2017
Read this one in the 70s
March 22, 2018
Not his best work.
An oddly unfocused story with too many characters and a rather silly plot. Struggled to finish it and would not recommend that you start.
An oddly unfocused story with too many characters and a rather silly plot. Struggled to finish it and would not recommend that you start.
March 6, 2015
A movie production company heads off to Bear Island, a remote island in the Arctic off the north coast of Norway. Mystery, suspense, murder and mayhem ensue, almost as soon as the boat has left Britain. No one on board the ship to Bear Island is quite what he or she seems to be...and things only get more dangerous once they actually get to the island.
This book was a total mixed bag for me. There were some things I liked, and there were a lot of things I couldn't stand. I'll start with the things I liked.
The settings were, by far, Bear Island's greatest strength. Both the ship, the Morning Rose, as well as the forbidding Bear Island itself. That's what piqued my interest when reading the plot synopsis, originally: the danger and adventure of exploring a remote, forgotten island in the Arctic. It called to the adventurer and explorer in me, and in that I was not disappointed. The Morning Rose was described in detail, with an attention to things nautical that was entertaining to read without being too technical. And the island itself held its share of interesting things...as I'd hoped it would.
The exploration, too, was top-notch. Both on the ship, and on the island. There is plenty of adventure, and some poking around (okay, snooping) that was pretty fun to read. And the discoveries found when sneaking around were pretty interesting, too.
But that being said, there was a lot that didn't sit well with me, and it's not just because of the book's age (it was written in 1971).
First - the overbearing sexism was enough to make me want to put the book down, more than once. I almost didn't make it through the first fifty pages, but I made myself stick with it, hoping the storyline itself would improve. And the story itself did entertain, and the middle part is a little less sexist than the rest, though it rears its chauvinistic head at the end again in a few ways that made me want to throw up. Yeah, I know, this was 1971 and things were different then. I get that. But it was 1971, not 1571, for heaven's sake. I have read a lot of books that were written before 1971 which feature good, decent roles for female characters. I hesitate to use the word "strong" because it seems like that has almost become un-politically correct these days...which is a separate topic of discussion altogether...personally I like strong, human, female characters...or male characters, for that matter.
But out of a cast of characters so huge, and so many of them only vaguely described that I had a very difficult time keeping them all straight, there were only three female characters, and all of them were written with such contempt and derision that I can only deduce that it is a reflection of the author's view on women. There's the haughty prima donna who is prone to fainting and who retires to her bedroom with her two pooches (can we say STEREOTYPE!), there's the mysteriously alluring foreign woman who is hiding a few dark secrets (wow, that's never been done before...) and then there's the "pretty little ugly girl" who, despite the clunky, dorky glasses, is a total knockout in the looks department and just happens to have blonde hair, too (boy, that's never been done before, either!)
To make matters worse, two of the three are named Mary, which results in the "protagonist", Dr. Marlowe, referring to them as "Mary dear" and "Mary darling" to distinguish them. Of all the condescending things I've read, that has to be one of the worst. And in James Bond fashion, one minute Marlowe finds them annoying and vapid and useless, and the next he feels affectionate for them and wants to comfort them. The author actually takes the insult one step further and compares one of the female characters to a beloved pet at one point. That is NOT acceptable, no matter what time period this was written in. Ugh!!
Surprisingly, there isn't anything but the vaguest hint of sex in the entire book...but judging by the author's obvious contempt for women, I'm glad there isn't any sex because I wouldn't even want to see how he handled such scenes.
Next up is my dislike of the "protagonist", Dr. Marlowe. I use quotation marks because I actually think I disliked him more than I disliked the antagonists. Marlowe is an insensitive jerk, and as a doctor, his bedside manner is appalling. Most of the time he vacillates between being this savvy, experienced, know-all wise guy one moment, and an ignorant oblivious moron who has no idea what's going on around him the next. You can't "have it all confidently figured out" one moment and then be perplexed and unnerved the next because the events unfolding don't make any sense to you. It just doesn't add up.
The rest of the characters are as uninspiringly flat and one-dimensional as the "protagonist" and the three women. It's like a "boys club" with a cast of macho idiots with names like "the Count" and "the Duke" and then a whole bunch of people who are just referred to by their last names, none of which I could keep straight because none of them stood out. And all they did...besides try to kill each other...was drink. Drink, drink, drink. You couldn't go one page without at least one character opening yet another bottle of Scotch (on a side note, I don't see how so much alcohol could have been loaded on a ship without the ship sinking, because to say that all twenty-odd characters drank like fish would be the understatement of the century!) A bunch of skulking around, plotting, scheming, drinking, and telling one of the women to go boil a pot of water. Pathetic.
It was interesting to read what I guess you'd call a "whodunit" written several decades ago, though, to compare and contrast it to mysteries and thrillers written today. It seems that contemporary books give their readers just a little more respect, and benefit of the doubt...books written in the era of Bear Island withhold vital pieces of information that, in the words of Truman Capote's character Lionel Twain in the movie Murder by Death, "...make it impossible for us to guess who did it!!" And this holds true to that. Seeing as how the movie Murder by Death was written and filmed somewhere in the 1976-78 timeframe, I suspect this was a common frustration with mystery/thriller books of the time, and one that authors have taken note of and changed over the years. (Thankfully.) There is no way that the reader can figure out who the murderer is before the murderer is unmasked in true Scooby Doo fashion (well, Marlowe doesn't rip a mask of to reveal someone other than who they suspected, but just about). Then the reader is treated to a several pages long, windy self-important diatribe from Marlowe detailing exactly how the whole thing played out and how the murders were done and why. Being bit over the head with the solution to a murder mystery is not really my cup of tea.
All that being said...I probably would read this book again, just for the aforementioned exploration and adventure. It just needed MAJOR work in the characterization department.
This book was a total mixed bag for me. There were some things I liked, and there were a lot of things I couldn't stand. I'll start with the things I liked.
The settings were, by far, Bear Island's greatest strength. Both the ship, the Morning Rose, as well as the forbidding Bear Island itself. That's what piqued my interest when reading the plot synopsis, originally: the danger and adventure of exploring a remote, forgotten island in the Arctic. It called to the adventurer and explorer in me, and in that I was not disappointed. The Morning Rose was described in detail, with an attention to things nautical that was entertaining to read without being too technical. And the island itself held its share of interesting things...as I'd hoped it would.
The exploration, too, was top-notch. Both on the ship, and on the island. There is plenty of adventure, and some poking around (okay, snooping) that was pretty fun to read. And the discoveries found when sneaking around were pretty interesting, too.
But that being said, there was a lot that didn't sit well with me, and it's not just because of the book's age (it was written in 1971).
First - the overbearing sexism was enough to make me want to put the book down, more than once. I almost didn't make it through the first fifty pages, but I made myself stick with it, hoping the storyline itself would improve. And the story itself did entertain, and the middle part is a little less sexist than the rest, though it rears its chauvinistic head at the end again in a few ways that made me want to throw up. Yeah, I know, this was 1971 and things were different then. I get that. But it was 1971, not 1571, for heaven's sake. I have read a lot of books that were written before 1971 which feature good, decent roles for female characters. I hesitate to use the word "strong" because it seems like that has almost become un-politically correct these days...which is a separate topic of discussion altogether...personally I like strong, human, female characters...or male characters, for that matter.
But out of a cast of characters so huge, and so many of them only vaguely described that I had a very difficult time keeping them all straight, there were only three female characters, and all of them were written with such contempt and derision that I can only deduce that it is a reflection of the author's view on women. There's the haughty prima donna who is prone to fainting and who retires to her bedroom with her two pooches (can we say STEREOTYPE!), there's the mysteriously alluring foreign woman who is hiding a few dark secrets (wow, that's never been done before...) and then there's the "pretty little ugly girl" who, despite the clunky, dorky glasses, is a total knockout in the looks department and just happens to have blonde hair, too (boy, that's never been done before, either!)
To make matters worse, two of the three are named Mary, which results in the "protagonist", Dr. Marlowe, referring to them as "Mary dear" and "Mary darling" to distinguish them. Of all the condescending things I've read, that has to be one of the worst. And in James Bond fashion, one minute Marlowe finds them annoying and vapid and useless, and the next he feels affectionate for them and wants to comfort them. The author actually takes the insult one step further and compares one of the female characters to a beloved pet at one point. That is NOT acceptable, no matter what time period this was written in. Ugh!!
Surprisingly, there isn't anything but the vaguest hint of sex in the entire book...but judging by the author's obvious contempt for women, I'm glad there isn't any sex because I wouldn't even want to see how he handled such scenes.
Next up is my dislike of the "protagonist", Dr. Marlowe. I use quotation marks because I actually think I disliked him more than I disliked the antagonists. Marlowe is an insensitive jerk, and as a doctor, his bedside manner is appalling. Most of the time he vacillates between being this savvy, experienced, know-all wise guy one moment, and an ignorant oblivious moron who has no idea what's going on around him the next. You can't "have it all confidently figured out" one moment and then be perplexed and unnerved the next because the events unfolding don't make any sense to you. It just doesn't add up.
The rest of the characters are as uninspiringly flat and one-dimensional as the "protagonist" and the three women. It's like a "boys club" with a cast of macho idiots with names like "the Count" and "the Duke" and then a whole bunch of people who are just referred to by their last names, none of which I could keep straight because none of them stood out. And all they did...besides try to kill each other...was drink. Drink, drink, drink. You couldn't go one page without at least one character opening yet another bottle of Scotch (on a side note, I don't see how so much alcohol could have been loaded on a ship without the ship sinking, because to say that all twenty-odd characters drank like fish would be the understatement of the century!) A bunch of skulking around, plotting, scheming, drinking, and telling one of the women to go boil a pot of water. Pathetic.
It was interesting to read what I guess you'd call a "whodunit" written several decades ago, though, to compare and contrast it to mysteries and thrillers written today. It seems that contemporary books give their readers just a little more respect, and benefit of the doubt...books written in the era of Bear Island withhold vital pieces of information that, in the words of Truman Capote's character Lionel Twain in the movie Murder by Death, "...make it impossible for us to guess who did it!!" And this holds true to that. Seeing as how the movie Murder by Death was written and filmed somewhere in the 1976-78 timeframe, I suspect this was a common frustration with mystery/thriller books of the time, and one that authors have taken note of and changed over the years. (Thankfully.) There is no way that the reader can figure out who the murderer is before the murderer is unmasked in true Scooby Doo fashion (well, Marlowe doesn't rip a mask of to reveal someone other than who they suspected, but just about). Then the reader is treated to a several pages long, windy self-important diatribe from Marlowe detailing exactly how the whole thing played out and how the murders were done and why. Being bit over the head with the solution to a murder mystery is not really my cup of tea.
All that being said...I probably would read this book again, just for the aforementioned exploration and adventure. It just needed MAJOR work in the characterization department.
October 29, 2019
This book was alright but not as good as other books I've read by this author. I found that it took a long time for the real plot line to become clear. This story was set just after the war and is a bit of a mystery crime thriller, a sort of cross between Agatha Christie and John le Carre; the problem is I have always found Agatha Christie style books to be painfully dull - especially the apparent necessity to collect all the potentially guilty characters together in order to "explain" who done it.
June 29, 2019
Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2019-A book you meant to read in 2018
This book starts out very slowly. And very wordy. But at some point in time you actually do get invested and want to see what's going to happen. Not the best book. Not the worst. And, I think it's a little bit too bloodthirsty.
This book starts out very slowly. And very wordy. But at some point in time you actually do get invested and want to see what's going to happen. Not the best book. Not the worst. And, I think it's a little bit too bloodthirsty.
September 11, 2022
For a random book that I picked up in a German Hotel I am impressed. I can see why it was on the New York Times Best sellers list back in the day. Captured my attention from the start. Great storytelling.
October 7, 2018
Alistair MacLean was one of the first go-to suspense novelists I learned to look for by name when I knew I wanted to suspense, but didn't have a specific story in mind. So when I came across this one, not one I had previously heard of, I was excited to pick it up. The narrator is Doctor Marlowe, hired to be the physician on site for Olympus Productions Ltd., as they take a converted fishing trawler to Bear Island to film a picture for which only two members of the production actually know the script. Cast and crew members begin dying, and Dr. Marlowe determines these are not accidental. More deaths follow upon landing on Bear Island, and these are obviously murders. But nobody in the cast, or Dr. Marlowe, are who they initially present themselves to be, and there may be more than one sinister plot at work.
Glad I read the story, but I would not say this is MacLean at his best. Basically, the first half of the book was spent casting suspicion on 22 people. Then, several red herrings follow, until there seemed to be a sudden rush to reveal the conclusion. I admit being surprised at the conclusion, and it did not leave any loose ends, but I did not find it as completely satisfying as I might have from another author.
Glad I read the story, but I would not say this is MacLean at his best. Basically, the first half of the book was spent casting suspicion on 22 people. Then, several red herrings follow, until there seemed to be a sudden rush to reveal the conclusion. I admit being surprised at the conclusion, and it did not leave any loose ends, but I did not find it as completely satisfying as I might have from another author.
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