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The best of the best
Jan 30, 2002 09:46 AM 8919 Views
(Updated Jan 30, 2002 09:46 AM)

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Alistair Mac Lean! The very name conjures up images of some of the most widely read action thrillers of our times. Though I’ve read and re-read most of his block busters like “Where Eagles Dare”, “Circus”, “Fear is the Key”, etc., “Puppet On a Chain” was the first book of Mac Lean that I read and was at once addicted to his amazing style of writing, plot narration and characterization.


The book is all about a large consignment of drugs shipped from the US of A to Amsterdam, Netherlands for onward distribution. Major Paul Sherman, a top secret operative is assigned the task of going to Netherlands and breaking the vicious circle of drug dealers. Quite typical of Mac Lean, the book starts off with our star agent setting foot in Amsterdam with two other female operatives one of whom is a fresher to the force and is his understudy on this case.


Acting in tandem with his counterparts in Amsterdam, Sherman methodically tries to unearth the lid of the drug trafficking ring that is threatening to spread its tentacles across half the world. However, at one point of time he finds that his counterparts are not too willing to help him out for some inexplicable reason and he is perennially surrounded by seemingly innocent individuals who report his every move to the drug lord.


Mac Lean was largely successful in creating a new style of writing which heralded the onset of a new genre. Most of his books stick religiously to a particular formula: A hero, a band of renegades/smugglers/drug peddlers, hostile climate, and, more often than not, a Judas figure who almost upsets the mission. This book too assiduously sticks to the above formula.


Major Sherman is literally pushed to the wall in pursuit of his quarries and as all those aiding him in his pursuits are bumped off in a chilling manner and a “token” is left behind where they have been killed – a colourful puppet with a hook round its neck. During the course of the story, Sherman is pushed to the extreme limits of his physical and mental endurance and nearly gets killed on many an occasion.


What struck me about this book was the totally new style of writing that Mac Lean heralded. His narration style is rich in the use of good vocabulary, the locations are described with the maniacal attitude of a man with an eye for detail, the action sequences are all narrated so well that one can almost visualise them before the eyes and the humour is simply great and liberally used even in serious situations to the point of being cynical at times.


What holds the readers attention throughout this book are the highly dramatic settings and the sudden twist in the plot so as to leave one breathless. Mac Lean never allows anything to hold up the action, its all there page after page, simply refusing to let go of its strangling hold on the reader. However, what really makes this book and his other works so popular was the fact that they were devoid of anything sexual because he was of the opinion that sex hindered the action he was dishing out.


Go ahead and read this if you haven’t already...makes for excellent reading.


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Puppet On A Chain - Alistair MacLean
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