Fear is the Key

Alistair MacLean, the son of a Scots 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 schoolmaster. The two and a half years he spent aboard a wartime cruiser were to give 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. He died in 1987.

‘So good I stole part of the plot’Lee Child‘Guns, gangsters, sudden death, terrific action on land and under the sea … Fear is the Key has a plot that will require a lot of willpower to stop you looking at the last page.’Sunday Mirror‘Keeps tension at screaming point.’Daily Express‘Excitement and violence … the pace never slackens.’Scotsman