Hello everyone! Welcome, or welcome back to my blog. Today I am back with another book review. My last one was that of Night Without End by Alistair MacLean; an action thriller. The book that I am going to review today is also an action thriller by the same author. It is the very interesting book: The Last Frontier. This one has got secret agents, the Iron Curtain, the AVO, and everything else which makes a book a good read.
About the Author:
Alistair MacLean was born in 1922 and was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. His father was a Scot minister. In 1941, when he was eighteen years old, he joined the Royal Navy. For two and a half years, he served aboard a cruiser; it later gave him the background and idea to write his first novel, an outstanding documentary of war at sea – the bestseller HMS Ulysses. After World War II, he applied for and received an English Honours degree at Glasgow University, after which he became a school master. In 1983, he received a D.Litt. from the same university.
His writing skills landed him the title of one of the top-ten bestselling authors in the world, and the top selling Briton, by 1970. Currently he is recognized as one of the outstanding writers of the 20th Century. His most popular novels The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, Fear is the Key, and Ice Station Zebra have been turned into films. Apart from these, he wrote twenty-five bestsellers which have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Alistair MacLean died in 1987 at his home in Switzerland.
The Last Frontier:
The Last Frontier is a mix. It is a mix of somewhat cliché themes, and of extremely original, heart-stopping, breathtaking works of literature. It has all the stuff which you would expect to find find in an old action thriller – a World War II background, a potential hostage who has very important secrets, the kidnappers are going to try to make him speak, they are threatening to kill his wife and son; then comes the hero – a secret agent who, with the help of some friends, tries to free the hostage and save his country from disaster. The new thing is the language in which everything is written. It makes you gasp, hold your breath, and makes your heart skip a beat. It has got everything which makes it deserving of the title of a great novel.
Doctor Jennings is an extremely famous scientist. His specialization – nuclear firearms. The guys in Hungary are holding a scientific congress, where scientists from all over the world have decided to congregate. Dr. Jennings received an invitation, which he readily accepted. In the meeting there are professors, scientists, AVO officers, and even members of the KGB. The KGB people are on the lookout of a certain scientist, whom they wish to take back with them, for some important details. And, to make their job easier, the AVO has kept the Doctor virtually under house arrest, just waiting for the convention to end.
The government in the UK realised the situation, and discovered the dangers to world peace, if Dr. Jennings spoke. They therefore sent for their best secret agent – Reynolds – to try and bring back a clueless Dr. Jennings back to safety, before he was taken away to the Soviet Union. To do this, Reynolds must first penetrate the iron curtain, convince Dr. Jennings to come back with him, and then smuggle themselves out of Hungary from right under the nose of the AVO.
Reynolds spoke Hungarian fluently and with an accent that could fool anyone into believing that he was born and brought up there. He knew every street and alley of Budapest by heart even though he had never stepped foot in Hungary. But on his very first day of the mission, he got captured by the dreaded AVO, are supposed to be even more ruthless and inhuman than the Russian KGB. The officer then drives him to an area of Budapest, whose mere name can scare the living daylights out of the best secret agent – Andrassy Ut.
By and by he finds out that even in this feared society, there were traitors. They were people willing to help those who came in missions for peace. Reynolds soon found out that if he was to even have a chance at trying to rescue the doctor, he must take their help. With the backing of some of the most dangerous and determined men in Hungary, Reynolds started out on his mission. And mission, which almost ended during the final climax on the snow-swept roof the trans-Hungarian Express. And all that remains between him and world safety, is The Last Frontier.
The Last Frontier goes on at a very fast pace; never once boring, and never once stopping. This is one of the most satisfying thrillers reads I have ever come across. It is not a =t all lengthy, even for first time readers. This is a novel worth buying.
Outro:
So, I hope that all of this inspires you to choose The Last Frontier as your next read. I will keep posting many such reviews on the most interesting books. If you haven’t already checked out my other posts, please do so. Please subscribe to my blog. It’s fun, and it’s free and you will get notified each time I post something. If you liked this post, stay tuned for more; if you didn’t, still do the same. Who knows? Maybe you will like the next one. Until then, Ciao!