Santorini

by Alistair MacLean, DD

Overview

An eighty-foot yacht suddenly capsizes in the Aegean, leaving only six survivors. Then, minutes later, in the same area, an unidentified four-engine jet crashes into the sea. Are these twin disasters more than coincidence?
Commander Talbot and the crew of the HMS Ariadne are assigned to retrieve from the ocean floor the jet's volatile cargo: atomic and hydrogen weaponry with the force to destroy millions. As the delicate operation proceeds, Talbot finds himself trapped in a whirl of nightmarish events involving terrorism and drugs — and a diabolic plot that leads straight to the Pentagon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780449209745
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/12/1988
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 6.84(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

Sailing in the Aegean, NATO spyship HMS Ariadne sights two disasters at once, a bomber crashing into the sea and a large yacht sinking. The plane turns out to have been loaded with nuclear weapons, and the survivors rescued from the yacht appear somehow responsible for the plane's destruction. With potential saboteurs aboard, the crew of the Ariadne must raise the one activated weapon and carefully dispose of it. MacLean (The Lonely Sea has trumped up so many aspects of this novel that he has taken the fun out of it. Rather than have the spies seized and flown off, he keeps them on the frigate. Instead of bringing in experts to remove the weapons, he leaves the job in the hands of the ship's captain. He also ups the stakes: if the unstable nearby volcano, Santorini, erupts, the combined explosions would create a nuclear winter. The contrived plot together with MacLean's stiff writing style make for a lazily composed adventure. Paperback to Fawcett. (March 20)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In the Aegean a large airplane crashes at almost the same time a luxurious yacht is sinking. Commander Talbot of the Ariadne , a sophisticated British ship that is part of NATO, picks up the yacht's survivors, among them a wealthy Greek businessman. The downed plane, it is learned, contains hydrogen bombs and atomic mines, one of which is ticking. If the mine explodes in that spot, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tidal waves, ozone cracking, and possibly the end of the world could ensue. Talbot and his crew piece together a fiendish plot involving the Greek, drugs, terrorism, and international blackmail. While a large portion of the book reads like a field manual for reclaiming submerged atomic devices, the pace is swift and relentless. (The involvement of the U.S. President, and his decision to keep the whole thing quiet to avoid credibility problems, is more than a bit eerie.) Fans of MacLean will enjoy this, as would any reader of thrillers. Robert H. Donahugh, Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio

Library Journal

'A magnificent storyteller' Sunday Mirror‘The most successful British novelist of his time’ Jack Higgins‘Alistar MacLean is one of the few people writing today who has a story to tell.’ Daily Express

From the Publisher