THE SECRET WAYS

by Alistair MacLean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 5, 1958

Time- the Present; Locale- Hungary; Cast of Characters including- the secret police of Hungary; the secret higher echelon of the Hungarian Underground; a British Secret Service Agent, Reynolds; Professor Jennings, a scientist in Soviet hands, badly needed by the British; Jansci, head of the Underground and his daughter, Julia; Col. Szendro, convincing as member of the Hungarian AVO- but actually a counter- revolutionary key figure in the Underground, and many others. The goal is to get Jennings, who is to speak in Budapest, out from Soviet hands, and across the border- and in preparation for this his wife and son have been spirited away first. But Reynolds, despite his meticulous training, makes mistakes- and a mad succession of adventures and misadventures carries all the main characters through a week which ends, of course, in success with only one serious casualty, the death of the intrepid Szendro (to use one of his many names). MacLean is first and last a story teller. He falls into the danger, too evident in his last novel, South by Java Head, of expecting too much of his readers. There are far too many bloody set-tos and close escapes for credence.

Pub Date: Feb. 5, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1958

Categories: FICTION