Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time.
Ice Station Zebra is a 1963 thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It marked a return to MacLean's classic Arctic setting. After completing this novel, whose plot line parallels real-life events during the Cold War, MacLean retired from writing for three years. In 1968 it was loosely adapted into a film of the same name.
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 British-American action adventure war thriller spy film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a Special Operations Executive team of men attempting to save a captured American General from the fictional Schloß Adler fortress, except the mission turns out not to be as it seems. It was filmed in Panavision using the Metrocolor process, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay, his first, at the same time that he wrote the novel of the same name. Both became commercial successes.
Bear Island is a thriller novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. Originally published in 1971 with a cover by Norman Weaver, it was the last of MacLean's novels to be written in first-person narrative. This novel is a murder mystery with the added twist that the scene of the crimes is Bear Island, an island in the Svalbard archipelago of the Norwegian Arctic.
The Satan Bug is a first-person narrative thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1962 under the pseudonym Ian Stuart, and later republished under MacLean's own name.
Circus is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1975 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.
When Eight Bells Toll is a first-person narrative novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean and published in 1966. It marked MacLean's return after a three-year gap, following the publication of Ice Station Zebra (1963), during which time he had run several restaurants.
The Golden Rendezvous is a novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and was first published in 1962. One of MacLean's most popular works, it combines mystery, suspense, action, clever bluffs and double bluffs, with MacLean's trademark self-deprecating wit.
Breakheart Pass is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean (1922–1987), first published in 1974. It was a departure for MacLean in that, despite the thriller novel plot, the setting is essentially that of a western novel, set in the Sierra Nevada of the American West in the late 19th century. Fans of MacLean will recognize the usual plots twists, thrill-packed finale, and trademark sardonic dialogue. For American audiences, MacLean was less successful capturing an authentic tone of the western frontier, and the 1975 movie version starring Charles Bronson, Richard Crenna, Ben Johnson, and Jill Ireland, proved to be more popular with the public than the novel.
Puppet on a Chain is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. Originally published in 1969 with a cover by Norman Weaver, it is set in the late 1960s narcotics underworld of Amsterdam and other locations in the Netherlands.
Floodgate is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1983.
Seawitch is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1977 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.
The Golden Gate is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1976 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.
Caravan to Vaccarès is a novel by author Alistair MacLean, originally published in 1970. This novel is set in the Provence region of southern France. The novel was originally written as a screenplay for producer Elliot Kastner.
The Last Frontier is a 1959 novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was released in the United States under the title The Secret Ways. This novel marks MacLean's first foray into the espionage thriller genre, and was inspired by the events surrounding the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Partisans is a novel by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1982. MacLean used portions of the plot from the 1978 film Force 10 from Navarone as the basis of the plot for this novel. MacLean reverted to the theme of the Second World War, with which he was successful and highly popular in his early career. However, as with many of his later novels, Partisans proved to be less than popular with his long-time fans.
Goodbye California is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1977.
Fraulein Spy is the fifth novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series.
Puppet on a Chain is a 1970 British thriller film directed by Geoffrey Reeve and starring Sven-Bertil Taube, Barbara Parkins and Alexander Knox. It is based on the 1969 novel Puppet on a Chain by Alistair MacLean.
Air Force One Is Down is a 2013 action television miniseries divided in two parts loosely based on a story by Alistair MacLean that was improvised on a 1981 novel by John Denis. The film stars Jeremy Sisto, Jamie Thomas King, Emilie de Ravin, Rupert Graves, Ken Duken and Linda Hamilton.
