Bear Island

"Bear Island" is a mystery novel set on a boat heding for the remote Bear Island (Bjørnøya) in the Barents Sea. The ship is carrying a film crew and actors who plan to make a movie on the island. The novel is narrated in first person by the ship's doctor. A number of people die from apparent food poisoning, but Dr. Marlow suspects murder. The story tends to drag a bit before they get to the island, but not too much. Once they get to the island, MacLean throws in a nice plot twist and the pace picks up. This, and the humorous narrative helps it earn 4 stars. I also like MacLean's description of Bear Island. Even though I hate when it's cold, it almost made me want to go there.

After reviewing this item, the title is now not available. I am reviewing "Bear Island" by Allistair MacLean. I am going to do my best to review this in a way that does not spoil any surprises, because there are plenty in this book, which should not be a surprise for those who read much of MacLean. This book is unique among those I've read by MacLean. The first half of the book has a unique feel. This is added by the fact that this story is told in the first person by one of the characters. One other distinction of this book is that it has more of a feel as a murder mystery rather than a suspense novel, which MacLean is best at. For me, I don't think he gave enough clues for one to figure it out on one's own, but maybe I'm being too critical, and he did better than I thought. That's up to you to decide. One drawback of this book is that there are too many characters. At one point the viewpoint character comments there were 22 present, and this does not count the characters that were not a point of the action at that point (both among the living and the dead). Four of the characters had not too common last names starting with "H". For me, this made it difficult to follow. I also found it useful, because I'm starting plans for a novel which by necessity for the plot I have in mind will also have several characters, so I have things to think about to make them stand out more. This was not my favorite MacLean novel. The ending was not great, but there are few MacLean endings I like. If you are not a MacLean affeciando, I would pass this book. If you are, you probably will enjoy it.

"Bear Island" may be long on atmosphere and short on plot, but that is a far from fatal situation with author Alistair MacLean employing some of his crispiest dialogue and most descriptive prose. If you like mysteries that use humor and suspense in near-equal amounts, this 1971 novel will entertain you most of the way through. Dr. Marlowe is the ship's doctor aboard the Morning Rose, a converted trawler presently being used as a kind of private yacht by megalomaniacal film director Otto Gerran. The ship is plowing the icy Barents Sea en route to Bear Island, an arctic Norwegian territory of steep and rugged coastline where Gerran plans to shoot a movie. En route, people begin dying mysteriously, a situation that continues after they make landfall. Dr. Marlowe has his hands full finding out who's responsible. Right away, MacLean sets the book's tone of black humor, not only with the varied reactions to the opening murder but the backstory involving a somewhat inept movie production replete with more cattiness and fragile egos than "All About Eve." No one has a kind word about Otto, for example, even as they cheerfully avail themselves of his private stock of Scotch. MacLean at times seems to be channeling Joseph Conrad, what with the narrator's name and his writing of a sea swell, "black and veined and evil," that breaks across the Morning Rose's beam at a dramatic moment. His writing is that good, especially early on. Bear Island comes alive less as a setting on account of the near-constant October darkness, but one gets a feeling of being here as well at odd times, with beetling cliffs that plunge straight down into icy waves, offering shelter only for the hardiest sea bird. "Bear Island was black," he writes, "black as a widow's weeds." MacLean also gets good mileage from his characters, not only Marlowe with his double-sided persona but Otto and the many others along for the ride. Everyone seems to have a secret or two, and for once in a MacLean novel, this actually amps up the story rather than detracts from it as being too contrived. One of my favorite lines in that vein could almost be a song lyric: "She gave me a little smile but there was a touch of winter in it." Though it loses steam near the end, and is wrapped up with MacLean's customarily overneat quickness, "Bear Island" is a solid showcase for what makes the author so much fun.

"Bear Island" is a solid thriller by master story-teller Alistair Maclean. A converted fishing trawler carries a movie-making crew across the Barents Sea to isolated Bear Island, well above the Arctic Circle, for some on-location filming. En route, members of the movie crew and ship's company begin to die under mysterious circumstances. The ship's medical officer, one Doctor Marlowe, finds himself enmeshed in a violent, multi-layered plot in which very few of the persons on board are precisely who they seem. Dr. Marlowe's efforts to unravel the plot become even more difficult once the movie crew is deposited ashore on Bear Island, seemingly beyond the reach of the law or any other help. This novel reads like a closed house murder mystery, with the interesting twist that the scene of the crimes is the high Arctic. In addition to the murders, blackmail and some World War II events are part of the mix. "Bear Island" was not Maclean's best effort in that the plot seems overly contrived at times and many of the characters come off as cardboard cutouts. Nevertheless, the book makes for fascinating reading. Maclean was a polished writer and a past master at creating a twisting storyline. Readers will be kept guessing to the end as Maclean slowly unspools the clues and frames the story for an exciting ending. This book is highly recommend to fans of Alistair Maclean and to readers looking for an entertaining story.

Hm, I'm a little disappointed in the reviews, here. I suppose everyone expects a classic thriller par MacLean. Bear Island is less a thriller than it is a mystery, which explains the somewhat slower-than-usual pacing. MacLean brings back Captain Imrie (from When Eight Bells Toll) who is a good guy this time. Rather, he's a sub-character, piloting the Morning Rose to Bear Island. Aboard is a film crew and the producers/directors of the most anticipated film of the year. And then people start dropping like flies. I love it! It's very reminiscent of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None or William Dietrich's more recent Dark Winter. The classic premise: a bunch of people somehow completely isolated, and it's just not the best week for any of them. Bear Island is written in first-person (an immediate MacLean favorite), written with that ubiquitous dry wit found in his other novels. Despite the obvious -- more whiskey and scotch downed than there is water in the ocean, and that Bear Island only appears halfway into the book -- I found myself enjoying every page. And it turns out Bear Island is actually a very beautiful island. I recommend Googling for images (see "customer images" for book cover). Don't expect MacLean to describe it too well, since it's dark, cloudy, windy and rainy during the tale.