Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean
A classic thriller was written by the best-selling action and suspense writer.
The atomic submarine Dolphin is given an impossible mission: to travel beneath the Arctic Ocean’s ice floes in search of and to save the men of weather station Zebra, which was destroyed by fire and is currently drifting north of the Arctic Circle with the ice pack.
The instructions do not, however, specify what the Dolphin will discover if she succeeds, which is that the fire at Ice Station Zebra was intentionally set and that one of the survivors is a murderer.
Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean
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This book is an exciting suspense story with all the intrigue you could want. No, there aren’t any thrilling car chases or shootouts, yet Mr. MacLean manages to engage readers for hours on end. He does, however, provide excellent writing that combines the spy genre with the suspenseful atmosphere of a great detective book.
In actuality, the killer is identified over the course of the book since the author hints at the guilty culprit from time to time. But the hint was so undetectable that both I and most people would have missed it.
When an author can hide a hint in plain sight and have readers ignore it, in my opinion, that is the beauty of a good story. This is MacLean at his best. Interesting plot, likeable characters, and unexpected turns. With this one, you can’t go wrong.
The settings—in the sub and at the Arctic camp—provide a tight, suspenseful framework for the story, which is itself tight & suspenseful.
The protagonist in MacLean’s writing is frequently more complex than he first appears and is a person going through a significant amount of personal suffering. The 3-D characters that make up the sub’s crew and leader are endearing.
Since it has been so long since I read this, I can’t say with certainty whether a fresh reader will be able to identify the evil guy(s), but I believe MacLean does a commendable job of hiding his/their identity without being dishonest. One of the more thrilling, truly nail-biting scenes in fiction is the fire under the ice. Additionally, MacLean adds his trademark sardonic wit in a few places.
